Harsant, Florence Marie (1891–1994)

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Harsant, Florence Marie (1891–1994)

New Zealand temperance reformer, nurse, and writer. Name variations: Florence Marie Woodhead; (pseudonyms) Quick Silver, Trouser Button, Virgo. Born Florence Marie Woodhead, Sept 19, 1891, at New Plymouth, New Zealand; died June 19, 1994, in Thames, New Zealand; dau. of Ambler Woodhead (teacher) and Catherine (Davy) Woodhead; m. Horace Henry Harsant (farmer), 1919 (died 1974); children: 3 sons, 2 daughters.

Trained in basic nursing skills at Anglican mission at Whakarewarewa (c. 1907); became national Maori membership organizer for Women's Christian Temperance Union of New Zealand (1913); wrote and printed leaflets in Maori on hygiene and health care and nursed Maori during influenza pandemic (1918); managed post office at Matata, Bay of Plenty, during WWII; established public library in her home; under pseudonyms, contributed short stories to periodicals, including New Zealand Dairy Exporter and Straight Furrow.

See also Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 3).

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