Browsing by Author "Tennant, Margaret"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Indigence and charitable aid in New Zealand 1885-1920 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1981) Tennant, Margaret
    This thesis studies the administration of public relief through the charitable aid system in New Zealand, 1885 - 1920. This was a formative, and somewhat neglected period in the history of New Zealand's 'welfare state', one in which notions of social efficiency mingled with the more benevolent motives usually attributed to social welfare. Politicians and charitable aid administrators found it hard to reconcile the presence of 'social evils' with the hope and promise of a new society, and assumed that they could distinguish between the 'deserving' and the 'undeserving' poor. The thesis also studies policy implementation, noting first the points of tension in the governing Act. It examines the different 'levels' of administration, represented by the Department of Hospitals and Charitable Institutions, as it was first called, by the different types of hospital and charitable aid boards, and by the relieving officers and others involved in the daily administration of relief. It is argued that those on the receiving end were no less important in shaping the charitable aid system than those administering it, and the later chapters examine the different categories of 'the poor', the forms of assistance given them, and the interaction of charitable aid with wholly state welfare activities, and with voluntary charity. There was a gap between policy aims, which were based on a rigid assessment of the poor, and actual achievements. Rigorous policy aims were undermined by a complex social reality.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Matrons with a mission : women's organisations in New Zealand, 1893-1915 : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1976) Tennant, Margaret
    There have consistently been two aspects to the development of a generalised feminist consciousness. One has involved the personal drive toward autonomy and self determination - the expression of which resulted mainly in individual onslaughts on male-oriented systems of education and employment - the other, the combination of forces for the attainment of a more comprehensive system of social, economic and legal rights. However they went about it, feminists always sought to have women determine for themselves their own sphere in life, and to have them develop their talents and faculties to the fullest without the restraints of sexually-circumscribed notions of what was permissible or proper. In this country the organised aspect of feminist effort was manifest in the campaign for women's suffrage, which finally resulted in New Zealand becoming the first national state to enfranchise its women on the same terms as its men. The franchise campaign has received thorough coverage in Patricia Grimshaw's book Women's Suffrege in New Zealand, which argues for the independent role played by the Women's Christian Temperance Union in the agitation, and for the genuine feminist motivation behind the Union's activities. Following the acquisition of the vote, several commentators in overseas journals remarked on the proliferation of women's societies in New Zealand that were devoted to political organisation and social reform, and, in 1896 the National Council of Women came into being to co-ordinate the activities of these bodies. And yet, in 1910 Mrs Kate Sheppard, the leader of the franchise movement wrote that women's societies in New Zealand were few and, where they did exist, worked largely in isolation. Something had obviously happened to undermine the sense of purpose and enthusiasm which had inspired so many women in the previous decade.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Two to tango: the partnership between charity and the welfare state in New Zealand 1940-1970
    (University of Auckland, 2008) Tennant, Margaret
    The article examines the interdependence between the state and the voluntary social services during the period of the classic welfare state from the 1940s to the 1970s in New Zealand. It says that historiography is most neglectful of charity and voluntary welfare, the state's hegemony seeming most securely entrenched from the 1940s to the 1970s. It focuses on the general niche claimed by established voluntary organizations as the welfare state expanded and at their mutually dependent relationship with government agencies and administrators.