Kate Sheppard
Kate Sheppard, 1847(?)-1934
Overview of Chapter S: Presents the life of the leading suffragette and prohibitionist, who helped make New Zealand the first place in the world to grant women the right to vote at the national level. The chapter focuses on the role of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and other international organizations for women, but also investigates Māori history, Māori land rights, and parliamentary lawmaking and procedure.
Additional resources and scholarship
Discussion Questions and Writing Prompts:
1. Sheppard, like other Prohibitionists, allied with Suffragettes to try to create political change. Was this a good strategy or not? What were its advantages and disadvantages?
2. What is your interpretation of the Suratura Tea ad?
3. In what ways was the Maori experience between 1800-1920 similar to and different from that of Native Americans in the same period?
Classroom Activities
1. Sheppard believed in the power of petitions to convince politicians to act. Research a local topic, write a petition, gather signatures, and submit it to a city or county official.
2. Pick an everyday household item from the late 19th or early 20th century and design a prohibition or suffrage advertisement to associate with it.
Links to New Scholarship
• For an analysis exploring the consequences of New Zealand women being able to testify in court, but not serve on juries or as barristers or solicitors, see Elizabeth Bowyer, Taking the Stand: Women as Witnesses in New Zealand’s Colonial Courts c.1840-1900, [Master of Arts thesis], Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka, 2020, http://hdl.handle.net/10063/9053
Photo Gallery for Chapter S
Map for Chapter S: This map by the author is in the print edition of the book and shows important places in New Zealand.
Kate Sheppard Place is a street near the national parliament building. Photograph by the author, April 2015.
This is the house that Kate Sheppard moved into in 1888 and from where she led the suffrage campaign. It's located at 83 Clyde Rd, Fendalton, near Christchurch. Courtesy of New Zealand History, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/kate-sheppards-house
The caption of this anti-suffrage cartoon says, "What, dinner not ready yet? What have you been doing? A picture of our future by our 'much-marriage' artist," It evokes a sense of chaos as gender roles are reversed. Courtesy of New Zealand History, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/anti-womens-suffrage-cartoon
Women's Suffrage Petition, 1893. Kate Sheppard's signature is in the left column, seventeenth from the top. Courtesy of New Zealand History, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/suffrage-petition-1893
A delegation from New Zealand attending a suffrage march in London in 1910. Anna Stout is dressed in white, standing in front of the banner. Courtesy of New Zealand History, March 13, 2018, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/suffrage-procession-london