INTRODUCTION

Around 90,290 New Zealand women aged 21 or older went to the electoral polls for the first time on 28 November 1893. This number increased by 4000 three weeks later when voting for women who were registered in the four Māori electorates opened on 20 December 1893. Excluded from voting were non-British subjects which included Chinese migrants who had not applied for naturalisation under the Aliens Act 1880. 

New Zealand became the first self-governing country in which women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections. After receiving the electoral vote in 1893, NZ women gave their support to the British suffrage movement, including attending marches, and some were arrested during demonstrations. Eventually, the United Kingdom granted the vote to women in 1928. Images of mass marches are one of the enduring symbols of the suffrage movement. 

NZ WOMEN GRANTED THE VOTE IN 1893  

When NZ’s first parliamentary election was held in 1853, women were excluded from voting. In 1878, 1879, 1881 and 1882, bills were introduced to Parliament to enfranchise women but were unsuccessful. A number of women's groups began to be formed which also became involved with advocating for the right to women's franchise, including the New Zealand Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) (formed 1885), Tailoresses’ Union of New Zealand (1889), and the Women’s Franchise League (1892). Ngā Kōmiti Wāhine was also formed in 1893 by Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia for Māori women who sought the right to vote for, and stand for, Te Kotahitanga, the Māori Parliament. 

Between 1887 – 1893, a series of petitions from women’s groups were presented to the House of Representatives. This led to suffrage bills being introduced in 1887, 1890, 1891 and 1892, but these were unsuccessful. In 1893, a series of 13 petitions requesting that the franchise be conferred on women signed by nearly 32,000 women were presented to the House of Representatives. Consequently, the Electoral Bill containing provision for women’s suffrage was introduced by Richard Seddon and passed by the Legislative Council on 8 September and consented to by the Governor, Lord Glasgow, on 19 September 1893. 

Women first exercised their right to vote at the general election held on 28 November and 20 December 1893 in the European and Māori electorates, respectively. 

Find out more:

• 'Women's suffrage milestones', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/suffrage-milestones, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 27-Apr-2023
• 'Meri Mangakāhia', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/so-that-women-can-get-the-vote, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 3-Oct-2023 

NZ's experiences SUPPORTed SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IN UK

BRITISH SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT:

The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was formed by Emmeline Pankhurst in Manchester in 1905. The WSPU adopted the motto ‘Deeds not Words’, and organised their first large procession in February 1905. Forty suffragist societies and over 3000 women marched from Hyde Park to Exeter Hall in the rain and mud, which later became known as the 'Mud March'. Other demonstrations were subsequently held from 1906 to 1909, including at Hyde Park and Albert Hall. Some of demonstrators were arrested for causing a disturbance, including Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel.

NZ WOMEN JOIN MARCHES in BRITAIN:  

"The ladies [Lady Stout and included Dr. Alice Barn] carried a New Zealand banner and wands with trailing sprays of clematis twined with a ribbon of red, white and blue. An immense crowd gathered in Hyde Park and 150 speeches were delivered from 40 platforms, extending from the Marble Arch to the Serpentine."   Auckland Weekly News 8 September 1910 p9

Lady Anna Stout (1858-1930) had become a foundation member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in NZ in 1885. Seven years later in April 1892, she was elected president of the Women’s Franchise League in Dunedin. When the National Council of Women (NCW) was established in 1896, she became a vice-president with Kate Sheppard as president. 

While in England between 1909 and 1912, Stout became involved in the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). The WSPU used her status as a New Zealander and ‘possessor of the vote’ in their campaigns. She was involved in writing replies to The Times’ anti-suffrage correspondents, to help assure them that the women’s vote in New Zealand had not led to the collapse of society – that women were still good wives and mothers, that children continued to be born, and that the vote has not resulted in economic ruin.  Her articles appeared in Votes for Women and the Englishwoman and were republished as leaflets and pamphlets by several suffrage associations. 

Kiwi arrested during suffragist campaigns:

In 1896, Frances Mary Parker (1875-1924) left New Zealand to attend Cambridge University. She joined the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1908, and was involved in the suffragists campaigns in London, where she was imprisoned for six weeks for obstruction following a demonstration. 

 In 1911, Prime Minister Asquith had announced a manhood suffrage bill, which was seen as a betrayal of the women’s suffrage campaign. In protest, the WSPU organised a mass window-smashing campaign through London over the following months. Parker was amongst those arrested in March 1912 during one of  the window-smashing processions and spent four months in the Holloway Prison. She was rearrested twice later that year and was released a couple of days later after going on a hunger strike. 

Kiwi received WSPU medal for valour, 1914:

After campaigning in London, Frances Parker became a leader of the WSPU Scotland and was involved in protests to burn down prominent buildings. She was arrested in July 1914 for attempting to blow up the cottage of Robbie Burns, Scotland's national poet. Her prison experience where she went on a hunger strike and was force-fed is recounted in an article where she used the pseudonym Fanny Parker. See: Scottish Archives for schools: The case of Fanny Parker alias Janet Arthur. Parker was given a Hunger Strike Medal "for Valour" by the WSPU, which is held in Te Papa's collections.   

Marching in remembrance of NZ Suffrage Day

In remembrance of the marches and demonstrations of the suffragettes' campaign, commemorations have been held over the decades in New Zealand. As well as celebrating the achievement of the women's electoral vote, the marches and gatherings are also a reminder of the ongoing importance to keep furthering fundamental human rights.

In 1975, voters no longer had to be a "British subject"; permanent residents could vote, whether or not they had New Zealand citizenship. Currently, citizens and those with a resident visa who have been living in NZ continuously for one year are eligible to vote in a Parliamentary or Local Election. The voting age was lowered from 21 to 20 in 1969 and to 18 in 1974.      

Images of NZ women exercising their right to vote

Commemorations

Sources: 

• Archives New Zealand: Citizenship: https://archives.govt.nz/citizenship
• David Pearson, 'Ethnic inequalities - European majority, Asian minorities: 1840–1945', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ethnic-inequalities/page-3
• Neill Atkinson, 'Voting rights - 20th-century reforms', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/voting-rights/page-5 
• Scottish Archives for Schools: The case of Fanny Parker alias Janet Arthur: https://www.scottisharchivesforschools.org/suffragettes/fannyParkerOrJanetArthur.asp
• Te Papa: Who was Lady Anna Stout: https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/discover-collections/read-watch-play/history/new-zealanders-and-british-suffrage-movement/lady-anna-stout
• Wikipedia: 'Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_the_United_Kingdom
• 'Women's suffrage milestones', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/suffrage-milestones, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 27-Apr-2023 
• 'Women's suffrage petition', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/petition, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 13-Mar-2018 

This DigitalNZ story was updated in November 2023