Dames in New Zealand: Gender, Representation and the Royal Honours System, 1917-2000 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in History in the University of Canterbury by Karen Fox University of Canterbury 2005 Contents Abstract List of Figures ii Abbreviations iii Acknowledgements v Introduction 1 Chapter One: 28 An elite male institution: reproducing British honours in New Zealand Chapter Two: 58 In her own right: feminism, ideas of femininity and titles for women Chapter Three: 89 The work of dames and knights: exceptional women and traditional images of the feminine Chapter Four: 119 The work of dames and knights: traditional patterns in honours and non­ traditional work for women Conclusion 148 Appendix One: 166 Honours awarded in New Zealand, 1917-2000 Appendix Two: 174 Database of titular honours, 1917-2000 Bibliography 210 19 MAY Z005 Abstract The New Zealand royal honours system, as a colonial reproduction of an elite British system with a white male norm, has been largely overlooked in all fields of scholarship. Yet, as a state expression of what is valued in society, honours provide a window into shifts in society. This study of dames and knights is undertaken in the context of the changes in the lives of New Zealand women in the twentieth century. Situated in a changing and shifting environment, the honours system has itself changed, influenced by the ebb and flow of the feminist movement, the decline of imperial and aristocratic forces, and New Zealand's evolving independence and identity. At the same time, the system has been in some respects static, slow to respond to charges of being an imperial anachronism, and, despite some change in what areas of service titles were granted for, remaining a gendered space focused on the traditionally male-dominated fields of politics, law and commerce. Studied from a feminist perspective, honours also reveal much about gender identities and roles in twentieth-century New Zealand, both the feminine and, because of the historically constructed dualism, the masculine. Both the patterns evident in the honouring of women at the highest level and the representations of those women found in popular culture display a constant disjunction between discourses of exceptionalism and of conformity to traditional images of the feminine. Women's personal experiences of being honoured with a title for their achievements add a further dimension of complexity to understandings of the significant changes and underlying continuities in the honours system as a gendered space. 11 List of Figures and Illustrations Categories of Service 10 Royal honours applicable in New Zealand between 1917 and 2000 38 Schooling of knights and dames 44 Honours bestowing knighthood in New Zealand, 1917-2000, by precedence 65 "93 Sisterhood Special' 75 Services in the citations or careers of those awarded damehoods, 1917-2000 90 Services in the citations or careers of those awarded knighthoods, 1917-2000 92 Services given by those awarded knighthoods, in five-year periods, 1920-1999 93 Services given by those awarded damehoods, in five-year periods, 1920-1999 94 111 Abbreviations AC Companion of the Order of Australia AM Member of the Order of Australia AO Officer of the Order of Australia ATL Alexander Turnbull Library BEM British Empire Medal CB Companion of the Order of the Bath CBE Commander of the Order of the British Empire CMG Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George CNZM Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit CVO Commander of the Royal Victorian Order DBE Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire DCMG Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George DCNZM Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit DCVO Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order DPMC Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet DNZM Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit FFNZ Federated Farmers of New Zealand FOL Federation of Labour GBE Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire GCB Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath GCMG Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George GCVO Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order GNZM Knight or Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit ICW International Council of Women lFUW International Federation of University Women ISO Imperial Service Order KBE Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire KCB Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath KCMG Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George KCVO Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order KG Knight of the Garter KNZM Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Kt Knight Bachelor LVO Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order MBE Member of the Order of the British Empire MNZM Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit MVO (4th) Member of the Royal Victorian Order (4 th class) th MVO (5 ) Member of the Royal Victorian Order (5 th class) MWWL Maori Women's Welfare League NCW National Council of Women NUWSS National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies NZEAS New Zealand Educational Administration Society NZFU New Zealand Farmers' Union IV NZFUW New Zealand Federation of University Women NZRSA New Zealand Returned Services Association OAM Medal of the Order of Australia OBE Officer of the Order of the British Empire ONZ Order of New Zealand ONZM Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit PCNZM Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit QSO Companion of the Queen's Service Order QSM Queen's Service Medal RRC Royal Red Cross RVM Royal Victorian Medal UK United Kingdom WSPU Women's Social and Political Union v Acknowledgements In the course of writing this thesis, I have accumulated many debts of gratitude that I would like to acknowledge. Firstly, I wish to thank my primary supervisor, Dr Katie Pickles. Her advice, encouragement, assistance as I developed my ideas and enthusiasm for my topic have made the task of producing this thesis much easier, and I have greatly appreciated her liberal giving of her time. I wish also to thank my secondary supervisor, Professor John Cookson, for his advice, support and helpful comments. I am extremely grateful to Dame Jean Herbison, Dame Ann Hercus, Dame Phyllis Guthardt and Dame Malvina Major, all of whom generously shared their experiences and ideas with me in interviews or written communication. Their contribution to this thesis has been invaluable, and is much appreciated. I am also very grateful to David Baguley, from the Honours Secretariat, who provided important material for my research, and willingly gave his time to talk to me about the honours system in New Zealand. I wish to extend my thanks to the staff at the Archives New Zealand offices in Wellington, the National Library and Alexander Turnbull Library, the Christchurch Public Library, and the Macmillan Brown and Central Libraries at the University of Canterbury. Financially, I was assisted in producing this thesis by a Masters scholarship from the University of Canterbury. Lastly, but certainly not least, I offer my thanks to my fellow students and friends in the History Department of the University of Canterbury, to Dr Angela Wanhalla, and to my friends and family, particularly my mother, Ngaire Fox. All of these people have listened to my ideas and provided support and reassurance, for which I am truly grateful. 1 Introduction Knights and dames, the titled men and women 'trailing clouds of aristocratic glory' of one writer's imagination, are no longer created in New Zealand.! In New Zealand, titular honours, those bestowing a title from the monarch on the recipient, ceased in 2000 to be a constituent element of the royal honours system. That system, as in the United Kingdom (UK), has encompassed a range of levels, from hereditary peerages and non-hereditary titles to non-titular awards and decorations for gallantry. The many varieties of honour, some now obsolete and some still in use, and the rituals and regulations surrounding these honours; were woven together to form a complex and shifting honours system, as different strands were discarded or created over time. In tum, the honours system itself has historically formed part of an elaborate web of social precedence. In New Zealand, like its parent system in the UK, the honours system has been the target of some criticism and controversy. There have been accusations of racial and gender inequality, of political patronage and party connections determining appointments, of class bias, and even of a bias in favour of the North Island over the South.2 Yet, according to a 1995 investigation into the system that culminated in recommendations for considerable change, including the removal of titles, there remained 'overwhelming support' for the existence of an honours system as a means of recognising those who have served the world, New Zealand, and their communities? 1 R. Dawe, 'Helen's birthday to become a national holiday', National Business Review, 17 March 2000, accessed from Factiva. 2 The suggestion that a larger number of honours went to the North Island that to the South was made in a 1959 article examining the honours system. Investigator, 'Whom the Queen delighteth to honour: Awards for services in New Zealand', The Weekly News, 11 November 1959, p. 3. For a further example of such criticisms, including that titles were given to 'famous men' for 'services to the conservative ethic', and not to Maori or women, see John Robson, ed., Craccum, vol. 50, No. 14, June 21,1976, p. 5, quoted in C. H. Townsend, 'Political Patronage in New Zealand: An Exploratory Study' (MA, University of Canterbury, 1977), p.