Jill Amos
Jill Amos | |
|---|---|
 Amos c. 1980 | |
| Born | Jill Edwina Turner 26 August 1927 Devonport, New Zealand |
| Died | 19 April 2017 (aged 89) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Phil Amos (m. 1949; div. c.1978) |
| Children | 3 |
Jill Edwina Amos CNZM (née Turner, 26 August 1927 – 19 April 2017) was a New Zealand politician and community leader.
Biography
[edit]Born in the Auckland suburb of Devonport on 26 August 1927, Amos was the daughter of Charles Edwin Ross Turner and Lucy Caroline Turner (née Mansfield).[1][2] She married Phil Amos in 1949, and the couple, both schoolteachers, taught in various isolated New Zealand communities.[3] They had two sons, and an adopted daughter.[4] Phil Amos was a Member of Parliament from 1963 to 1975, and served as a cabinet minister in the third Labour government (1972–1975).[3] In 1977, Jill and Phil Amos went to Tanzania to teach, but Jill Amos returned to New Zealand the following year and the couple divorced.[3] Before she left Tanzania she nominated for the Labour candidacy for the electorate of Papatoetoe. She posted a cassette tape which was played at the selection meeting in her stead. She was unsuccessful in her bid for the nomination.[5]
Jill Amos was appointed as a justice of the peace in 1980,[6] and served as the president of the Citizens Association for Racial Equality between 1980 and 1981.[7] A long-time Labour Party member, she went on to be elected as a Manukau City Councillor (1974–77; 1980–90) and an Auckland Regional Councillor (1980–83). She was one of the founders of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, and during the 1994 South African election she was a United Nations observer.[6][8]
She was in favour of homosexual law reform in New Zealand and listed her name openly in support.[9]
Amos was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal in 1993.[6] In the 2001 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the community.[10]
Amos died at home in Katikati on 19 April 2017, aged 89. She was survived by two of her three children.[11]
References
[edit]
- ^ "Jill Amos". HeavenAddress. 2017. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ "Births". The New Zealand Herald. 29 August 1927. p. 1. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Pickmere, Arnold (16 June 2007). "Obituary: Phil Amos". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ Trotter, Chris (13 June 2007). "A reformer with a clear school of thought". Independent Financial Review. p. 11.
- ^ "Walkout risk may upset seat choice". Auckland Star. 6 August 1977. p. 1.
- ^ a b c Taylor, Alister, ed. (2001). New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001. Auckland: Alister Taylor Publishers. ISSN 1172-9813.
- ^ "Voice of '81 protests heard worldwide". Sunday Star Times. 12 August 2001. p. 12.
- ^ Young, Audrey (30 December 2001). "New Year Honours: Polytech pioneer well connected". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ "We Support Homosexual Law Reform". The Press. 20 April 1985. p. 6.
- ^ "New Year honours list 2001". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2000. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ "Jill Amos death notice". The New Zealand Herald. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
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- 1927 births
- 2017 deaths
- People from North Shore, New Zealand
- New Zealand schoolteachers
- New Zealand activists
- New Zealand women activists
- 20th-century New Zealand women politicians
- New Zealand Labour Party politicians
- Manukau City Councillors
- Auckland regional councillors
- Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993
- Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit
- 20th-century New Zealand politicians
- New Zealand Labour Party politician stubs