Mary Louise Ormsby

Ngā Puhi

1947 -

Mary Ormsby was born in Hamilton and was educated at St Mary’s Primary School in Rotorua and Baradene College in Auckland. Mary graduated with a B.A. in History from Victoria University in 1980. From 1980-1982 she worked on a research project on the New Zealand Police history (1853-1896) with the Historical Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs. From 1982-1983 Mary Ormsby was part of a four-women collective which produced the Her Story Diary 1984. From 1984-1986 and from 1990-1994 she worked for the first three volumes of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography and wrote six biographies. From 1995 until 1998 she worked on image research for the Museum of New Zealand.

Biographical sources

  • Phone interviews and correspondence with Mary Louise Ormsby, 1 Sept, 1992, 1 May and August 1998.

    Non-fiction

  • "Halcombe, Edith Stanway 1844-1903." ibid. 185-186.
  • A biographical account of New Zealand born artist and Jersey cow breeder, Edith Halcombe.
  • "Caro, Margaret 1848-1938." ibid. 77.
  • A biography of the first woman listed on the Dentists Register of New Zealand in 1881 and an active Seventh-day Adventist and social reformer.
  • New Zealand Herstory 1984. Auckland, N.Z.: New Women’s Press, 1983.
  • A diary composed of biographies, quotations and short essays related to the history of women in work in New Zealand. Produced by the Wellington Herstory collective.
  • "Women." The New Zealand Book of Events. Devised and ed. Bryce Fraser. Consultant Editors: Gordon McLauchlan, Michael King, Hamish Keith, Ranginui Walker and Laurie Barber. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed Methuen, 1984. Rpt. 1986. 321-330.
  • Ormsby states this is ‘a chronology of key women in New Zealand from 1806-1984 including Māori signatories of the Treaty of Waitangi, Māori women who fought at the Battle of Orakei in 1864, and other key events in the history of New Zealand women.’
  • "Charlotte Badger." The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ed. W. H. Oliver. Vol. 1. 1769-1869. Wellington, N.Z.: Allen & Unwin; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1990: 11. Rpt. in A People’s History: Illustrated Biographies from The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Comp. W. H. Oliver. Vol. 1: 1769-1869. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1992. 1-2. Rpt. in Pacific Way July 1990: 82-83.
  • A biography of Charlotte Badger who was one of the earliest Pakeha women settlers in New Zealand.
  • "Matenga, Huria 1840-42?-1909." The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ed. W. H. Oliver. Vol. 1. 1769-1869. Wellington, N.Z.: Allen & Unwin; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1990: 281-282. Rpt. in A People’s History: Illustrated Biographies from The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Comp. W. H. Oliver. Vol. 1: 1769-1869. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1992. 146-149.
  • Ormsby writes a biography of Huria Matenga who was born in the early 1840s and was of Te Ati Awa, Ngai Tama and Ngāti Toa descent. She married Hemi Matenga Wai-Punahau in 1858 and rose to national fame in 1863 when she rescued passengers from the ship-wrecked Delaware.
  • "Charlotte Badger." New Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, UK: Oxford UP. No further details
  • An updated biography of Charlotte Badger.
  • "Wilson, Anne 1848-1930." The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Vol. 2: 1870-1900. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams Books; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1993. 584-585.
  • A biography of Australian-born Anne Wilson who married James Glenny Wilson and together they settled on a large rural property at Bulls where Anne became an active writer of poetry and short stories.
  • "Teer, James 1826/27?-1887." The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Vol. 2: 1870-1900. Wellington, N.Z.: Bridget Williams Books; Dept. of Internal Affairs, 1993. 532-533.
  • A biography of Irish born James Teer who was drawn to Australia and New Zealand by the gold rush. He subsequently shipwrecked near Auckland Island and assisted in the survival of a group of castaways for 18 months until their rescue.