Jocelyn Fish

New Zealand politician (1930–2021)

Dame Jocelyn Fish

DNZM CBE JP

Born|

Jocelyn Barbara Green

(1930-09-29)29 September 1930

Whangārei, New Zealand

Died| 19 September 2021(2021-09-19) (aged 90)

Hamilton, New Zealand

Alma mater| Auckland University College
Occupation| Schoolteacher
Spouse|

John Fish

(m. 1959)​

Children| 3

Dame Jocelyn Barbara Fish DNZM CBE JP (née Green; 29 September 1930 – 19 September 2021) was a New Zealand women's rights campaigner.

## Biography

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Fish was born Jocelyn Barbara Green, the daughter of Edna and John Green, at Whangārei on 29 September 1930.[1] She was educated at Whangarei High School and Hamilton High School, and went on to study at Auckland University College, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1952.[1][2][3] She trained as a secondary school teacher, and taught at Fairfield College until her marriage to Robert John Malthus Fish, a farmer, in 1959.[1][2] The couple had three children.[1]

In 1980, Jocelyn Fish was elected as a Piako County councillor, the first woman in that role, and served until 1989.[2] She was national president of the National Council of Women from 1986 to 1990, and served as a member of the Film and Literature Board of Review between 1981 and 1984.[2] She was a member of the New Zealand national commission of UNESCO between 1989 and 1995, and was one of a group of women who lobbied for 1993 to be recognised as Women's Suffrage Year in New Zealand.[2]

Fish died in Hamilton on 19 September 2021, aged 90.[4][5]

## Honours and awards

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In 1990, Fish received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.[1] The following year, in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community,[6] and in 1993 she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.[7] In the 2001 New Year Honours, Fish was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to women and the community,[8] and in 2009, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government, she accepted redesignation as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.[9]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e Taylor, Alister; Coddington, Deborah (1994). Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand. Auckland: New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. p. 141\. ISBN 0-908578-34-2.
2. ^ a b c d e "Dame Jocelyn Fish biographical information" (PDF). Waikato Graduate Women Educational Trust. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
3. ^ "NZ university graduates 1870–1961: G". Shadows of Time. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
4. ^ "Women's rights leader Dame Jocelyn Fish dies at 90". RNZ News. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
5. ^ "Jocelyn Fish death notice". The New Zealand Herald. 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
6. ^ "No. 52564". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 15 June 1991. p. 30.
7. ^ "New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 – register of recipients". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
8. ^ "New Year honours list 2001". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2000. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
9. ^ "Special honours list 1 August 2009". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2019.

*[m.]: married