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Women Car Owners: Extracted from the Waimea County Council Register of Motors, 1912-1924

Alison Johnston

By 1912 the horse was beginning to have outlived its usefulness. Horse feed was constantly rising in price and the animal was time consuming. The man or woman with a motor could be out of the yard and miles away by the time the rider had saddled up for his journey.

As motoring became increasingly popular, vehicles had to be registered. The Waimea County Council passed a resolution at a meeting on 7 March 1912 that Part II of the Motor Regulation Act 1908 would be brought into operation in the Waimea County on the first of May 1912.

The Waimea County Council Register of Motor Vehicles was gazetted on 4 April 1912, and the first entries were duly recorded on 1 May of that year. The hand-written information included the Register Number, Name and address of owner, Date Registered, Make, Weight and use of Vehicle and a Note column. Where a vehicle changed hands, the original owner's name was scratched through and the new owner's name written over the top at that entry number.

There are 2043 entries and 67 of these owners are women. By 1912 women were beginning to prefer motorcars to carriages, as they combined comfort and independence with the exciting possibility of speed.

The first woman on the Register, at Number 162, was Elizabeth Watson of Wai-iti who was registered as the owner of a 10 Horse Power Reo Car on 7 December 1912. Other women followed, but it wasn't until 1916 that the trend began to gather momentum and, by 1924 when the Register finished, it recorded the names of 67 women.

Most women owned new vehicles, with only seven having bought second hand ones. All except three were registered for "Private Use". The three exceptions were "Public Conveyances" driven by women in 1921, 1923, and 1924.

Three women owned 2¾ horse power Douglas motor cycles and two owned Ford trucks.

Who were these women? Where did they live and what sort of vehicles did they own?

The following extracts are from the Register:

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Women Car Owners from the Waimea County Council Register of Motors, 1912–1924

Name	Address	Date Regist.	Make of Car
Anstice, Sophia	Trafalgar St	26/04/17	Overland
Barker, Annie (Mrs)	Stanley Brook	29/09/24	Chevriolet Touring
Best, Adelaide	Wakatu	18/08/24	Buick
Bett, Jessie	Nile St	01/09/14	Rover 5 seater
Bett, F A (Mrs)	Trafalgar Square	25/06/20	Essex 5 seater
Bisley, Mary	Hardy St	12/12/18	Oakland
Bloomaart, Elizabeth Ella	Stoke	18/04/23	Ford
Brennan, Abina (Mrs)	Royal Hotel	10/12/17	Studebaker
Bridge, Alice	Collingwood St	11/04/17	Dodge
Burrell, Florence (Mrs)	151 Bridge St	12/01/20	Ford Touring car
Clarry (Mrs)	Nelson	05/10/17	Chevriolet
Clay, Kate Amy (Mrs)	Brightwater	20/02/18	Ford
Cock, Frederick (Mrs)	Nelson	07/05/24	Overland
Croucher, Letitia Violet	Richmond	30/04/17	Dodge 2 seater
Eden, Ethelinda	Brightwater	27/10/23	Ford
Eden, Hilda M (Mrs)	Richmond	06/10/16	not stated
Genge, Ethel (Mrs)	Wainui House	26/09/16	Cheverolet
Gibbs, Alice Winifred	Wakefield	01/06/17	Douglas motor cycle
Gilbertson, Caroline (Mrs)	Motueka	22/11/23	Ford
Gooding, Mary (Mrs)	Wakatu St	17/02/20	Buick
Gottlieb, Rose (Mrs)	Thorpe	22/10/20	Ford
Graham, Fanny (Miss)	Upper Bridge St	16/10/17	Overland
Grooby, Eva M (Mrs)	Roadmans whare	26/09/18	Saxon
Hanson, Emily (Mrs)	Spring Grove	10/04/23	Ford 5 seater
Harley, Gertrude (Miss)	Nelson	05/09/17	Overland
Harley, Gertrude Mary	Waimea Rd	01/10/18	Hubmobile
Harley, May Ellinor	Grove St	23/02/17	Overland
Henderson, Elizabeth	20/02/19	Ford
Hudson, Beatrice	Tapawera	23/06/19	Buick
Huffam, Katherine Lincoln	Motueka	16/01/13	Motor cycle "motor rover"
Hulbert, Lilian Mary (Miss)	Poole St	25/03/19	Ford 5 seater
Inwood, Irene Jane (Mrs)	Dovedale RD	20/08/24	Ford
Leebody, Dora Ellen	Russell St	15/05/24	Ford
Manks, Edith Myrtle (Mrs)	114 Waimea St	28/12/16	Buick
Martin, Anna	Stoke	05/09/17	Saxon
Mason, David (Mrs)	Puramahoi	05/05/21	Willis Knight
McNab, Mary	Port, Nelson	21/02/16	Buick 5 seaterpage 42
McNeill, Mary	Brightwater	29/01/17	Saxon 2 seater
Miller, Margaret	Motueka	11/11/22	Ford
Muntz, Mary	Upper Moutere	26/05/13	BSA
Neil, Gertrude (Mrs)	Mount St	05/01/14	Douglas motor cycle
O'Brien, Grace	"Enner Glyn"	14/02/20	Maxwell
Ollson, Daisy (Mrs)	Wakapuaka	05/10/21	Ford
Ollson, Daisy (Mrs)	Wakapuaka	13/02/23	Overland Light four
Peters, Lilian	Stoke	05/02/19	Ford
Pritchard, Emily M	Milton St	07/12/23	Overland
Renwick, Anne (Mrs)	Newstead"	26/01/20	Hudson 4/5 seater
Richmond, E M (Miss)	28 Nile St	22/04/18	Maxwell
Ross, Ethel Maud (Mrs)	Mapua	02/10/24	Dodge 5 seater
Russell, Myra Lucy (Mrs)	Stoke	09/05/24	Overland
Rutherford, Emma Elizabeth	Stoke	05/01/17	Ford
Ryder, Alice Hand (Mrs)	Riwaka	07/03/14	RGH
Shields, Constance	31 Shelbourne St	07/10/16	Jeffries
Sloan, Louisa G (Miss)	"Awanui" Tapawera	17/05/24	Douglas motor cycle
Sloss, Alice Emily	Korere	02/11/17	Ford
Stafford, Aileen B (Mrs)	Mount St	16/06/17	Maxwell
Sutton, Mrs John	Stoke	03/03/23	Rover
Thomas, Elsie Amy	Tadmor	29/10/23	Overland 5 seater
Thomason, Mabel A (Mrs)	Orinoco	30/03/20	Dodge
Trewavas, Isabella (Mrs)	Motueka	18/05/16	Briscoe 5 seater
Usher, Mary Jane	Nelson	18/05/16	Buick 5 seater
Vickerman, Rosetta (Mrs)	Tahunanui	27/02/23	Ford motor truck
Wastney, Mary (Mrs)	Alton St	18/01/24	Gray
Watson, E (Mrs)	Hope	07/07/24	Hupmobile
Watson, Elizabeth	Wai-iti	07/12/12	Reo
Woodman, Katherine	Motueka	09/01/24	Ford truck
Wratten, Catherine (Mrs)	Lower Moutere	19/02/23	Overland

Note:

The Waimea County Council Register of Motors 1912–1924 is available on microfilm at the Nelson Provincial Museum Archives at Stoke. There is a separate Index under the owners' names and it is well worth a browse to see if your ancestor's name appears on it.

Reference:

Waimea County Council. 1912–1924. Register of motors. Tasman Bays Heritage Trust/The Nelson Provincial Museum, Archives collection, fMS WAI.

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