Esme Tombleson came to New Zealand through marriage, and lived on rural land near Gisborne.
18 Facts About Esme Tombleson
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Esme Tombleson represented the Gisborne electorate in Parliament for 12 years, and was prominent as a campaigner for multiple sclerosis.
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Esme Tombleson was born in Sydney in 1917 and educated there.
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Esme Tombleson was taken around Australia as a child prodigy by her mother, reciting Shakespeare.
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Esme Tombleson was involved in various ballet, opera and theatre companies.
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Esme Tombleson came to New Zealand in 1951 when she married Tom Tombleson, a Gisborne farmer.
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Esme Tombleson was a headstrong person and as a public servant, she had been in a position of power.
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Esme Tombleson had to teach herself how to cook, created a massive flower garden without ever having been a gardener before, and taught rural children ballet.
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Esme Tombleson defeated the incumbent, Labour's Reginald Keeling, in the marginal seat.
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Esme Tombleson was joined by another female in the National caucus at the next general election in 1963, Rona Stevenson.
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Esme Tombleson had a passion for fishing and when she was offered the role of Associate Minister of Social Welfare, she turned down the offer, as she wanted to be Minister of Fisheries.
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Esme Tombleson led the 1965 delegation to the 54th conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; she was the first woman to lead a New Zealand delegation to the IPU.
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Esme Tombleson was defeated by Trevor Davey in the 1972 election.
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Esme Tombleson was a co-founder of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in 1961.
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Esme Tombleson was able to control meetings, as she had learned during her theatre training how to project her voice.
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Esme Tombleson was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services in the 1977 Queen's Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours.
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Esme Tombleson was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal in 1990, and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1993 New Year Honours, for services to multiple sclerosis and the community.
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Esme Tombleson received the "rarely awarded" gold medal for distinguished services to multiple sclerosis in 1987.