Agnes Faulkner (1891-1986)

Agnes Faulkner, 1891–1986

Agnes Emily Aurora Faulkner (née Davies) was born at Ōpunake in 1891, one of thirteen children. She moved to Tauranga as a child and began working as a tailoress at about thirteen. In 1912 she married Robert Henry “Barley” Faulkner in Rotorua.

For approximately twenty years, Agnes handled bookings, accounts and telephone enquiries for the family’s ferry business. In her oral history interview, she described running its telephone service from the family home before the business obtained an office on the wharf. Enquiries came through the household telephone at all hours, restricting her opportunities to leave home. The business carried passengers between Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, alongside work involving fishing and towing logs.

Her involvement in the Country Women’s Institute provided an opening into community work. She recalled attending a meeting featuring a demonstration of leather glove making after a doctor advised her to get out of the house more often. She subsequently served as secretary and voluntary organiser. She also travelled to Denmark as a delegate to a meeting of the Associated Country Women of the World. The journey, undertaken by sea, kept her away from New Zealand for seven months.

After attending first aid and home nursing classes, Agnes became superintendent of Tauranga’s St John nursing division when it formed on 4 May 1934. She recalled taking the position without previous practical nursing experience and studying to prepare for the division’s practices. Her subsequent service included ambulance duties and district responsibilities. She later became an Officer of the Order of St John.

From Tauranga Photo News No. 51, page 44

Agnes served on the Tauranga Hospital Board and campaigned for a maternity annexe. She was motivated by her experience accompanying a woman in labour who could not obtain maternity accommodation in Tauranga. An attempted transfer to Te Puke was abandoned after word arrived that no bed was available there either.

Her other community activities included assisting with children’s welfare, distributing assistance through the Mayor’s Relief Fund and campaigning for women’s public conveniences. She belonged to the Women’s Representative Committee, which she described as subsequently becoming the local National Council of Women, and participated in the Business and Professional Women’s organisation. Her road safety work was recognised with a presentation marking twenty-five years of service.

Faulkner was a Justice of the Peace, a life member of the Tauranga Historical Society and a volunteer at the Tauranga District Museum. She was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.) in 1958. She died at Tauranga in 1986, aged ninety-five.