This website presents the culmination of work undertaken as part of my History honours work at Victoria University of Wellington in 2019. The site combines work completed for my honours research essay entitled Behind the Names: Women's Political Activism in the Napier Suffrage Campaign and Beyond c.1890-1900 and HIST423, a digital history course.
More than 30,000 women signed petition sheets which were presented to parliament in 1893, yet little attention has been paid to them, as individuals and as a group, and their role in supporting the extension of the franchise. Who were they? What prompted them to support the campaign? How were they connected? Were they seeking to speak back to power or was this widespread engagement evidence of community solidarity? Or was it, in fact, something entirely different?
This research aims to expand upon existing work on the women's suffrage movement in New Zealand by assessing the political engagement of the women of Napier, and their position in the national narrative, in greater depth. Taking a sample of women who signed the 1893 suffrage petition, and utilising the 1892 precursor and the electoral rolls for 1893 and 1896, the intention is to shed some light on the manner in which political activism and the suffrage campaign played out in this local context.
More than 30,000 women signed petition sheets which were presented to parliament in 1893, yet little attention has been paid to them, as individuals and as a group, and their role in supporting the extension of the franchise. Who were they? What prompted them to support the campaign? How were they connected? Were they seeking to speak back to power or was this widespread engagement evidence of community solidarity? Or was it, in fact, something entirely different?
This research aims to expand upon existing work on the women's suffrage movement in New Zealand by assessing the political engagement of the women of Napier, and their position in the national narrative, in greater depth. Taking a sample of women who signed the 1893 suffrage petition, and utilising the 1892 precursor and the electoral rolls for 1893 and 1896, the intention is to shed some light on the manner in which political activism and the suffrage campaign played out in this local context.
Image Credits:
1. 'Carlyle Street, Napier', c.1890, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/75340
2. 'Women's Franchise League', Hawke's Bay Herald, 14 September 1893, p.3, available: paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18930914.2.17
3. 'Hastings Street, Napier', 7 July 1890, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/74274
4. 'Chaucer Road South', c.1895, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/75380
5. 'Marine Parade Family Hotel', 1895, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/77932
6. 'Coote Road', 1894, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/75299
1. 'Carlyle Street, Napier', c.1890, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/75340
2. 'Women's Franchise League', Hawke's Bay Herald, 14 September 1893, p.3, available: paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18930914.2.17
3. 'Hastings Street, Napier', 7 July 1890, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/74274
4. 'Chaucer Road South', c.1895, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/75380
5. 'Marine Parade Family Hotel', 1895, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/77932
6. 'Coote Road', 1894, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/75299
Header Credit: Sheet 430, 1893 Women's Suffrage Petition.