Bessie Spencer

Anna Elizabeth Jerome Spencer OBE (16 November 1872 – 23 October 1955) was a notable New Zealand school principal, orchardist and community leader.

[1] Spencer founded the New Zealand Federation of Women's Institutes in 1921, being inspired to do so after attending a craft exhibition in London in 1919.

[2] In the 1937 New Year Honours, Spencer was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for social welfare services.

[3][4] In February 2021 a bronze statue of Spencer was unveiled in Napier.

This New Zealand biographical article is a stub.