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Anna Frances Kingsbury was born in Wellington in 1962, the second of the five children of Norman Kingsbury and Barbara Kingsbury (nee Stephens). In 1964, when Norman was appointed the founding Registrar at the University of Waikato, the family shifted to Hamilton, settling in Bankwood Road, in Chartwell. Norman’s lifelong association with student politics, advocacy for the university recognising its responsibilities to M?ori and in widening tertiary access through continuing education and distance learning set a definite example for his offspring.
Anna attended Bankwood Primary School and was later a foundation pupil at Hukanui Primary School. As a child she took an active part in sport and was a Girl Guide, one not above substituting bracken for fern roots in pursuit of a relevant “bush tucker ” badge, especially if the person eating the result was a younger brother.
Anna’s secondary education at Fairfield College was interrupted in 1978 when Norman was seconded to the Commonwealth Secretariat Fund for Technical Cooperation to establish the administration for the new University of Botswana. She later described the move to Africa as a “life-changing experience” for her and her siblings. In 1979 she attended the Maru-a-Pula School School School in Gaborone, Botswana.
Returning to Hamilton in 1980, Anna completed seventh form. She met John Duncan at a friend’s party that year and the pair reconnected later on the Auckland University campus, where Anna enrolled for a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Political Science and John pursued medicine. With an aesthetic described as “op shop chic”, Anna embraced the feminism of the day. She and John explored the City of Sails together, attending gigs and falling in and out of love.
In 1983, with her first degree under her belt, Anna shifted to Wellington, completing a Diploma of Librarianship at Victoria University in 1987 and an LLB four years later. She was admitted to the bar in 1992.
Anna worked as a law librarian at Rudd, Watts and Stone, an Auckland law firm before being appointed the foundation Law Librarian at the University of Waikato in 1990. The task of establishing a law library from scratch, in time to service the needs of the new school, was a formidable one. Anna led a small, happy team, liaising between library management and law faculty members, meeting expectations on both sides. “She was quietly spoken”, remembered a friend and colleague, “but always knew exactly what she wanted and saw to the heart of any issue”.
Anna moved to Australia in the mid-1990s to further pursue her legal studies, completing a LLM at the University of Melbourne in 1997. Her son William was born in 2000. She returned to New Zealand to join the Law Faculty of the University of Waikato. Specializing in Torts, Intellectual Property and Competition Law, Anna had a prodigious publication record and was highly regarded by students and colleagues alike. Her “sharp ear for double-speak or hypocrisy of any kind” was especially appreciated. She was active in the Tertiary Education Union.
In 2003, whilst on sabbatical, Anna completed a second LLM at New York University. It was to be followed by an SJD – the equivalent of a PhD in law – from La Trobe University in Melbourne in 2010.
Always close to her family, Anna assumed particular responsibility for her father after her mother died. She and John resumed their relationship in the early 2000s.
Anna faced cancer with courage and dignity, undergoing multiple treatments of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Her generosity of spirit and black humour could not eclipse the sadness at dying so young but she retained her curiosity, optimism and love until the end.
Anna was a partner to John, a mother to William and step-mum to Geoffrey. She was a librarian, a lawyer and academic, a scholar, a writer and Associate Professor at the University of Waikato. She had an acute intelligence and expressed herself with precision and clarity. She had a strong sense of social justice and consistently put others before herself. For all her professional achievements, personal ethics were paramount. She wanted to be a “good person”.
Anna Frances Kingsbury died on 30 September, 2021. She is survived by her partner John, her son William and her step-son Geoffrey.
