Isabel Noeline Baker (25 December 1878 – 25 August 1958), known as Noeline Baker, was a New Zealand suffragist, wartime women's labour administrator, gardener, and peace educator.

Biography

She was born in the

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 ...

suburb of

Opawa Opawa (; ) is an inner residential suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located approximately south-east of the city centre. Prior to European settlement, much of the area consisted of marshlands and mixed-use vegetation. By the 185 ...

, New Zealand on 25 December 1878 to Isabel Baker (née Strachey) and John Holland Baker, chief surveyor of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. Isabel (1845–1920) was a daughter of Richard Strachey of Ashwick Grove, Somerset, the third son of

Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet (23 May 1736 – 3 January 1810) was a British civil servant and politician who sat in the House of Commons for 39 years from 1768 to 1807. Life Strachey was the eldest son of Henry Strachey, of Sutton Court, ...

. Isabel's mother, Anne Marie (or Anna Maria), was a daughter of Alexander Powell MP, a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

member of parliament for Downton, Wiltshire. She attended

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Samuel Marsden Collegiate School is a private girls school located in the Wellington suburb of Karori in New Zealand. It has a socio-economic decile of 10 – on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 reflecting the highest proportion of students from high ...

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 ...

, then known as Fitzherbert Terrace School. Her parents returned to England living in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, where Baker was active in the

National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In March 1919 it w ...

and a founding member of the local branch. She was also a member of the

London Society for Women's Suffrage The Fawcett Society is a membership charity in the United Kingdom which campaigns for women's rights. The organisation dates back to 1866, when Millicent Fawcett, Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's ...

. For her organising of women's labour during World War I, she was appointed Member of the Most Excellent

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in 1920. She returned to New Zealand and built a house at

Halfmoon Bay Half Moon Bay is a city in San Mateo County, California Half Moon Bay may also refer to: Australia * Halfmoon Bay (Tasmania), a bay in Tasmania, near Hobart * Half Moon Bay (Victoria), a bay in Black Rock, Victoria In Canada * Half Moon Bay (N ...

Stewart Island Stewart Island (, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a la ...

called Moturau Moana, and used a checklist by botanist

Leonard Cockayne Leonard Cockayne (7 April 1855 – 8 July 1934) is regarded as New Zealand's greatest botanist and a founder of Western science in New Zealand. Biography He was born in Sheffield, England where he attended Wesley College. He travelled to Aus ...

to populate it with all the local indigenous plants. Today Moturau Moana is New Zealand's southernmost public garden after she donated it to the government. For her botanical work at Moturau Moana, Baker was awarded the

Loder Cup The Loder Cup is a New Zealand conservation award. It was donated by Gerald Loder, 1st Baron Wakehurst in 1926 to "encourage and honour New Zealanders who work to investigate, promote, retain and cherish our indigenous flora". The Minister of C ...

in 1949. Other items of hers are held by

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa (Māori language, Māori for 'Waka huia, the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the Nation ...

, the national museum in Wellington. She edited her father's account of his time in New Zealand and performed music throughout her life. Baker died on 25 August 1958 on Stewart Island. For her work in England during World War I, she was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Noeline 1878 births 1958 deaths New Zealand suffragists New Zealand gardeners Activists from Christchurch New Zealand musicians People from Stewart Island Strachey family Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School