Amy Maud Bock (1859-1943) was New Zealand’s most notorious female con-artist. Born in Tasmania, she migrated to New Zealand in 1884 and within a short time came to the attention of the police for fraudulent activities. Over the following years she had numerous court appearances and convictions for theft, fraud and false pretences throughout New Zealand, and spent most of her life in and out of prison and reform institutions.

Her most infamous escapade occurred in 1909 when she posed as ‘Percy Redwood’, a wealthy sheepfarmer, and became engaged to Agnes Ottaway, a landlady’s daughter. Agnes and ‘Percy’ were married in Port Molyneux, Otago, on 21 April 1909. As well as her name and gender, she also falsified her age on the marriage certificate stating that she was 30, when she was actually over 40. Four days later Bock was arrested on two counts of false pretence and one count of forgery. She was convicted in the Dunedin Supreme Court on 27 May on two counts of false pretences and one of forgery, and was finally declared a habitual criminal. The marriage was annulled on 17 June 1909.

The ensuing trial of "the female bridegroom" overtook newspaper headlines for several weeks. Archives New Zealand holds numerous records on her including her intention to marry record and her police file. This postcard comes from a patent file by would-be entrepreneur Cecil Pattillo, who marketed postcards of Amy dressed as a man to sell as souvenirs of the notorious trial.

Bock was subsequently imprisoned in New Plymouth gaol, and released in 1911. In 1914 Bock married again – this time as a woman, however she gave her age as 41 when she was 55.

Archives reference: PC 4 1909/27 & 28

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