Case 13
- OGHS Alumni 1
Emily Siedeberg-McKinnon. Otago Pioneer Women’s Memorial. Dunedin: Otago Daily Times, 1959.
Emily Siedeberg (1873-1968) was a doctor, anaesthetist, and hospital superintendent. Born at Clyde, her family settled in Dunedin where she attended the Normal School and Otago Girls’ High School. In 1891, she became a medical student at the University of Otago.
In 1896, Siedeberg became New Zealand’s first woman medical graduate. After a period of study in Europe, she returned in 1898 to Dunedin, where she set up a private practice which she maintained for 30 years.
In 1905, Siedeberg was appointed as first medical officer (later superintendent) of St Helen’s Hospital, a position she retained until 1938. She was medical officer at the Caversham Industrial School (1907-1930) and anaesthetist at the Dental School (1921-31).
In 1928 she married banker James McKinnon and became known as Dr Siedeberg-McKinnon. In the 1930s she was the inspiration behind the Otago Pioneer Women’s Memorial Association.
Janet November. In the Footsteps of Ethel Benjamin, New Zealand’s First Woman Lawyer. Wellington: Victoria University Press for the Law Foundation of New Zealand, 2009.
Ethel Rebecca Benjamin (1875-1943) was New Zealand’s first woman lawyer.
Born in Dunedin to a prominent Jewish family, Benjamin attended Otago Girls’ High School (1883-1892) where she excelled in her studies. She enrolled for an LLB degree at the University of Otago in 1893 and graduated in 1897.
The Female Law Practitioners Act passed in 1896 and Benjamin gave effect to the new legislation when she was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand. Despite facing discrimination in a previously exclusively male profession, Benjamin established a successful practice, based in the Albert Buildings in Princess Street.
Janet November. In the Footsteps of Ethel Benjamin, New Zealand’s First Woman Lawyer. Wellington: Victoria University Press for the Law Foundation of New Zealand, 2009.
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Silvia Cartwright. The Report of the Cervical Cancer Inquiry, 1988. Auckland: The Committee, 1988.
Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright (1943-) is a distinguished New Zealand jurist.
Born in Dunedin, Silvia Cartwright (née Poulter) was a student at Otago Girls’ High School from 1957 to 1961. She graduated with an LLB from the University of Otago in 1967.
After several years in private practice, she embarked on a judicial career that culminated in her appointment to the High Court – the first woman in New Zealand to achieve this.
In 1987-88, Cartwright chaired the Commission of Inquiry into the Treatment of Cervical Cancer and Other Related Matters at National Women’s Hospital. She was made a Dame in 1989 and served as Governor General of New Zealand from 2001-2006.
Silvia Cartwright. The Report of the Cervical Cancer Inquiry, 1988. Auckland: The Committee, 1988.
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Mai Chen. Women and Discrimination: New Zealand and the UN Convention. Wellington: Victoria University Press for the Institute of Policy Studies, 1989.
Mai Chen is a New Zealand lawyer specialising in public law.
Born in Taiwan, Mai Chen emigrated to New Zealand with her family where she attended Otago Girls’ High School from 1977 to 1981. She studied at the University of Otago before completing a master’s degree from the Harvard Law School. She is the Managing Partner of Chen Palmer, Australasia’s first public law specialist firm which she founded in 1994.
Chen’s published works include a book marking the tenth anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the comprehensive Public Law Toolbox, first published in 2012.
Mai Chen. Women and Discrimination: New Zealand and the UN Convention. Wellington: Victoria University Press for the Institute of Policy Studies, 1989.
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