# Stella Casey
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stella_Casey
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stella_Casey.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Casey
> Source revision: 1298329230
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|New Zealand activist (1924–2000)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=March 2015}}
'''Dame Stella Katherine Casey''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|DBE|size=85%}} (née '''Wright'''; 22 May 1924 – 7 July 2000) was a [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand) campaigner for social issues as well as a prominent member of various national organisations.
==Early life and family==
Stella Katherine Wright was born in [New Plymouth](/source/New_Plymouth) on 22 May 1924, the daughter of Stella Regina Wright (née Hickey, 1887–1973), a schoolteacher prior to her wedding, and William James Wright (1883–1959).[{{cite news|date=22 July 2000|first1=Josie|last1=Clarke|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=145212|title=Obituary: Stella Casey|work=[The New Zealand Herald](/source/The_New_Zealand_Herald)|accessdate=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231042023/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=145212|archive-date=31 December 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}][{{cite news|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=HNS19210702.2.17|title=Opunake|work=Hawera & Normanby Star|date=2 July 1921|accessdate=31 December 2014|volume=XLI|page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231052916/http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=HNS19210702.2.17|archive-date=31 December 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}][{{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=93}}] She was a [Roman Catholic](/source/Catholic_Church).
She was raised at her family dairy farm in Taranaki[{{Cite web |title=Casey, Stella Katherine (Dame), 1924-2000 |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22421168#:~:text=After%20gaining%20a%20bachelor%20of%20arts, |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=natlib.govt.nz}}] and was educated at [Opunake District High School](/source/Opunake_High_School), and [Sacred Heart College, Christchurch](/source/Sacred_Heart_College%2C_Christchurch).[{{cite web|first1=Geoff|last1=Adlam|url=http://my.lawsociety.org.nz/in-practice/people/obituaries/obituaries-list/rt-hon-sir-maurice-eugene-casey-1923-2012|title=Rt Hon Sir Maurice Eugene Casey, 1923–2012|publisher=[New Zealand Law Society](/source/New_Zealand_Law_Society)|accessdate=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231042421/http://my.lawsociety.org.nz/in-practice/people/obituaries/obituaries-list/rt-hon-sir-maurice-eugene-casey-1923-2012|archive-date=31 December 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}] The couple had either nine[{{cite news|date=21 January 2012|first1=Yvonne|last1=Tahana|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10780155|title=Judge's ruling halted divisive All Black tour|work=[The New Zealand Herald](/source/The_New_Zealand_Herald)|accessdate=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231034925/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10780155|archive-date=31 December 2014|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}] children (sources vary).
==Community activities==
Casey was a member of the [Catholic Women's League](/source/Catholic_Women's_League),[{{Cite book |last=Hercock |first=Fay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=As0WooTC52MC&dq=Stella+Casey&pg=PA163 |title=Alice: The Making of a Woman Doctor, 1914–1974 |date=1999 |publisher=Auckland University Press |isbn=978-1-86940-206-8 |pages=164 |language=en}}] the [National Council of Women](/source/National_Council_of_Women_of_New_Zealand),[{{Cite book |last=McIntyre |first=Roberta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_9ynYbrnPYC&dq=Stella+Casey&pg=PA138 |title=The Women's Parliament: The National Council of the Women of New Zealand, 1896–1920 |date=1996 |publisher=Victoria University Press |isbn=978-0-86473-299-6 |language=en}}] the [Christchurch Polytechnic](/source/Christchurch_Polytechnic_Institute_of_Technology) Council and the New Zealand branch of the [Federation of University Women](/source/International_Federation_of_University_Women). She compiled a history of the Catholic Women's League of New Zealand which was published just after her death in 2000.[{{Cite web |title=50 years of resolution / Stella Casey |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22433904#:~:text=History%20of%20the%20Catholic%20Women's%20League |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=natlib.govt.nz}}][{{Cite book |last=Page |first=Dorothy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7S3AAAAIAAJ&q=Stella+Casey |title=The National Council of Women: A Centennial History |date=1996 |publisher=Auckland University Press |isbn=978-1-86940-154-2 |pages=220 |language=en}}]
She started her first campaign in 1969 in [Browns Bay](/source/Browns_Bay%2C_New_Zealand) on [Auckland](/source/Auckland)'s [East Coast Bays](/source/East_Coast_Bays) when she objected to pornography being on display in shops; this resulted in a nationwide debate.[{{Cite book |last=New Zealand Parliament |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b10hAQAAIAAJ&dq=Stella+Casey+drugs&pg=PA757 |title=Parliamentary Debates: House of Representatives |date=1971 |language=en}}] and writing an article titled "[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0kGntgAACAAJ&dq=Stella+Casey+drugs&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&redir_esc=y Drugs and the Young New Zealander]"[{{Cite book |last=Casey |first=Stella Katherine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kGntgAACAAJ&q=Stella+Casey+drugs |title=Drugs and the Young New Zealander |date=1968 |publisher=C.S.L. Publications |language=en}}] for the ''Catholic Women's League in the Diocese of Auckland Publications''.[{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBUHAQAAIAAJ&q=Stella+Casey |title=Review: Drugs and the Young New Zealander |date=1968 |publisher=New Zealand Quarterly Review |language=en}}]
==Honours and awards==
In the [1991 New Year Honours](/source/1991_New_Year_Honours_(New_Zealand)), Casey was appointed a [Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Dame_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire), for services to the community.[{{London Gazette|issue=52383|date=31 December 1990|page=29|supp=2}}] Later that year, in the [Queen's Birthday Honours](/source/1991_Birthday_Honours), her husband, by then a [Court of Appeal](/source/Court_of_Appeal_of_New_Zealand) judge, was appointed a [Knight Bachelor](/source/Knight_Bachelor).[{{London Gazette|issue=52564|date=14 June 1991|page=29|supp=y}}] In 1993, Stella Casey was awarded the [New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal](/source/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 |accessdate=18 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918090949/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 |archive-date=18 September 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}]
==Death==
Casey died in [Wellington](/source/Wellington) on 7 July 2000, aged 76.