Mary Josephine Player

Mary Josephine Player ( Crampton; 1857 – 5 January 1924) was a New Zealand servant, midwife, welfare worker, feminist and social reformer.

Biography She was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in about 1857 as Mary Josephine Crampton. She founded the Women's Social and Political League in Wellington and was its president for many years. Based on her proposals and through lobbying of William Pember Reeves, the Minister of Labour, the Department of Labour established a women's branch. Through political infighting within the organisation, Player resigned the presidency and was replaced by Louisa Seddon, whose objective it was to endorse the increasingly conservative policies of the Liberal Government, which was led by her husband Richard Seddon. She was buried at Karori Cemetery next to her husband.