Signed family name
Hocken
Signed given name
E. M.
Given address
Moray Place
Notes
Biographical information provided by Briar Barry for the He Tohu exhibition:
Elizabeth Mary Hocken is Bessie Hocken (née Buckland), the second wife of Thomas Morland Hocken, the Dunedin surgeon, coroner, vice-chancellor of Otago University, natural historian, botanist and collector. The Hocken Library at Otago University was formed from his vast collection relating to New Zealand and the Pacific.
Thomas and Bessie were married in Invercargill in July 1883. Their only child, Gladys, was born in June 1884. Bessie supported her husband’s interests in natural history, Maori and Pacific ethnology, and New Zealand history. She helped him translate the text of Abel Tasman’s 1642 journey from Dutch to English.