a New Zealand dress designer and brothel owner, based in Auckland for most of her life.
Background
Flora embraced the sexual freedom of the 1920s, and soon found that there were other young women that wanted a private venue within which to pursue their relationships. In time, this branched out to female sex workers as well. Her father realised that Flora would probably never marry, and bought her a series of properties in Ring Terrace, Ponsonby. When the United States entered World War II, New Zealand experienced an influx of American service personnel bound for the Pacific theatre of operations. She ran a clean establishment, with discretion ensured, and regular medical examinations for the female sex workers who lived in her venue. She lived on-site in an apartment with a waterbed, and had an affair with a naval lieutenant, who failed to return from the war.
Education
Secondary school in Auckland
Career
After finishing secondary school, she began to train as a nurse, but did not accept discipline from the matrons who supervised trainee nursing activities. However, she discovered that she did have a flair for dressmaking, and opened Ninettes in Vulcan Lane, Auckland. Her shop became highly successful, attracting a prosperous clientele from Auckland's more affluent suburbs.
For many years she ran a boutique, Ninette, in Vulcan Lane, which specialised in bridal gowns and was reputedly patronised by an affluent clientele which included cabinet ministers’ wives. She sketched her own creations, often in watercolours. (After her death, framed dress sketches by Flora MacKenzie were sold in an Auckland gallery, often, it was claimed, to former clients of her other business venture – the infamous Ring Terrace brothel in Ponsonby.)
MacKenzie’s entry into the world of prostitution has been traced back to the 1940s, when her father purchased a block of flats for her at 17–19 Ring Terrace. Flora MacKenzie apparently lived there for six months before realising that the tenants were ‘good-time girls’ who entertained American GIs. She is then said to have drifted into the role of madam when her frequent drinking binges allowed the ‘professional’ girls to take over the premises. The establishment which developed was like an exclusive club, and attracted patronage from Auckland’s business and commercial élite.
It also attracted the attention of the police. Between 1962 and 1976 Flora MacKenzie appeared in court six times on brothel-keeping charges, and was twice imprisoned for periods of six months. One of these appearances was sparked by reaction to threats made by NZ Truth newspaper in 1968 to publish the names of the owners of cars seen parked outside the Ring Terrace establishment. The police responded to complaints and used undercover officers to obtain evidence of brothel keeping. Kevin Ryan defended MacKenzie at the resultant trial, during which the judge, G. D. Speight, and the jury were taken to her property to ascertain for themselves whether this was a brothel or, as MacKenzie said, simply a large house let as flats and used for entertaining. Ryan recalled his astonishment at the transformation the premises had undergone before the judicial visit. A large cross dominated the noticeboard in the lounge, where pamphlets proclaimed ‘Jesus Saves’ and invited people to attend a Billy Graham crusade. As the jury walked through the flats they were somewhat confused to see only single beds, on top of which lay large, ornate Bibles. Some were persuaded by Ryan’s argument that Flora MacKenzie was a lonely woman who liked company and gave young women a good roof over their heads, and the trial resulted in a hung jury.