Rorke, Jean Euphemia Finlayson, née Hill, 1942-2014 (Person)

Career: Five years teaching at St  Croix. Initially a relief teacher in Tauranga, in 1980 she took the role of city archivist, restructured following the local body amalgamation to Special Services Librarian.At Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga Library she assisted Treaty claims researchers and New Zealand Room visitors, contributing to many research reports. From August 1994 she contributed history articles each Monday to the Bay of Plenty Times.

Publications include: Policing two peoples : a history of police in the Bay of Plenty, 1867-1992 (c. 1993) and The voyages of the Palantir (2nd edition c. 2019).

Organisations: The Elms Mission House Trust (Secretary); New Zealand Historic Places Trust Bay of Plenty District Committee (Tauranga Branch) (founding member and Chairperson); Tauranga Historical Society; Tauranga Moana Museum Trust.

Awards: Queens Service Medal for services to heritage activities in the Bay of Plenty in 2007. Highly commended for Sherrard Regional History Awards in September 1994 for her police history.

Travels: Arrived in Tauranga with her family on board the yacht 'Palantir' in October 1976, having set sail from England in 1969. Sailed via the Caribbean, French Polynesia, Virgin Islands and the Pacific. 

Education: Degree in French and German at a Scottish University. Diploma in Library and Information Studies, 1995, Victoria University. Certificate in Māori Studies, 1990, University of Waikato.