Elizabeth Yates (née Oman, 1840 – 6 September 1918) was a New Zealand politician who served as the mayor of

Onehunga Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill. Onehunga is a ...

borough for most of 1894. She was the first female

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. Outside the British Empire, she was preceded by Susanna M. Salter who was elected mayor of Argonia, Kansas in 1887. Onehunga is now part of the city of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

Life

Yates was born Elizabeth Oman in Caithness, Scotland in 1840. She came to New Zealand with her family in November 1852 aboard the ''Berwick Castle'' and apparently lived in the Onehunga area from 1855 on. She married Michael Yates, master mariner, in 1875. He was on the Onehunga Borough Council, a councillor from 1885 and mayor from 1888 to 1892.

Career

Yates was already involved in politics through her strong support of the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

movement, as well as participation in the debates of the Auckland Union Parliament. Earlier in 1893, after her husband had stood down from his post due to ill health in 1892, she had accepted the nomination for the office of mayor and in November defeated her opponent, F. W. Court, at the polls (also automatically becoming a Justice of the Peace) in a close race decided by only 13 votes. Yates became mayor of Onehunga on 16 January 1894. The election made international news and brought her congratulations from Premier

Richard Seddon Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 15th premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. In office for thirteen years, he is to date New Zealand's longest-se ...

and

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. She was met with strong opposition from a hard core of local councillors, town clerks and members of the public (four councillors and the town clerk resigned in response to her election), and they often disrupted meetings and orchestrated opposition to her every proposal. It is noted by some critics that she did not help her own cause by being 'tactless' and 'dictatorial' in her manner. In November 1894, mayoralty was again contested. Yates ran again but was defeated at the polls by a significant margin. Yates later returned as a councillor to the Borough Council for two years between 1899 and 1901. Even her opponents conceded that she had been very effective during her short tenure, having liquidated the borough debt, established a sinking fund, reorganised the fire brigade, upgraded roads, footpaths and sanitation, and having personally lobbied the government to authorise the reopening of the Waikaraka cemetery.

Later life

Following the death of her husband in 1902 and the decline of her political career, Yates suffered with dementia and alcoholism. She was committed to Auckland Mental Hospital in Avondale in 1909 until her death on 6 September 1918. She was buried with her husband in the cemetery at St Peter's Anglican Church in Onehunga. Yates and her husband are the subjects in '' The World's First Lady Mayor'', the second oldest surviving New Zealand film restored by Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision, which was shot by photographer Enos Pegler in 1900.

Notes

References

External links

, Elizabeth Yates entry on nzhistory.net.nzYates memorial on ''Stuff''

1900 film of Elizabeth Yates on Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Elizabeth Mayors of Onehunga 1840 births 1918 deaths 1900s in New Zealand cinema Scottish emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand feminists Women mayors of places in New Zealand People from Caithness 19th-century New Zealand politicians 20th-century New Zealand politicians 19th-century New Zealand women 20th-century New Zealand women politicians New Zealand suffragists 19th-century women politicians New Zealand justices of the peace