Katherine Wilson Sheppard was the most prominent member of the women’s suffrage movement in New Zealand. In 1887 she was appointed the WCTU’s National Superintendent for Franchise and Legislation. New Zealand became the first country to establish universal suffrage. She replaced Queen Elizabeth II on the front of the New Zealand ten-dollar note in 1991.
About Kate Sheppard in brief
Katherine Wilson Sheppard was the most prominent member of the women’s suffrage movement in New Zealand. Born in Liverpool, England, she emigrated to New Zealand with her family in 1868. In 1887 she was appointed the WCTU’s National Superintendent for Franchise and Legislation, a position she used to advance the cause. New Zealand became the first country to establish universal suffrage. A memorial to her exists in Christchurch. She replaced Queen Elizabeth II on the front of the New Zealand ten-dollar note in 1991. She died in 1934, leaving no descendants. Sheppard is considered to be an important figure in the history of New Zealand’s women’s rights movement. She was the editor of The White Ribbon, the first woman-operated newspaper in New Zealander. Her work culminated in a petition with 30,000 signatures calling for women’s Suffrage that was presented to parliament in 1893. In later life, she travelled to Britain and assisted the Suffrage movement there. She is buried at the St Vincent’s Cemetery, Christchurch, with her husband, George Allen Sheppard, and their two children, Marie and Walter. Kate was named after her paternal grandmother, also Catherine Wilson Malcolm, but preferred to spell her name \”Katherine\” or to abbreviate it to \”Kate\”. She had an elder sister Marie, born in Scotland, and three younger siblings – Frank, born in Birmingham, and Isabella and Robert, both born in London; evidently the family moved often during that period.
Kate’s later writings demonstrate an extensive knowledge of science and law, indicating a strong education. Her father loved music and ensured that the family had good musical training. Kate became part of Christchurch’s intellectual and social scenes, and spent time with her mother’s growing family. She married Walter Allen in 1871 and had a son, Walter Allen, in 1874. Kate may have been impressed with his knowledge of local matters and may have influenced her ideas on women’s suffrage and Madras. She formed a friendship with politician and prominent temperance activist Alfred Saunders, who may have influence on her ideas. She arrived in England in 1872, and her husband and her first child was born the following year. The Trinity Congregational Church raised funds for a new building from 1872 to 1874, and Kate was most likely involved in this. Kate and her family moved to Christchurch in 1869, and lived on City Street in the centre of the city. She had a daughter, Marie, who was born in 1867, and later moved to Melbourne, where she married George Beath, the future husband of Kate’s sister Marie. After Marie joined him there, they were married in 1875, and they had a first child, George. Kate moved to Lyttelton Harbour on 12 November 1868, and the couple later had a second child, a boy, William. Kate lived with her uncle, a minister of the Free Church of Scotland at Nairn; he instilled in her the values of Christian socialism.
You want to know more about Kate Sheppard?
This page is based on the article Kate Sheppard published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 06, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
