Esther James

It was on June 18, 1932, that a fiercely independent Aucklander named Esther James stepped into Bluff, completing an extraordinary 2,500 km journey on foot. Starting in Spirits Bay in the Far North and continuing her trek across Stewart Island, she became the first person ever recorded to walk the length of New Zealand.

Esther Marion Pretoria James was born in Pahīatua on November 5, 1900, the seventh of ten children, and the grandchild of the brilliant but controversial commander-in-chief of New Zealand’s colonial military, George Stoddart Whitmore.

A talented artist, Esther earned a scholarship to study in Auckland, eventually training in architecture at the firm of W.A. Cumming, where she continued to work after becoming qualified in 1923. She married her first husband the following year, but continued to use her maiden name—a highly unusual choice for her time and an indication of the role she would play later in life as an advocate for women’s legal standing in New Zealand.

Multi-talented and self-motivated, Esther became one of New Zealand’s very first professional fashion models (then known as a mannequin) for the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation. She also patented a domestic cutlery washer and rinser in the 1920s, an invention related to her work as an architect: Esther’s primary design focus was creating residential properties specifically structured to reduce unnecessary household labor for women.

When the Great Depression hit, Esther decided to use her profile to give the local economy a desperately needed boost. Her famous 197-day walk was a deliberate campaign to support local workers; she wore exclusively New Zealand-made clothes and shoes, and ate only locally produced food. The slightly built trailblazer (she was barely five feet tall) became a national celebrity, met with town mayors to sign her logbook, and gave passionate speeches about buying homegrown goods. Not stopping there, she later went to Australia and became the first woman known to walk from Melbourne to Brisbane, this time promoting New Zealand tourism.

It was during the Second World War that Esther again combined her architecture skills and business savvy to go into property. She bought a section in Mount Manganui and hand-made 4,000 bricks for the house. After selling, she bought another section, this time building a house in Remuera. She claimed to build 10 houses in the next 12 years with records showing she sold at least 12 properties under her name.

Esther was a lifelong advocate for women. This eventually led her directly into the political arena. In 1969, she stood as an electoral candidate for the Independent Women’s Party in Auckland. She ran on a progressive platform that passionately advocated for women’s rights, specifically targeting much-needed reforms to the laws governing marriage and matrimonial property. This was an issue close to her heart—her second marriage ended over the control her husband maintained over her finances. (Esther had designed, built and owned multiple houses over her lifetime.)

“A woman spends, on average, 25 years of her married life in her home—without praise or pay. Then her husband can take her matrimonial home away from her.” Esther James 1969

Esther passed away on January 7, 1990, at the age of 89. Rest in peace, Esther.