Mona Tracy

Mona Innis Tracy (née Mackay; 24 January 1892 – 22 February 1959) was a New Zealand children's novelist, journalist, poet, short-story writer, and community worker. She was best-known for her three children's novels, published between 1927 and 1930, which were adventures set in historical New Zealand.[1]

Mona Tracy
Tracy, c. 1923
BornMona Innis Mackay
(1892-01-24)24 January 1892
Adelaide, South Australia
Died22 February 1959(1959-02-22) (aged 67)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Resting placeRuru Lawn Cemetery, Bromley, New Zealand
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • journalist
  • poet
  • short-story writer
  • community worker
Nationality New Zealand
Period1925–1930
GenreChildren's adventure stories
Spouse
William Francis Tracy
​
​
(m. 1921)​
Children2
RelativesKatrine Mackay (mother)

Early life

Tracy was born in Kensington, Adelaide in 1892, to Catherine Julia Bilston, an Australian-born writer and journalist (later known by her penname Katrine), and her husband John Williams Mackay, a New Zealand farmer and auctioneer.[2] Shortly after Tracy's birth the family moved to Whangarei, New Zealand, where her younger brother Cyril (known as Ian) was born, and from there to Auckland and later Paeroa where she attended Paeroa School.[1][2]

Tracy and her brother learned to speak Māori fluently during childhood. She also excelled at the piano and as a teenager was offered a contract by J.C. Williamson's to tour theatres in Australia and New Zealand, but declined the offer. After her father deserted the family around 1902, her mother supported the family by working as a journalist for the Auckland Weekly News.[1][2]

Career
The first edition of Rifle and Tomahawk (1927), illustrated by G. H. Evison

Tracy left school at the age of 14 and began working as a sub-editor for the Auckland Weekly News. In 1912, she and a cousin lived in Sydney for a year, where she worked as a reporter at a local paper. After her return to New Zealand, in 1917, she began working as a general reporter for The Press in Christchurch, as one of the first female general reporters in the country,[3] and was one of the first female journalists to sit in the press gallery at criminal trials. On 29 March 1921 she married a young barrister, William Tracy, at St Mary's Church, and they had two children.[1][4]

Over the next ten years, Tracy raised her children and wrote poetry, short stories and three bestselling children's novels (all published by Whitcombe & Tombs). Piriki's Princess (1925), a collection of stories that had been published in The Sun,[4] was praised by The Evening Post as having a "truly New Zealand background and atmosphere", and for including stories dealing with Māori legend and viewpoints.[5] Her first children's novel, Rifle and Tomahawk (1927), was set at the time of Te Kooti's War, and featured both Pākehā and Māori teenage protagonists.[6] The Auckland Star praised the novel "not only for its merits, but for its connection with the story of our own country", noting that it represented one of the first stories of adventure for young readers set in New Zealand; "young readers will discover thrilling episodes and incentive to heroism and much entertainment".[7] Her subsequent novels Lawless Days (1928) and Martin Thorn: Adventurer (1930) were similarly praised for their adventurous nature and appeal to young readers.[8][9]

She continued to write articles for various publications including the Auckland Sun and the Australian magazine Aussie, in which she contributed to a column called "The Voice of the Enzed Woman" and discussed women's political issues. She also wrote for the Whitcombe's Story Books series and wrote several school history textbooks.[1][10] Two of her poems were published in the anthology Kowhai Gold in 1930.[11] In the 1930s she presented a series of radio broadcasts about life on the West Coast of New Zealand; these were later collected in the book West Coast Yesterdays, published by A. H. and A. W. Reed in 1960 shortly after her death.[1][12]

In 1937, Tracy earned the King George VI Coronation Medal for her services to the community. She had served as secretary of a Christchurch refugee committee in the 1930s, and established a soup kitchen near her home in New Brighton for those affected by the Great Depression.[1] In 1942, having given her age as seven years younger than she actually was, she enlisted in the New Zealand Women's Auxiliary Air Force, and attained the rank of corporal. Her husband worked as an officer for the Home Guard at Lyttelton Harbour.[1]

After the war, Tracy and her family moved to the small town of Governors Bay, where she served as the president of the local branch of the Women's Division of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand in 1949–50. She died in Christchurch in February 1959, and her brother gave a Māori oration over her grave.[1]

Selected works

Short-stories
  • Piriki's Princess (1925)

Novels
  • Rifle and Tomahawk (1927)
  • Lawless Days (1928)
  • Martin Thorn: Adventurer (1930)

Non-fiction
  • The Story of the Pacific (1925)
  • Historic Kawau (1927)
  • West Coast Yesterdays (1960)

References
  1. Gilderdale, Betty. "Tracy, Mona Innis". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  2. McCallum, Janet. "Mackay, Catherine Julia". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  3. "The Press: Background". Papers Past. National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  4. McCallum, Janet (2006). "Tracy, Mona". In Robinson, Roger; Wattie, Nelson (eds.). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-1917-3519-6. OCLC 865265749. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  5. "New Zealand Stories". The Evening Post. 29 August 1925. p. 17. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  6. "2019 Publishers Picks". Publishers Association of New Zealand. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  7. "A Story of New Zealand Adventure". Auckland Star. 12 November 1927. p. 24. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  8. "Adventure: Mona Tracy's Latest". Auckland Star. 20 December 1930. p. 16. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  9. "Lawless Days: Story of Adventure". New Zealand Herald. 24 November 1928. p. 7. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  10. "Whitcombe's Story Books". AustLit. The University of Queensland. 12 December 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  11. Pope, Quentin, ed. (1930). Kowhai Gold. London: E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc. p. 64. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  12. "West Coast yesterdays". Nelson Provincial Museum. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
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