Jill Amos
Jill Edwina Amos CNZM (née Turner, 26 August 1927 – 19 April 2017) was a New Zealand politician and community leader.
Jill Amos CNZM | |
---|---|
Amos c. 1980 | |
Born | Jill Edwina Turner 26 August 1927 Devonport, New Zealand |
Died | 19 April 2017 89) | (aged
Political party | Labour |
Spouse(s) | Phil Amos (m. 1949; div. c.1978) |
Children | 3 |
Biography
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]
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.[9]
Amos died on 19 April 2017, aged 89. She was survived by two of her three children.[10]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jill Amos. |
- "Jill Amos". HeavenAddress. 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- "Births". The New Zealand Herald. 29 August 1927. p. 1. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- 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.
- 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.
- "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.