Women's Suffrage
Women's Suffrage 125 symbol
Suffrage 125
2018 marked the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand. New Zealand made history on 19 September 1893 when the Electoral Act was passed, granting all women the right to vote in parliamentary elections, and making it the first self-governing country to do so.
Women in Nelson, Marlborough, and Tasman played an active role in this achievement, from signing petitions to advocating for change. The Prow brings together stories of these suffrage pioneers, as well as the many women who have shaped the region in politics, the arts, conservation, business, and community leadership. Explore some of their stories below:
Suffrage stories
- Nelson and Women's suffrage
- Suffragettes - Mary Ann Mueller and Kate Edger
- Mary Ethel Hunter - of the WCTU
- Marlborough women and the Petition
Women's stories
Early settlers
- Effie and Ralphine Richardson -Maitai Valley property owners
- Sarah Greenwood - artist and letter writer
- Fanny Dillon - mother and hostess
- Sarah Roil - Stoke settler
- Mary Bisley - memoirist of settler experiences
- Getting established in Marlborough - Lucy Dobson
Notable Women
- Constance Barnicoat -journalist, mountaineer and traveller
- Janice Manson - influential Maori woman (Ngāti Tama/ Te Ātiawa)
- Esther Mary White - Quaker and WWI refugee worker
- Perrine Moncrieff - conservationist, creator of Abel Tasman National Park
- Wearable Art - Suzie Moncrieff
- Women artists - of Nelson
- Eileen Duggan, OBE - poet
- Joy Cowley - children's author
- Jane Evans - artist
- Jean Devanny - author
- Enga Washbourn - artist
- Maori rescues - Huria Matenga
- Kate Edger - academic and suffragette
- Florence Knight - linguist, traveller, journalist
- Marj Matthews of Redwoodtown - business woman
- Women Decision Makers of Nelson 1956-2018 - women Councillors
- Women Decision Makers of Tasman 1944-2018 - women Councillors
Women in the community
- Emma Heke - environmentalist and film maker
- Bryce Jones - Library Manager
- Marian Gunn - Library Manager
- Elma Turner - Nelson City Councillor and library champion
- Nellie Nightingale - publican and donor
- Jenny Hitchings - Children's Librarian
- A woman of the Wairau - Stella Wadsworth
- Viv Broughton, QSM - of Blenheim
- Moya Anderson - Plunket Nurse
- Annette Milligan - Nurse/ educator
- Josephine Lewis - physiotherapist
Women's memories
- Phyllis Field - remembers Nelson 1914-2007
- Maternity care in Nelson -Te Rangi
- Nelson College for Girls
- Nelson Women's Club
- Ivy Louisa Millin of Stoke
- School Daze - Auckland Point School
- Lily Robertson and the Lighthouse
- Madge Wilson - of Russell Street
Marlborough signatories
- Marlborough women and the Petition - and linked stories.
Further Sources of information on Suffrage in New Zealand
- HerStory: Tasman District Library - Tasman Heritage
- Ministry for Women - Suffrage 125
- Archives New Zealand – Women’s suffrage
- Digital NZ – Women’s suffrage
- He Tohu – Women’s Suffrage Petition
- NZHistory – New Zealand and the vote
- NZ On Screen – Pioneering women
- Te Ara – Votes for women
- Te Papa – Whakatū Wāhine
- New Zealand's women vote - womens vote
