Merval Hoare (17 June 1914 – 8 December 2001) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-born poet, writer, and historian. She was a resident in Norfolk Island and wrote about its history.

Biography

Merval Hoare was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, New Zealand on 17 June 1914, and moved to Norfolk Island in 1949. She lived for many years in Norfolk Island. She wrote her book, ''Norfolk Island An Outline of Its History, 1774 - 1968'', which was published by the

University of Queensland Press Established in 1948, University of Queensland Press (UQP) is an Australian publishing house. Founded as a traditional university press, UQP has since branched into publishing books for general readers in the areas of fiction, non-fiction, poetr ...

in 1969. The book has 5 editions, most recent being published in 1998. She lived in Norfolk Island for over 50 years. Her book provided a lot of information about Norfolk Island in the 20th century. The Norfolk Island Museum described the book as authoritative account and definite work, a result of her deep interest in the Island and its history. She believed that the relations between Australia and Norfolk Island will become stronger over time. On the cases of rape and pedophilia by Stephen Nobb being covered up in Norfolk Island, she said that it was probably due to the Islanders not wanting to harm tourism and ruin their reputation as the "safest place on earth".

Death

Merval Hoare moved from Norfolk Island to Lismore,

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, Australia. She had a daughter Ann. She died on 8 December 2001 in Saint Vincent's Private Hospital, Lismore. Her daughter Ann still lives in Lismore with her husband.

Bibliography

*''Norfolk Island: An Outline of Its History 1774-1987'' (1988) *''Ramblers' Guide to Norfolk Island'' (1982) *''Norfolk Island: An outline of its history 1774-1977'' (1978) *''Nelson Bear and the Yellow Umbrella'' (1955)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoare, Merval 1914 births 2001 deaths Australian women academics Academic staff of the University of Queensland Norfolk Island writers New Zealand poets Australian women children's writers Australian children's writers Australian women historians