Player, Mary Josephine (c. 1857–1924)

views updated

Player, Mary Josephine (c. 1857–1924)

New Zealand midwife, social-welfare worker and reformer, and feminist. Name variations: Mary Josephine Crampton. Born Mary Josephine Crampton, c. 1857 or 1858, in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland; died Jan 5, 1924, in Atawhai, Nelson. New Zealand; dau. of Patrick Crampton and Mary (O'Brien) Crampton; m. Edward Player (shopkeeper), 1877 (died 1905); children: 7.

Immigrated to New Zealand (1874); served as midwife to local disadvantaged women; founded Women's Social and Political League (WSPL, 1894), and served as its 1st president; lobbied for Women's Branch of Department of Labor, which was established in 1895; to support family after death of husband, nursed incurable patients and provided home for their families.

See also Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 2).