The Mothers' Union

The Mothers' Union acted as the co-commissioners of the etched glass windows made for the Wellington Cathedral of Saint Paul, by John Hutton, in 1973.

The first branch of the Mothers' Union outside Great Britain was formed in 1886 at Avonside, Christchurch. Lady Glasgow is recorded as calling for the establishment of a Wellington branch in 1893. In 1969 the Mothers' Union came under the umbrella organisation of the Association of Anglican Women.

"Mothers' Union members thought that women found most fulfillment in being effective mothers. They were largely middle-class women who did not have to engage in paid work to support their families. At the inaugural meeting of the Wellington branch of the Mothers' Union in 1893, women were invited to 'unite in prayer, and seek, by their own example, to lead their families in purity and holiness of life'. Groups like the Mothers’ Union supported state payments to widows so that they could continue to be full-time mothers." (Baker and Du Plessis)

See also:

• Maureen Baker and Rosemary Du Plessis, 'Family welfare - Mothers and children – 1800s to 1917', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.