Lillian Rita Smith (née Hampton, 9 May 1912 – 7 June 1993) was a notable New Zealand communist and political activist. She was born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Australia in 1912. Her parents, Ann Bawden Moses and Henry Hampton, had married in

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 1898 before their emigration to Australia. Hampton had four sisters and two brothers; she was the second-youngest of them. Trained as a nurse, she worked as a parlour maid for a wealthy family during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. This opened her eyes to "the contradictions of capitalism", and she joined the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian communist party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been ...

in 1936. In December 1935, she married Ted Smith in

Kellerberrin, Western Australia Kellerberrin is a town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. The town serves as a stop on the ''Prospector'' and ''MerredinLink'' rural train services. It is also located on the Golden Pipe ...

, and they had one son. They moved to Auckland in 1941 and joined the

Communist Party of New Zealand The Communist Party of New Zealand (CPNZ) was a communist party in New Zealand which existed from 1921 to 1994. Although spurred to life by events in Soviet Russia in the aftermath of World War I, the party had roots in pre-existing revolutio ...

. She was on the party's national committee for nearly fifty years, and worked full-time for the party for two decades. Over the years, she stood at local and national elections at numerous occasions. She first stood in a

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

in , when she contested the electorate and came a distant third. Smith remained politically active all her life. When one ward of

Starship Hospital Starship Children's Hospital is a public children's hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Opened on 18 November 1991, it was one of the first purpose-built children's hospitals in New Zealand, and is the largest such facility in the country. Altho ...

was occupied by protesters in November 1992, Smith was one of the people arrested; she was 80 at the time. The speech she gave at her trial about public health cuts was described as "brilliant". Smith died on 7 June 1993 at

Auckland City Hospital Auckland City Hospital is a public hospital located in Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest hospital in New Zealand,Largest hospital in New Zealand...' - News-Medical.Net, Tuesday 29 June 2004 as well as one of the oldest medical fa ...

. Her husband had died in 1986. They were survived by their son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Lillian Rita 1912 births 1993 deaths New Zealand communists Activists from Perth, Western Australia Australian emigrants to New Zealand Unsuccessful candidates in the 1949 New Zealand general election