// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Jean Begg a good seamstress? She's a sew-perb tailor.
Jean Begg | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jean Begg in 1931 | |
| Born | 7 October 1886 Port Chalmers, Otago, New Zealand |
| Died | 15 February 1971 (aged 84) Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Occupations | Social worker, educator, YWCA executive |
Jean Begg CBE (7 October 1886 – 15 February 1971) was a New Zealand welfare worker, educator, and YWCA administrator.
Early life and education
[edit]Begg was born in Port Chalmers, Otago, New Zealand, one of the ten children of Scottish immigrants Eliza Johnstone and John Begg. Her father was a tanner and rug maker.[1] She trained as a teacher at Dunedin Training College[2] attended the University of Otago,[3] and held a diploma in social work from Columbia University.[4]
Career
[edit]Begg was a teacher at a missionary school and ran a health clinic in American Samoa as a young woman,[1][5] and helped to establish the Samoan Nursing Service.[6] In 1922, she represented New Zealand at the world convention of the YWCA in Philadelphia.[7]
She was general secretary of the Auckland YWCA from 1926 until 1931,[3] when she became general secretary for the National YWCA for India, Burma, and Ceylon.[4][8] Also in 1931, she headed New Zealand's delegation to the Pan-Pacific Women's Conference in Honolulu.[2]
During and immediately after World War II, Begg was director of the YWCA in the Middle East and North Africa,[9] setting up YWCA programs, including lodgings, weekly concerts in Egypt and a mobile library.[10][11] She worked in Lord Louis Mountbatten's South-East Asia Command, at hospitals for former prisoners of war in Singapore,[12] and served on the Middle East Welfare Council.[13] "The problems that beset the world will never be solved unless they are approached in a spirit of helpfulness and sacrifice," she declared in a 1945 speech.[14]
In 1946, Begg went to Tokyo for an ANZAC Day ceremony.[15] In 1947, she was director of YWCA Welfare in Japan,[16] and represented New Zealand at the YWCA World Council, held in Hangzhou, China.[17] In 1948 and 1949, she worked in London, setting up Helen Graham House, a YWCA hostel.[18][19]
Jean Begg had an audience with the Queen in 1943.[20] She was appointed an MBE in 1943, an OBE in 1946,[21] and a CBE in 1948.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Begg retired to New Zealand in 1952.[22] She had a war pension, inherited a house, and died in 1971, aged 84 years, in Dunedin. She was given a military funeral at the soldiers' cemetery in Dunedin.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Coney, Sandra. "Jean Begg". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- 1 2 "Indian YWCA; Miss Jean Begg to Go". New Zealand Herald. 20 January 1931. p. 3. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- 1 2 "Woman's Work in Many Spheres: No. 3, Miss Jean Beg". Sun. 17 September 1927. p. 8. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- 1 2 Kabadi Waman P. (1937). Indian Who's Who 1937-38. p. 78 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg Honored". Evening Star. 6 September 1915. p. 2. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Samoa Revisited after 30 Years; Impressions of Miss Jean Begg". Press. 8 October 1953. p. 2. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Our Representative to World's Convention". White Ribbon. 18 August 1922. p. 3. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg Given Position in India". Star. 20 January 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "YWCA War Services; Miss Jean Begg in London". Evening Star. 9 August 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg; Valuable Work in Desert". Otago Daily Times. 9 February 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Servicemen Abroad; Miss Jean Begg Describes Welfare Work". Evening Post. 26 November 1945. p. 10. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "With Singapore Prisoners; Miss Jean Begg's Quick Transfer; Broadcast from Hospital Wards". Evening Star. 8 September 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg; Arrival from Singapore". Evening Post. 25 October 1945. p. 8. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Post-War Problems; Difficulties Ahead; Address by Miss Jean Begg". Otago Daily Times. 7 November 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "ANZAC Day in Japan". Evening Star. 1 May 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg Honored". Press. 3 July 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg to Attend Y.W.C.A. World's Council Meeting". Otago Daily Times. 22 August 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg to Manage London Hostel". Otago Daily Times. 4 November 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg". The Press. 18 November 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg Received by the Queen". Auckland Star. 9 August 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Birthday Honours; Miss Jean Begg Included". Otago Daily Times. 26 June 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
- ↑ "Miss Jean Begg Return to New Zealand". Press. 24 June 1952. p. 2. Retrieved 24 November 2021 – via Papers Past.
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