Who was Elizabeth Reid McCombs?

Elizabeth Reid McCombs was born in Kaiapoi, New Zealand, on the 19th Nov 1873. She was the first woman elected to parliament.

Her father, a storeman, died in 1886,leaving the family in severe financial distress. Nevertheless, Elizabeth had one term of secondary education at Christchurch Girls' High School in 1889.

Her three elder sisters were members of a very select socialist club which stimulated her political thinking. By 1889, she was on the committee of the Progressive Liberal Association.

On 25 June 1903, she married James McCombs, a draper. They had 2 children. As a member of parliament from 1913, James was absent whenever the House was in session. Both husband and wife were committed socialists and belonged to the Christchurch Socialist Church. When he became president of the New Zealand's Labour Party in 1916, she was elected as a member of the executive and stood twice, unsuccessfully, for the parliamentary seat for Kaiapoi in 1928, and Christchurch North in 1931.

James McCombs died in 1933, and she replaced him with the support of the women's groups,despite arguments that ' the difficulties in the country were too great for women to grapple with'.

In 1933, she was elected with an overwhelming victory in Lyttelton, and became the first woman to take a seat in the House.

She suffered from asthma but despite failing health, she commuted between her home and Wellington when the House was in session. She died in 1935, on the 7 June.