Agnes Louisa Weston (née Steuart, 18 January 1879 – 8 August 1972) from Wellington was appointed a member of the

New Zealand Legislative Council The New Zealand Legislative Council () was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of New Zealand Legislative Council (1841–1853), legislative councils for the colony and provinces ...

on 22 June 1950. Steuart was born on 18 January 1879 at Manutahi, the daughter of Frederick Jeffray Steuart and Alice Mary (). Her father was mayor of Stratford in 1900 and 1901. On 17 Jun 1905, Steuart married Claude Weston at

St James' Church, Sydney St James' Church, commonly known as St James', King Street, is an Australian heritage-listed Anglican parish church located at 173 King Street, in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales. Consecrated in February 1824 and named ...

. Her husband would later effectively be the first president of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

(1936–1940). Claude Weston participated in World War I and was wounded in 1916 when he had risen to the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. In World War II, Agnes Louisa Weston was a member of the women's section of the Returned Servicemen's Association (RSA) and was elected chairperson of the committee that encouraged social contact between women related to men in active service. They initially lived in

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

, where her husband had his law practice, but moved to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in 1931. This was followed by a move to

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in 1933. The Westons had one daughter and one son. Their daughter, a medical doctor, would marry

Tom Shand Thomas Philip Shand (16 April 1911 – 11 December 1969) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. Biography Early life and career Shand was born in 1911 in Ngapara, North Otago. His parents were Gilbert Esme Tressillian Shand and Co ...

who later was a member of parliament. In the , Claude Weston was a candidate for the National Party in the electorate. He died suddenly on 10 November 1946 in Wellington, and she replaced him as a candidate. The election was won by Charles Chapman of the Labour Party. She was one of three female members of the

suicide squad The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...

, which was appointed by the First National Government in 1950 to vote for its abolition. The other women appointed in 1950 were

Cora Louisa Burrell Cora Louisa Burrell (née Keetley, 19 June 1889 – 20 October 1962) from Christchurch was a National Party activist, on the Canterbury Division executive and a Dominion councillor. National Party historian Barry Gustafson said that she was "one ...

and Ethel Gould. Only two other women, Mary Anderson and

Mary Dreaver Mary Manson Dreaver (née Bain, 31 March 1887 – 19 July 1961) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. She was the third woman to sit in the New Zealand House of Representatives, one of the first two women to sit in the New Zealand ...

, had ever been appointed to the council (in 1946). Weston was the president of the Women's Auxiliary RSA in 1946. Weston died in Wellington on 8 August 1972, aged 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston, Agnes 1879 births 1972 deaths Unsuccessful candidates in the 1946 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council New Zealand National Party MLCs Women members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Politicians from Wellington City People from New Plymouth Agnes

See also

References