Before becoming involved in policing, she was a talented student at the London Academy of Music, a respected mountaineer and a fearless campaigner for animal rights and the anti-vivisection movement. In 1906 she was secretary of the International Animal Protection Societies and was awarded medals by Finland and Denmark for her outstanding contribution to animal welfare.
Not only was she one of Britain’s first ‘police women’, she was also a pioneering teacher of deaf children, and a passionate suffragette determined to change women’s lives for the better.Hare’s vision for auditory/oral education. In her will Mary Hare wrote ‘my efforts on behalf of the Deaf have been my greatest joy in life.’
Nora Crawford was influential and active in a number of police-related groups both during and after her police service. She was a foundation member of the New Zealand Section of the International Police Association (IPA) in 1966, and served as treasurer for 21 years. IPA activities brought her into contact with police from all parts of the globe and she endowed the New Zealand Police Museum with an IPA exhibit. Crawford made a valuable contribution to the welfare of her fellow officers by her involvement in setting up the Auckland ex-police officers’ club, and serving as secretary and treasurer.
In 1987 she helped establish the Taranaki Activity Centre, an alternative education institution for teenagers failing in the state education system. She also served on the local Regional Employment and Access Council (REAC), the supervising committee for the ACCESS and MACCESS work schemes.
Appalled at the poor state of Māori culture and language in Taranaki, she formed the Te Reo o Taranaki organisation to promote and foster Māoritanga. As Māori adviser to the Taranaki Polytechnic, she successfully agitated for the establishment of a Māori studies department and found highly skilled tutors for the staff. Through such initiatives Hond assisted a Māoritanga renaissance in Taranaki, especially among the young.