Violet Alberta Jessie "Berta" Burns (12 March 1893 – 26 December 1972) 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 ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. She was born on 12 March 1893. Burns met the writer

Blanche Baughan Blanche Edith Baughan (16 January 1870 – 20 August 1958) was a New Zealand poet, writer, botanist and penal reformer. Biography Early life and education Baughan was born in Putney, Surrey, England, on 16 January 1870, one of six c ...

in 1919 and the two were to remain life-long friends, with shared interests in social work, women's rights and writing. They worked together to set up the first branch of the

Howard League for Penal Reform The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, ...

outside Britain in 1924. She was a member of the National Party and became the chair of the party's Brooklyn branch in 1947. At the 1949 election she was National's candidate in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

against Labour Prime Minister

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand La ...

, where she raised National's vote but still lost by nearly 3,000 votes. After Fraser died she put herself forward to contest the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the seat, but lost to Len Jacobsen. At the

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

snap election she stood in the neighboring Wellington Central seat, where she again finished runner-up. Burns is said to have "waged spirited campaigns in safe Labour seats".

References

1893 births 1972 deaths New Zealand activists New Zealand women activists New Zealand National Party politicians 20th-century New Zealand politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1949 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1951 New Zealand general election 20th-century New Zealand journalists 20th-century New Zealand women politicians {{NewZealand-writer-stub