Memorial unveiled for Gisborne suffragist Agnes Scott at Taruheru Cemetery

Mayor Rehette Stoltz (left), Jane Wilkie, Diane McMillan, Ruth Newton, Niki Joyce, Rob Dymock, Meg Stewart and Dame Ingrid Collins with the new memorial headstone of Agnes and Francis Scott. Photo / Rebecca Grunwell

• A memorial headstone for suffragist Agnes Scott and her husband Francis was unveiled at Taruheru Cemetery.
• Scott was the first woman member of the Cook Hospital Board in 1925 and a significant social worker.
• The ceremony highlighted Scott’s contributions to Gisborne, including her role in the Gisborne Women’s Political Association.

A moving ceremony was held at Taruheru Cemetery on Sunday at the unveiling of a memorial headstone for suffragist Agnes Scott and her husband Francis.

Scott has been described as an “earnest social worker” and was the first woman member of the Cook Hospital board in 1925.

About 60 people attended the ceremony, which had been organised by the Agnes Scott Memorial Committee, made up of Jean Johnston, Jan Crawford and Ruth Newman.

Gisborne Hospital chaplain Reverend Patsy Ngata-Hills led the proceedings, while Jan Crawford spoke of the importance of honouring a woman who had made such a meaningful contribution to Gisborne.

Group director operations at Gisborne Hospital John Swiatczak focused on the health emphasis to Scott’s compassionate work and her role as the first woman elected to the hospital board in Gisborne.

Piper Robert Hunter from the City of Gisborne Highland Pipe Band leads the procession to the graveside of the new memorial headstone for Agnes and Francis Scott at the Taruheru Cemetery. Photo / Rebecca Grunwell

Historian Jean Johnston said it was wonderful to commemorate someone who had been a formidable force in Gisborne but had been forgotten in the history of Tairāwhiti and lay in an unmarked grave in Taruheru cemetery.

Johnston featured Scott in her book Ambitious Gisborne Women – The organisations they established and their impact on Tairawhiti 1875-1929 and had discovered her unmarked grave while carrying out research.

It was the book that had prompted the idea to create the memorial headstone and the fundraising committee was formed to make it happen.

The gathering began at Stonehaven on Nelson Rd, where people were given a service sheet and then followed piper Robert Hunter from the Gisborne Highland Pipe Band to the graveside.

Dame Ingrid Collins and Swiatczak removed the tartan fabric that covered the headstone, unveiling the memorial.

Dame Ingrid Collins and John Swiatczak remove the tartan fabric to reveal the memorial headstone for Agnes and Francis Scott at Taruheru Cemetery in Gisborne. Photo / Rebecca Grunwell

The ceremony finished with the singing of Te Whakaaria Mai, How Great Thou Art.

A Scottish-themed afternoon tea was provided by the Gisborne Women’s Institute before the unveiling ceremony.

Scott was the first woman elected to the Cook Hospital Board 100 years ago.

The former nurse was also part of the Gisborne Women’s Political Association, secretary of the Cook County Woman’s Guild and a trustee of the town’s first children’s creche, which was later named the Heni Materoa Children’s Home.

Her name and address can be found on the 1892 Gisborne Suffrage petition, which 220 local women signed.

A strategic political worker in support of the liberal cause, she joined forces with and supported Margaret Home Sievwright when she addressed more than 200 women prior to Gisborne women voting for the first time in the parliamentary elections on November 28, 1893.

Her catchphrase to any visiting politician was “just push us forward”.

Rob Dymock, Meg Stewart, Diane McMillan, Niki Joyce and Jane Wilkie wear the uniform worn by nurses in World War I at the unveiling ceremony at Taruheru Cemetery.