Kate Sheppard National Memorial | |
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![]() Close up of the memorial | |
Artist | Margriet Windhausen |
Year | 1993 |
Type | Stone and bronze |
Dimensions | 2.1 m× 5 m(6.9 ft× 16 ft) |
Location | Christchurch, New Zealand |
43°31′50.09″S172°38′0.7″E / 43.5305806°S 172.633528°E |
The Kate Sheppard National Memorial, located in the city of Christchurch, is New Zealand's first memorial to the women's suffrage campaign, and particularly honours the life of one of the country's leading campaigners for women's suffrage, Kate Sheppard. [1]
The idea for the memorial was raised in 1989 as part of plans to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in New Zealand in 1993. A committee was formed to select a design for the memorial, and the design of Dutch-born New Zealand artist Margriet Windhausen was chosen. [2]
The memorial is a stone aggregate wall, with a life size bronze relief sculpture of Sheppard and five other women's suffrage leaders. Panels on either side of the sculpture depict scenes of everyday women's lives at the end of the nineteenth century, and carry text describing the struggle for women's suffrage. The whole structure is approximately 5 metres (16 ft) wide and 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall.
The women featured in the sculpture are (from left to right):
The group of women are depicted carrying their petition for women's suffrage to Parliament in a wooden cart. [3]
The memorial was unveiled on 19 September 1993, the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in New Zealand, by Dame Catherine Tizard, the Governor-General of New Zealand. [1] [4] A time capsule containing news articles and information on women's lives in 1993 was placed inside the monument. [2]
The memorial is located in a landscaped area known as the Kate Sheppard National Memorial Reserve, beside the Avon River and adjacent to a heritage building, Our City (the Old Municipal Chambers) near the corner of Worcester Street and Oxford Terrace. This building was damaged in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake and the memorial was behind barricades while the building was assessed. In a ceremony presided over by the Mayor of Christchurch, Lianne Dalziel, in June 2014, the memorial was liberated from the barricades and public access was restored. [5]
Katherine Wilson Sheppard was the most prominent member of the women's suffrage movement in New Zealand and the country's most famous suffragist. Born in Liverpool, England, she emigrated to New Zealand with her family in 1868. There she became an active member of various religious and social organisations, including the Women's Christian Temperance Union New Zealand. In 1887 she was appointed the WCTU NZ's National Superintendent for Franchise and Legislation, a position she used to advance the cause of women's suffrage in New Zealand.
The Christchurch Botanic Gardens, located in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, were founded in 1863 when an English oak was planted to commemorate the solemnisation of the marriage of Prince Albert and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The gardens sprawl over an area of 21 hectares and lie adjacent to the loop of the Avon River next to Hagley Park. The Christchurch Botanic Gardens have a variety of collections of exotic and local plants of New Zealand, several conservatories, a nursery, playground and Climatological Station.
Women's suffrage was an important political issue in the late-nineteenth-century New Zealand. In early colonial New Zealand, as in European societies, women were excluded from any involvement in politics. Public opinion began to change in the latter half of the nineteenth century and after years of effort by women's suffrage campaigners, led by Kate Sheppard, New Zealand became the first nation in the world in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
Ada Wells was an English-born New Zealand feminist and social worker.
The Bridge of Remembrance is one of two main war memorials in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is dedicated to those who died in World War I, and serves as a memorial for those who participated in two World Wars as well as subsequent conflicts in Borneo, Korea, Malaya, and Vietnam. Owned by Christchurch City Council, it is located on the Cashel Street Bridge at the head of City Mall. The Bridge of Remembrance was repaired and strengthened following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was reopened with a rededication ceremony held on Anzac Day in 2016.
The 1893 women's suffrage petition was the third of three petitions to the New Zealand Government in support of women's suffrage and resulted in the Electoral Act 1893, which gave women the right to vote in the 1893 general election. The 1893 petition was substantially larger than the 1891 petition, which had around 9,000 signatures, and larger still than the 1892 petition, which contained some 20,000 signatures. The third petition was the largest petition presented to Parliament at that point with nearly 32,000 signatures. The petition was signed in various parts of the country by women, aged 21 or older, who signed their names and addresses. At least 20 men also signed the petition.
Helen Lyster Nicol was a New Zealand suffragist and temperance campaigner. She is one of six suffragists honoured in the Kate Sheppard National Memorial.
Margaret Home Sievwright was a New Zealand feminist, political activist and community leader. She was particularly active in the temperance and suffrage movements, and became president of the National Council of Women of New Zealand.
Harriet Russell Morison was a New Zealand tailor, trade unionist, suffragist and public servant.
Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House is a historic home in Clyde Road in the Christchurch suburb of Ilam, bordering the University of Canterbury. For 14 years, it was the home of the leader of New Zealand's women's suffrage campaign, Kate Sheppard, during her active period. It was later the family home of the 30th Mayor of Christchurch, John Joseph Dougall. It is registered as a Category I heritage place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust for its outstanding historical significance in relation to Sheppard. It came into government ownership during 2019 and is open to the public as a museum since 2020.
Anne Ward was the first national president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union New Zealand from 1885 to 1887, and a prominent member of the women's suffrage movement in New Zealand.
The Cenotaph in the southern New Zealand city of Dunedin stands in the centre of Queens Gardens, close to the city centre. It is the city's main war memorial.
The Statue of Margaret Cruickshank is located in Seddon Square, in the small rural town of Waimate, New Zealand. It honours the life of Margaret Cruickshank, a local doctor who died in the influenza pandemic of 1918, and was the first monument erected in New Zealand to a woman other than Queen Victoria.
The Puketāpapa Women's Suffrage Memorial is located in Rose Park, on the corner of Warren Avenue and Mt Albert Road, in the suburb of Three Kings, Auckland, New Zealand. It commemorates the local women who campaigned for women's suffrage.
The Kate Sheppard Memorial Trust Award is an award made annually on September 19, known as Suffrage Day, in New Zealand. This day is the anniversary of women winning the right to vote in New Zealand in 1893.
Hilda Kate Lovell-Smith, generally known as Kitty Lovell-Smith, was a New Zealand businesswoman and community organiser.
Di ffrench was a New Zealand photographic and performance artist and sculptor. Her work is in the collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and the Hocken Collections in Dunedin.
Margriet Windhausen is a New Zealand sculptor and painter.
Women's Christian Temperance Union of New Zealand is a non-partisan, non-denominational, and non-profit organisation that is the oldest continuously active national organisation of women in New Zealand. The national organisation began in 1885 during the visit to New Zealand by Mary Clement Leavitt, the first world missionary for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. The WCTU NZ was an early branch of the World Woman's Christian Temperance Union and a founding affiliate of the National Council of Women of New Zealand. Men may join the WCTU NZ as honorary members.