Tuagatagaloa Patricia Rex, Lady Rex (née Vatolo; 1918 – 21 January 2004) was a

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

an politician. The wife of Niue's first Premier

Robert Rex Sir Robert Richmond Rex (25 January 190912 December 1992) was the first Premier of the Pacific island state of Niue. Early life and family Rex was born to parents Leslie Lucas Richmond Rex, a European trader on Niue, and Fisimonomono Tufaina ...

, she was jointly one of the first women elected to the

Niue Assembly The Niue Assembly ( niu, Niue Fono Ekepule) is the legislature of Niue. It consists of 20 members; 14 representatives of the villages and 6 elected on a common roll. Members are directly elected by universal suffrage, and serve a three-year t ...

. She also designed the

flag of Niue The flag of Niue was adopted on 15 October 1975. It consists of the Union Jack in the upper left corner with a star in the middle of the Union Jack and four stars forming a diamond around it. It is very unusual for a flag based on a British ens ...

Biography

Born Patricia Tuagatagaloa Vatolo, Rex was from the village of

Alofi Alofi is the capital of the Pacific Ocean island nation of Niue. With a population of 597 in 2017, Alofi has the distinction of being the second smallest national capital city in terms of population (after Ngerulmud, capital of Palau). It consi ...

. In 1941 she married

and the couple had four children.Obituary: Sir Robert Rex
The Independent, 16 December 1992 Her husband went on to become the Leader of Government Business, and in 1974 was appointed as the first Premier of Niue. Rex contested the island-wide constituency in the April 1975 elections and was elected to the Niue Assembly, becoming one of the first women elected to the legislature alongside

Lapati Paka Lapati Paka was a Niuean politician. She was jointly one of the first women elected to the Niue Assembly. Biography Originally from Mutalau, Paka was the daughter of Togakilo, a member of the Legislative Assembly, and began her career as a nur ...

. She remained a member of the Assembly until losing her seat in the 1993 elections. Rex also designed the flag of Niue,Toa Niue: Sir Robert Rex
Reading Warrior which was adopted in 1975. In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, Rex was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for community service. Rex died in Niue in January 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rex, Patricia 1918 births 2004 deaths People from Alofi Niuean women in politics Members of the Niue Assembly Flag designers 20th-century New Zealand women politicians 20th-century New Zealand politicians