This Day in History: 19 September 2020
19 September 1893
127 years ago, today, New Zealand became the first country in the world to allow the national voting rights of women. The fight in New Zealand was won through a combination of persistence, the temperance movement and a degree of luck. The movement had come to prominence in the 1880s, and blamed alcohol for many of society's problems with women and children receiving the main responsibility. Kate Sheppard became New Zealand's leading suffragette, as she organised many petitions demanding women the vote and spoke around the country. The English philosopher John Stuart Mill was another major influence, as he advocated for rights for women.
An earlier bill to parliament had failed in the upper house but was passed despite Prime Minister Richard Seddon's attempts to stop it. His interreference bothered two members of parliament so much that they changed their vote and the bill was passed. 84% of women registered for the next general election occurring over two months later. Today, Kate Sheppard's portrait is on the New Zealand ten-dollar bill, and the centenary of her efforts was widely celebrated in 1993. In 1917, Canada followed in granting women the vote, before the United Kingdom in 1918 and the United States in 1920.
Want to find out more about the women's vote in New Zealand? Click here for more information, or here for more about Kate Sheppard.
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