Women's Right to Vote

With all of the hubbub about the rugby world cup, it completely slipped my mind that this week was the 118th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote - 19 September 1893. It's a landmark event in New Zealand but also worldwide as New Zealand was the first country in the world to achieve this measure of equality for women.

We have the signatures of the original Otautau petition on permanent display in the museum, but I was thinking it might be nice to add photos of these women someday to our display. If anyone has a photo of any of these women and is willing to have it copied for display, please contact us.

You can search the NZ History's women's suffrage database to see if your ancestor signed this petition and made history.

Otautau Petition Signatories

Acheson	Jane
Blatch	Ellen M
Cameron	M.
Cameron	C
Campbell	Catherine
Carmichael	M.
Clothier	A L.
Cotter	E. F.
Croft	Annie
Cupples	Jane
Cupples	Jemima
Forbes	Margaret
Forbes	Mrs
Forbs	Isibella
Gaines	Alice
Gardiner	J
Gilchrist	Annie
Greenslade	J.
Hill	Elen
Hill	Annie
Hogan	M. T.
Johnston	M. P.
Ketteg	Mrs Anne
Keveney	Catherine
Lawson	I
Lee	Jane
Lindsay	Barbara
Manson	Mary
Matheson	L C
McAfee	Margaret
McDonald	Florrie
McLaren	B. S.
McNeil	C.
Morrison	Jane
Norman	Elizabeth
Pankhurst	Jessie
Parmenter	Isabella
Price	Elizabeth
Raitton	Mrs
Rogers	Emily
Shaw	Jane
Sinclair	Sarah
Smith	Jessie
Swap	A.
Thomson	M.
Walker	A.
Wohlmann	Rebecca

We're open Wednesdays and Sundays, 2pm-4pm, and by request. Your comments are always welcome!