Kate Sheppard

Kate Sheppard (born March 10, 1847, Liverpool, England—died July 13, 1934, Christchurch, New Zealand) was an English-born activist, who was a leader in the woman suffrage movement in New Zealand. She was instrumental in making New Zealand the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote (1893).

Largely raised and educated in Scotland, she moved to New Zealand in the late 1860s, and in 1871 she married Walter Allen Sheppard, a storekeeper. An early feminist, she believed that women should participate fully in all aspects of society, including politics. Among the causes she first adopted was dress reform for women, primarily the abolishment of corsets and other constrictive clothing. In an era when women were encouraged to be “ladylike,” she also promoted bicycling and other physical activity for women. In 1885 Sheppard joined the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and two years later became leader of the WCTU’s suffrage campaign. A tireless advocate, she wrote pamphlets, organized meetings and lectures, and presented a series of petitions to Parliament. Several suffrage bills failed before Parliament finally granted women the right to vote in 1893. Sheppard was later active in woman suffrage movements in other countries, including England and the United States.

In 1896 Sheppard helped establish the National Council of Women (NCW) and became its first president. Among the issues she supported were greater equality in marriage and the right of women to run for Parliament. Although poor health forced her to step down as president of the NCW in 1903, she remained a prominent figure in the women’s rights movement. Upon Sheppard’s death in 1934, a newspaper obituary proclaimed: “A great woman has gone, whose name will remain an inspiration to the daughters of New Zealand while our history endures.” Her image appears on the New Zealand $10 banknote.