Noeline Baker
title: "Noeline Baker" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1878-births", "1958-deaths", "new-zealand-suffragists", "new-zealand-gardeners", "activists-from-christchurch", "new-zealand-musicians", "people-from-stewart-island", "strachey-family", "members-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire", "people-educated-at-samuel-marsden-collegiate-school"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noeline_Baker" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Noeline Baker |
| image | Noeline Baker at Moturoa Moana crop.jpg |
| caption | Noeline Baker in 1953 |
| birth_name | Isabel Noeline Baker |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Christchurch, New Zealand |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Stewart Island, New Zealand |
| nationality | New Zealander |
| alma_mater | Fitzherbert Terrace School |
| occupation | Social Activist, Suffragist, Botanist |
| :: |
| name = Noeline Baker | image = Noeline Baker at Moturoa Moana crop.jpg | alt = | caption = Noeline Baker in 1953 | birth_name = Isabel Noeline Baker | birth_date = | birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand | death_date = | death_place = Stewart Island, New Zealand | nationality = New Zealander | alma_mater = Fitzherbert Terrace School | other_names = | occupation = Social Activist, Suffragist, Botanist | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse =
Isabel Noeline Baker (25 December 1878 – 25 August 1958) was a New Zealand suffragist, wartime women's labour administrator, gardener, and peace educator.
Biography
She was born in the Christchurch suburb of Opawa, New Zealand on 25 December 1878 to Isabel Baker (née Strachey) and John Holland Baker, chief surveyor of Canterbury. Isabel (1845–1920) was a daughter of Richard Strachey of Ashwick Grove, Somerset, the third son of Sir Henry Strachey, 1st Baronet. Isabel's mother, Anne Marie (or Anna Maria), was a daughter of Alexander Powell MP, a Tory member of parliament for Downton, Wiltshire.
She attended Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Wellington, then known as Fitzherbert Terrace School. Her parents returned to England living in Guildford, Surrey, where Baker was active in the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and a founding member of the local branch. She was also a member of the London Society for Women's Suffrage. For her organising of women's labour during World War I, she was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1920.
She returned to New Zealand and built a house at Halfmoon Bay on Stewart Island called Moturau Moana, and used a checklist by botanist Leonard Cockayne to populate it with all the local indigenous plants. Today Moturau Moana is New Zealand's southernmost public garden after she donated it to the government. For her botanical work at Moturau Moana, Baker was awarded the Loder Cup in 1949. Other items of hers are held by Te Papa, the national museum in Wellington.
She edited her father's account of his time in New Zealand and performed music throughout her life.
Baker died on 25 August 1958 on Stewart Island.
For her work in England during World War I, she was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in 2015.
References
References
- (1999). "Strachey". Burke's Peerage.
- Farrell, Steven. "Powell, Alexander (1782–1847)". [[Institute of Historical Research]].
- "Hall of Fame Marsden Karori". [[Samuel Marsden Collegiate School]].
- {{London Gazette. (26 March 1920)
- Taylor, Leah. "Isabel Noeline Baker".
- "All Loder Cup winners from 1929". [[Department of Conservation (New Zealand).
- (2012). "Portrait of a young man – Collections Online – Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa". collections.tepapa.govt.nz.
- (1932). "A surveyor in New Zealand, 1857–1896 : the recollections of John Baker". [[Whitcombe & Tombs]].
- (6 February 1896). "Trinity College Instrumental and Vocal Examinations". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
- (6 May 1938). "W.D.F.U. Social and Dance". Ellesmere Guardian.
- "(Isabel) Noeline Baker". [[Samuel Marsden Collegiate School]].
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::