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Heather Nicholson (geologist)

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Heather Nicholson
BornHeather Margaret Halcrow
(1931-06-19)19 June 1931
Hamilton, New Zealand
Died9 July 2019(2019-07-09) (aged 88)
Orewa, New Zealand
OccupationSchoolteacher
GenreNon-fiction
SubjectTextile crafts
Notable worksThe Loving Stitch: a History of Knittting and Spinning in New Zealand
Notable awards1999 Montana Medal for non-fiction
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
Scientific career
FieldsGeology
ThesisThe New Zealand greywackes: a study of changing geological concepts to 1985 (2003)
Doctoral advisorBernhard Spörli

Heather Margaret Halcrow Nicholson (née Halcrow, 19 June 1931 – 9 July 2019) was a New Zealand geologist and writer. Her book, The Loving Stitch: a History of Knitting and Spinning in New Zealand, was judged best non-fiction book at the 1999 Montana Book Awards.

Biography

Nicholson was born Heather Margaret Halcrow in Hamilton on 19 June 1931, the daughter of Amy and Tom Halcrow, and was raised at Galatea.[1][2] She studied geology at Auckland University College, where she was the first woman whose thesis, on the geology of Waiheke Island and supervised by Arthur Lillie, was primarily based on fieldwork.[2][3] She graduated MSc with second-class honours in 1954.[4] The following year, she married Ian Nicholson, and the couple went on to have twin daughters.[2]

Heather Nicholson worked as a secondary-school science teacher, and rose to become head of science at Westlake Girls High School in Takapuna.[2] However, she retired in the 1970s due to ill health, and became active as a practitioner and adult-education teacher of craftwork.[2] In 1988, her instructional book Knitters Know-How was published.[2] In 1993, she was awarded a grant by the Suffrage Centennial Trust to write a history of knitting, resulting in the publication of The Loving Stitch: a History of Knittting and Spinning in New Zealand in 1998.[2] The book won Montana Medal for non-fiction at the Montana Book Awards the next year.[2]

By now in her late 60s, Nicholson returned to the University of Auckland to undertake doctoral studies on the history of geological understanding in New Zealand.[2] She completed her PhD thesis, titled The New Zealand greywackes: a study of changing geological concepts to 1985, supervised by Bernhard Spörli, in 2003, and is thought to be one of the oldest people in New Zealand to have earned a postgraduate degree in geology.[2][5]

Nicholson died in Orewa on 9 July 2019.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Heather Halcrow-Nicholson death notice". New Zealand Herald. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Manson, Bess (30 July 2019). "Award-winning author Heather Nicholson had last laugh". Stuff. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  3. ^ Halcrow, Heather M. (1953). Geology of Waiheke Island (PDF) (MSc). Auckland University College. p. 7. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  4. ^ "NZ university graduates 1870–1961: Ha–He". Shadows of Time. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  5. ^ Nicholson, Heather Halcrow (2003). The New Zealand greywackes: a study of changing geological concepts to 1985 (PhD). University of Auckland. hdl:2292/90.
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