Dr Elizabeth Wood-Ellem (10 September 1930 – 8 September 2012) was a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n-born Australian historian actively engaged in the life of Tonga and author of the definitive biography of Queen

Sālote Tupou III Sālote Tupou III (born Sālote Mafile‘o Pilolevu; 13 March 1900 – 16 December 1965) was Queen of Tonga from 1918 to her death in 1965. She reigned for nearly 48 years, longer than any other Tongan monarch. She was well known for her height ...

of Tonga.

Birth and family

Born Elizabeth Olive Wood near Nuku'alofa, Tonga, she was often known as Bess or Pesi Wood. She was a daughter of Reverend Dr A. Harold Wood OBE (1896–1989), a renowned

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

then

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Unio ...

minister and educator, and medical Dr Olive K. Wood (née O'Reilly), who were Australian missionaries in Tonga from 1924 to 1937. She had five brothers and sisters, including Janet Secomb, herself a missionary to Tonga, actor Monica Maughan and Uniting Church minister and hymnologist Rev. Dr H. D'Arcy Wood.

Education

Moving to Australia in 1937, Elizabeth was educated at Methodist Ladies' College in Melbourne where, in her final year, she topped the state of Victoria in Greek and Roman History. At

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, she majored in English and History, gaining a BA in 1953, and would later undertake her PhD there.

Career

Wood-Ellem earned her living as a book editor and indexer, initially at Angus & Robertson in Sydney, then London (1960–72) with Macmillan and Paul Hamlyn, and later worked freelance. She was appointed an archivist at King's College,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, to sort and catalogue the papers of British novelist

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

after his death in 1970. Churchill College, Cambridge then engaged her as Assistant Librarian for Archives to catalogue Sir

James Grigg Sir Percy James Grigg, KCB, KCSI, PC (16 December 18905 May 1964), better known as Sir James Grigg, was a British civil servant who was unexpectedly moved, at the behest of then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill, from being the Permanent Under ...

's papers and A.V. Alexander's correspondence. She completed a PhD in Tongan history in 1982 at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

and remained a Senior Fellow there at the time of her death. She published her biography of Queen Sālote of Tonga in 1999. Fairfax’s Pacific correspondent Mike Field said of it: ‘If I were nominate a single, superb book on the Pacific, ''Queen Sālote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900-1965'' is one of the finest pieces of historical research and insight, anthropology and understanding of Tonga that you’ll ever find. You don’t even have to be vaguely interested in Queen Sālote, but in how Tonga works.’ Notable books she edited include ''The Songs and Poems of Queen Sālote'' (2004) and ''Tonga and the Tongans: Heritage and Identity'' (2007). In 2008,

King George Tupou V George Tupou V ( Tongan: Siaosi Tupou, full name: Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou; 4 May 194818 March 2012) was the King of Tonga from the death of his father Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV in 2006 until his own death six years later. ...

recognised her singular contribution to Tonga by bestowing on her the title of Commander of the Order of the Crown of Tonga.

Publications

* Notable books she edited include: *''The Songs and Poems of Queen Sālote'' (2004) *''Tonga and the Tongans: Heritage and Identity'' (2007)

Honours

;National honours * Order of the Crown of Tonga - ribbon bar

Order of the Crown of Tonga, Commander (31 July 2008).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood-Ellem, Elizabeth University of Melbourne alumni Uniting Church in Australia people 1930 births 2012 deaths Commanders of the Order of the Crown of Tonga Australian women historians 20th-century Australian historians University of Melbourne faculty Australian expatriates in Tonga Tongan historians Historians of Oceania Tongan women writers 20th-century Tongan writers 21st-century Tongan writers 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers 21st-century Australian non-fiction writers 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women writers 20th-century Tongan women 21st-century Tongan women