Hilda Kate Lovell-Smith (10 July 1886 – 3 February 1973), generally known as Kitty Lovell-Smith, was a New Zealand businesswoman and community organiser.

Early life

Lovell-Smith was born at

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scot ...

, in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, in 1886. She was the third daughter of ten children born to Mary Jane (Jennie) Cumberworth, a former teacher, and her husband, William Sidney Smith, a printer. Both her parents were good friends of

Kate Sheppard Katherine Wilson Sheppard ( Catherine Wilson Malcolm; 10 March 1848 – 13 July 1934) was the most prominent member of the women's suffrage movement in New Zealand and the country's most famous suffragist. Born in Liverpool, England, she emig ...

, a leading New Zealand

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

, and Lovell-Smith was given "Kate" as her middle name in honour of Sheppard. Lovell-Smith attended Riccarton School for her primary school education and was home-schooled as a teenager.

Adult life

Lovell-Smith joined the family printing business, Smith and Anthony Limited, when she was 17 years old. She began as a Linotype operator and was later the manager of the retail stationery section. She joined the Christchurch branch of the

National Council of Women of New Zealand The National Council of Women of New Zealand () was established in 1896, three years after women in New Zealand won the right to the vote, as an umbrella organisation uniting a number of different women's societies that existed in New Zealan ...

and became secretary in 1918, a position she held until 1927, when she became dominion secretary. In 1930, she attended the quinquennial conference of the

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating women's rights, human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C ...

in Vienna, Austria. On her return to New Zealand, Lovell-Smith joined the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

and was appointed general secretary of the

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

branch in 1932. In 1937, she moved to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

and became the general secretary of the Dunedin YWCA, and from 1945 to 1947 she was general secretary for the

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

YWCA. In 1947, she returned to live in Christchurch and continued her community work: in November 1949 she was made founding president of the

Soroptimist Club Soroptimist International (SI) , founded in 1921, is a global volunteer service for women with almost 66,000 members in 118 countries worldwide. Soroptimist International also offers Associate Membership and E-Clubs. Soroptimist International h ...

of Christchurch. She also joined the local women’s unemployment committee, the Canterbury Women’s Club, the

United Nations Association of New Zealand UN Youth New Zealand (formerly the United Nations Youth Association of New Zealand or UNYANZ) is a non-governmental organisation and a registered charity. Its members are all aged 25 or under or are full-time tertiary students. It is the largest y ...

and CORSO. In the 1960s, she edited the journal of the New Zealand branch of the Pan-Pacific and South-East Asia Women’s Association. She also continued her work with the National Council of Women, joining the executive of the Christchurch branch and chairing a number of committees. She was president of the branch from 1951 to 1955, and in 1956 was appointed a dominion life member. She continued to attend National Council of Women meetings until over the age of 80. Lovell-Smith was also a writer and editor. From 1952 until 1960, she was assistant editor of the National Council of Women’s ''New Zealand Women in Council''; she wrote a history of the Christchurch YWCA, published in 1961, and a history of the Christchurch branch of the National Council of Women. Lovell-Smith died at her family home in Riccarton on 3 February 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovell-Smith, Hilda 1886 births 1973 deaths Writers from Christchurch New Zealand women historians 20th-century New Zealand historians