Margaret Evans (mayor)

Evans was born in Feilding on 31 August 1944, and was educated at New Plymouth Girls' High School.{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alister |last2=Coddington |first2=Deborah |author-link1=Alister Taylor |author-link2=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=135}} She studied at the University of Waikato in 1964.

First elected to the Hamilton City Council in 1974, Evans was a city councillor until 1989, including a period as deputy mayor from 1983 to 1988. She was elected mayor of Hamilton in 1989. She was also a member of the Auckland Harbour Board between 1986 and 1989, and the Waikato Regional Council from 1989 until 1992. Evans also served on the Waikato Electricity Authority and the Council of the University of Waikato.

Evans was a member of the New Zealand Party, founded by businessman Bob Jones, and she stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in the Hamilton East electorate in the 1984 election.{{sfn|Norton|1988|p=234}}

In 2003 Evans completed a master's thesis at the University of Waikato, on the role of mayor in New Zealand.{{cite thesis |last=Evans |first=Margaret |year=2003 |type=Masters thesis |title=The role of the mayor in New Zealand |publisher=Waikato Research Commons, University of Waikato |hdl=10289/8242 |url=https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/8242}}

In 1990, Evans received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in 1993 she was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal.{{cite web |url=https://www.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=The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 – register of recipients |date=26 July 2018 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=18 September 2018}} In the 1995 New Year Honours, Evans was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to local government.{{London Gazette |issue=53894 |date=31 December 1994 |page=34 |supp=2}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last = Norton |first = Clifford |title = New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science |year = 1988 |publisher = Victoria University of Wellington |location = Wellington |isbn = 0-475-11200-8 }}

• [https://heritage.hamiltonlibraries.co.nz/objects/1888/mayor-evans-at-the-reopening-of-the-victoria-bridge 1990s photo]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Margaret}}

Category:1944 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Feilding

Category:People educated at New Plymouth Girls' High School

Category:University of Waikato alumni

Category:Mayors of Hamilton, New Zealand

Category:Women mayors of places in New Zealand

Category:Auckland Harbour Board members

Category:Waikato regional councillors

Category:New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993

Category:New Zealand justices of the peace

Category:New Zealand Party politicians

Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1984 New Zealand general election