Jocelyn Fish
{{Short description|New Zealand politician (1930–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dame Jocelyn Fish
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|DNZM|CBE|JP|size=100%}}
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Jocelyn Barbara Green
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|09|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = Whangārei, New Zealand
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|09|19|1930|09|29|df=y}}
| death_place = Hamilton, New Zealand
| spouse = {{marriage|John Fish|1959}}
| children = 3
| occupation = Schoolteacher
| alma_mater = Auckland University College
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Fish {{post-nominals|country=NZL|DNZM|CBE|JP|size=85%}} (née Green; 29 September 1930 – 19 September 2021) was a New Zealand women's rights campaigner.
Biography
Fish was born Jocelyn Barbara Green, the daughter of Edna and John Green, at Whangārei on 29 September 1930.{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alister |last2=Coddington |first2=Deborah |authorlink1=Alister Taylor |authorlink2=Deborah Coddington |title=Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand |year=1994 |publisher=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa |location=Auckland |isbn=0-908578-34-2 |page=141}} She was educated at Whangarei High School and Hamilton High School, and went on to study at Auckland University College, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1952.{{cite web |url=https://wgweducationaltrust.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dame-Jocelyn-Fish-biographical-information.pdf |title=Dame Jocelyn Fish biographical information |publisher=Waikato Graduate Women Educational Trust |accessdate=15 August 2019}}{{cite web |url=http://shadowsoftime.co.nz/university10.html |title=NZ university graduates 1870–1961: G |website=Shadows of Time |accessdate=15 August 2019}} She trained as a secondary school teacher, and taught at Fairfield College until her marriage to Robert John Malthus Fish, a farmer, in 1959. The couple had three children.
In 1980, Jocelyn Fish was elected as a Piako County councillor, the first woman in that role, and served until 1989. She was national president of the National Council of Women from 1986 to 1990, and served as a member of the Film and Literature Board of Review between 1981 and 1984. She was a member of the New Zealand national commission of UNESCO between 1989 and 1995, and was one of a group of women who lobbied for 1993 to be recognised as Women's Suffrage Year in New Zealand.
Fish died in Hamilton on 19 September 2021, aged 90.{{cite news |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/451977/women-s-rights-leader-dame-jocelyn-fish-dies-at-90 |title=Women's rights leader Dame Jocelyn Fish dies at 90 |date=21 September 2021 |work=RNZ News |access-date=21 September 2021}}{{cite news |url=https://notices.nzherald.co.nz/obituaries/nzherald-nz/obituary.aspx?n=dame-jocelyn-barbara-fish&pid=200216263 |title=Jocelyn Fish death notice |date=25 September 2021 |work= The New Zealand Herald |access-date=25 September 2021}}
Honours and awards
In 1990, Fish received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. The following year, in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community,{{London Gazette |issue=52564 |date=15 June 1991 |page=30 |supp=2}} and in 1993 she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/our-programmes/new-zealand-royal-honours/new-zealand-royal-honours-system/types-new-zealand-royal-honours/other-distinctive-new-zealand-honours/suffrage-medal-register |title=New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 – register of recipients |date=26 July 2018 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=15 August 2019}} In the 2001 New Year Honours, Fish was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to women and the community,{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/new-year-honours-list-2001 |title=New Year honours list 2001 |date=30 December 2000 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=15 August 2019}} and in 2009, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government, she accepted redesignation as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/special-honours-list-1-august-2009 |title=Special honours list 1 August 2009 |date=5 April 2011 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=15 August 2019}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, Jocelyn}}
Category:People from Whangārei
Category:People educated at Whangārei Girls' High School
Category:People educated at Hamilton Girls' High School
Category:University of Auckland alumni
Category:New Zealand schoolteachers
Category:Local politicians in New Zealand
Category:New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993