By Rosleyn Fauth
When I think of inspiring women with ties to Timaru and South Canterbury, Jessie Mackay stands out. I visited Kakahu once and saw the plaque at the old school, but at the time I had no idea who she was. Like many, I walked past her name without knowing her story. Later I discovered she had once taught there and went on to become recognised as New Zealand’s first native-born poet, a fearless journalist and a suffragist who worked alongside Kate Sheppard.
It made me wonder how many other names we see but do not stop to ask about. How many local places hold stories of women who shaped New Zealand’s history? And what did she write about?
Jessie Mackay was born on 15 December 1864 at Double Hill Station above the Rakaia Gorge. She was the eldest child of Elizabeth Ormiston and Robert Mackay, Scottish immigrants who brought with them the stories, songs and traditions of the Highlands. Her father worked as a shepherd and later managed stations at Double Hill, Raincliff and Opuha Gorge, so her childhood was tied closely to the rhythms of Canterbury’s backcountry.
Educated at home until she was 14, Jessie then moved to Christchurch to train at the Christchurch Normal School. I imagine what that must have felt like – a farm girl stepping into the city, carrying the strength of her Highland heritage and perhaps already dreaming of a bigger world.
From 1887 to 1890 Jessie taught at Kakahu Bush School. It was a small rural school, the kind where one teacher juggled every level and every subject. Among her pupils were the children of Bullocky Jones, a local character whose name still lingers in stories.
I think about her standing in that little wooden schoolhouse, chalk in hand, teaching children who rode in over rough tracks. Did she ever read them poetry? Did she have any inkling that she would leave teaching behind to become a nationally recognised poet and journalist? These questions make her feel wonderfully human, someone who walked the same roads we do.
Jessie’s first poetry collection, The Spirit of the Rangatira, was published in 1889 when she was just 25. It blended Māori legends with Scottish ballads, bridging the two worlds she knew best.
By the early 1890s she was actively involved in the suffrage movement, collecting signatures for the petitions that led to women gaining the vote in 1893. Her poem The Sitter on the Rail criticised those who refused to take a stand, a reminder that words and action went hand in hand for her.
I picture her in Christchurch, papers tucked under her arm, urging women to sign their names. What must it have felt like to know they were on the cusp of something historic?
Jessie’s writing also reflected an unusual respect for Māori culture for her time. She retold traditional stories like Rangi and Papa and The Noosing of the Sun-God and wrote powerful ballads such as The Charge of Parihaka, condemning the government’s armed invasion of a peaceful Māori settlement.
Was it her Scottish heritage, with its own history of loss and land struggles, that helped her empathise? I think it might have been.
When illness ended her teaching career in 1904, Jessie turned fully to writing. She became "lady editor" of the Canterbury Times, wrote for the Otago Witness for 30 years and contributed to British feminist journals. She championed equal pay, penal reform, animal welfare and prohibition, and she played a key role in reviving the National Council of Women in 1916.
Her interests stretched across the world. In 1922 she travelled to Europe, attended the Irish Race Congress in Paris and immersed herself in Scottish and Irish Home Rule movements. From Kakahu to Paris – it is quite a leap.
Jessie Mackay died in Christchurch in 1938. That same year PEN New Zealand established the Jessie Mackay Memorial Prize for verse, which is still awarded today as part of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Her Victorian poetic style later fell out of favour, but her life cleared a path for the generation of writers and activists that followed. She called it the "gray company" – those who come before the pioneers and pave the way.
Next time I am near Kakahu or Raincliff I will think of Jessie Mackay. A teacher in a one-room schoolhouse who became a poet, journalist and campaigner for justice.
Who inspired her? Was it the Scottish stories told at her hearth, the children she taught, or the Canterbury hills she grew up in? And who did she inspire in turn – those who signed the suffrage petition, those who read her poetry in the morning paper, or perhaps even future writers who saw themselves reflected in her work?
We may never know, but asking those questions feels like part of her legacy. From a small school in Kakahu came a voice that helped shape New Zealand’s cultural and political landscape.
Family life
Jessie Mackay was the eldest of several sisters born to Robert and Elizabeth Mackay, Scottish Highland immigrants who settled in Canterbury. After her mother’s death in 1897 and her father’s financial difficulties the following year, Jessie shouldered much of the responsibility for her family. She remained especially close to her younger sister Georgina, who, like Jessie, never married. The two shared a home from 1911 until Jessie’s death in 1938. Jessie never married or had children, instead dedicating her life to writing, journalism, activism and supporting her sister, while her Scottish heritage and family upbringing strongly influenced her poetry and outlook on social justice.
References
Jessie Mackay – Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Jessie Mackay – Wikipedia