Hilda Ross

Dame Grace Hilda Cuthbertha Ross (née Nixon; 6 July 1883 – 6 March 1959), known as Hilda Ross, was a New Zealand politician for the National Party and an activist.

Early years Nixon was born in Auckland to Adam (a fireman who later became a marine engineer) and Zillah (Johnson) Nixon. Her family lived in both Sydney and Auckland, and she received her education in these cities. She trained as a music teacher and later conducted the Hamilton City Choral Operatic Society.

Family In 1904, she married Harry Campbell Manchester Ross (died 1940) in Auckland. Her husband founded a furnishing company, "Barton and Ross". They had four sons, including twins who died in infancy. The twins were born in 1907 and survived only a few days but were baptised.

Political career

Her first elected posts were the Waikato Hospital Board (1941) and the Hamilton Borough Council (1944). She was Deputy Mayor of Hamilton in 1945. Following the death of the incumbent MP for Hamilton, Frank Findlay, she won the to represent the electorate in the New Zealand Parliament, where she remained until her death 14 years later in 1959. As MP, she held various posts in the First National Government, including Member of the Executive Council (1949–1957), Minister of Social Security (1957), Minister of Welfare of Women and Children (1949–1957), and Minister of Child Welfare (1954–1957). In 1953, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. Ross was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1956 New Year Honours. She died on 6 March 1959 in Hamilton.

Quote "The Country is today enjoying so much prosperity that married women with children should wake up to their responsibilities in the home and stay at home".

Legacy Dame Hilda Ross Memorial Arts Centre & Dame Hilda Ross Memorial Arts Centre Appeal A statue of Ross was erected in Hamilton in 2020.

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