Queer Places:
Pukekohe Public Cemetery, Wellington Street, Pukekohe 2120, New Zealand
Amy Maud Bock (May 18, 1859 – August 29, 1943) was born on 18 May 1859 in Hobart, Tasmania. As the eldest of six children born to Alfred Bock and Mary Ann Parkinson, she
grew up with an artistic and musical background, demonstrating talents as a pianist and horsewoman alongside a childhood penchant for acting in boy's character roles.
Following her family's relocation to Victoria, Australia, and her mother's death, Bock pursued schoolteaching and worked in Gippsland, during which time she began running
into trouble over financial debts and petty frauds.
Encouraged by her father to emigrate, Bock moved to New Zealand, where she embarked on a prolific career as a confidence trickster spanning decades. Her standard pattern
involved inventing emotional stories to secure money, goods, or property from employers and acquaintances, or engaging in minor scams like taking watches for repair and
absconding. Uniquely, once caught, she would almost always immediately plead guilty and confess. Over her lifetime, she underwent numerous periods of imprisonment totaling
over sixteen years and used several aliases including Amy Christofferson, Mary Shannon, and Agnes Vallance.
Bock's most famous and audacious deception took place in 1909. Adopting the guise of a dapper, debonair, and well-dressed man named Percy Carol Redwood (or Percival
Leonard Carol Redwood), she successfully integrated herself into a wealthy Otago family and married a woman named Agnes Ottaway in Balclutha. “The Case of the Woman
Bridegroom” sparked a massive national sensation when Redwood's true identity was uncovered just days after the ceremony, revealing not only a female perpetrator but a
fugitive with a long history of fraud and forgery across New Zealand and Australia. The marriage was subsequently annulled.
In later decades, Bock continued her transient life and minor offenses, and she is remembered in LGBTQ history as a prominent icon and male impersonator. Amy Bock died on
29 August 1943 in Auckland and was laid to rest at Pukekohe Cemetery.
References:
Other references:
- Fiona Farrell, "Bock, Amy Maud 1859–1943" in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (first published in 1993, hosted via Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand).
- Fiona Farrell, "Amy Bock" in The Book of New Zealand Women / Ko Kui Ma Te Kaupapa (1995).
- Jenny Coleman, Mad or Bad?: The Life and Exploits of Amy Bock (Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2010) – the comprehensive scholarly biography examining her life, exploits, and historical context.
- Robert William Robson, Adventures of Amy Bock (Dunedin: Otago Daily Times, 1909) – contemporary account and booklet published shortly after her 1909 trial.
- Alexander Turnbull Library (National Library of New Zealand) – holds collections containing photographs of Amy Bock, her clothing/accessories (such as men's pyjamas worn as Percy Redwood), letters signed by P.C. Redwood, and related portraiture.
- DigitalNZ / PrideNZ – digital aggregators preserving audio, visual stories, and archival imagery concerning her life and the "Percy Redwood" affair.
- Waimate Museum and Archives – preserves local historical ephemera, including photographic postcards related to her 1909 wedding.
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