As a brief introduction, I am going to address a question which I have found myself regularly faced with when attempting to explain how I have chosen to spend my year to friends, family members, and colleagues: 'so why Napier?' The initial intrigue appears to stem, at least in part, from the perception that Napier was not a prototypical ‘suffrage centre’. Perhaps this is because we tend to associate such activism more acutely with the work of Sheppard and co. in Canterbury, or the lesser known connections of Anna Paterson Stout and others in Wellington. Suffrage, currently presented and thereby perceived to exist more as a national narrative than a local one, does not figure with great significance in most popular interpretations of Napier's history. Answering the 'why Napier' inquiry efficiently, while attempting to avoid oversimplifying the issue and lacking any identifiable 'big names' to drop, has proven an interesting challenge. I have tended, on the whole, to resort to what is fast becoming a rather rote response that, as a smaller centre, assessing the signatories from Napier as a collective required a smaller sample to gain a broadly representative cross-section of the population. Throw in a statement which alludes to the apparent position of Napier as a "bit of a hub" of suffrage activism, and most inquirers appear satisfied. Some further elaboration is in order, however, so I am going to lay out a few early thoughts. View of Hastings Street looking toward Napier Hill. Credit: 'Hastings Street, Napier', 7 July 1890, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/74274. The Hawke's Bay ContributionNapier, and the surrounding areas of Hastings, Taradale, and Havelock North, contributed 30 sheets, with over 1000 signatures, to the national petition presented to parliament in 1893. With the Napier electorate boasting a total population of 10'147 at the time, this significant proportion of signatories leaves some clear and important questions to consider. What was it about Napier, specifically, that allowed suffrage activism to take hold so significantly in 1892 and 1893? How did it compare to other regional towns in terms of apparent national significance? Ultimately, can we insert the suffrage narrative back into the region's popular history? So why Napier? For a start, previous work on suffrage history has laid a solid foundation for an assessment of this kind in this region. Victoria Upton's 1992 honours research essay examined the suffrage movement in Hawke’s Bay, detailing the activity of the Napier branch of the WCTU and the local Women’s Franchise League. Identifying some key individuals, her work has provided a number of critical points of reference for further research. But there’s more to it than that. Napier was recognised by contemporaries as an influential centre of suffrage activism, hosting the eighth annual WCTU national convention in 1893, and providing two members of the National Executive: Mrs Annie Riddell (of Roslyn Road) and Mrs Fanny Troy (of Taradale). Franchise League president Emily Hill was also influential on the national stage (in both suffrage and educational capacities). Napier undoubtedly played its part in the national level suffrage campaign. View down Carlyle Street toward the city centre from Napier Hill c.1890 Credit: 'Carlyle Street, Napier' c.1890, MTG Hawke's Bay, available: collection.mtghawkesbay.com/objects/75340. The Present ResearchFundamentally, this research seeks to shed light on the women behind the signatures on the petition sheets. Comparatively little is known about the signatories themselves, in many cases we don’t even know their first names. Yet the breadth and depth of activity in soliciting signatures, evidenced by the geographic dispersal and occupational diversity of both signatories and witnesses, alludes to the vitality of Napier’s grassroots suffrage campaign.
Such an analysis relies on an initial assessment of the society itself. As the centre of the Waiapu diocese, the Anglican presence in Napier was significant. So too was the Presbyterian influence, with St Paul's Presbyterian Church serving as a venue for various suffrage-related activities from 1885. The impact of schools, particularly Napier Girls’ High School and Hukarere Girls' College (then Hukarere Native School for Girls), is another influence worth considering. With evidence of community members present at national conventions, the potential significance of Napier as an accessible transport hub, a port town with rail connection to Wellington, is another aspect which should not be overlooked. Local area studies are also valuable for other purposes. Kirsten Thomlinson's close analysis of the signatories from South Dunedin, utilising work conducted under the Caversham Project umbrella, exemplifies this potential and provides a valuable study of Dunedin as an industrial urban centre. Using the petition as a start point has proven valuable for both Thomlinson and the current study where identifying information, albeit some at the most basic level, has been collated for 540 women present in Napier during this moment in 1893. Further information available on the electoral rolls, for those sample members who can be traced, extends this dataset. In assessing occupational dispersal, for example, it is possible to shed light on the social layering of Napier as a regional New Zealand society in the 1890s. The answer to the 'why Napier' question has proven fairly intricate. On the whole, it's been more difficult to decide where to draw the line when discussing potentially influential social factors than to come up with any at all. We are, after all, talking about the characteristics of an entire regional society, which naturally possessed a seemingly endless array of layers, potential lenses, and social, cultural and political elements. I expect that various other, previously unconsidered, factors will spring up as we go on. For now, however, the thoughts above serve as an adequate starting point. Sources and Further Reading Bronwyn Labrum, '"For the Better Discharge of Our Duties": The Women's Movement in Wanganui 1893-1903', BA(Hons) research essay, Massey University, 1986. Rosemarie Smith, The Ladies are at it Again! Gore Debates the Women's Franchise, (Wellington: Women's Studies Victoria University of Wellington, 1993). Kirsten Thomlinson, '"We the Undersigned": An Analysis of Signatories to the 1893 Women's Suffrage Petition from Southern Dunedin', MA thesis, University of Otago, 2001. Victoria Upton, 'Women's Suffrage in Hawke's Bay', BA(Hons) research essay, Victoria University of Wellington, 1992.
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