Heroes of Progress: Kate Sheppard

In the late 1880s, Sheppard began drafting and promoting petitions to New Zealand's parliament that would prevent women from being employed as barmaids.

It was rejected by parliament, and she became convinced that politicians would continue to reject petitions put forward by women, as long as women did not have the right to vote.

By 1888, Sheppard became the President of the Christchurch branch of the New Zealand Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). She quickly became a prominent figure of the women's suffrage movement, and hosted political events across New Zealand.

In 1891, Sheppard started making parliamentary petitions to persuade politicians to support the vote for women.

• In 1891, Sheppard created a petition with 10,085 signatures.
• John Hall, a supporter of Sheppard, presented her petition to parliament with the proposed amendment to the existing Electoral Bill that would allow women to vote. It passed in the House of Representatives but failed in the Upper House.
• Sheppard's next petition had 20,274 signatures, but it failed again in the Upper House.
• The third petition contained 31,872 signatures, the largest petition the New Zealand parliament had ever received. The Electoral Bill passed, and the enfranchisement of women was signed into law in 1893.

Seeing the success of the suffrage movement in New Zealand, woman's suffrage groups around the world started to follow in her footsteps, copying her tactics with enormous success.

Australia granted women the right to vote in 1902, Finland in 1906, Norway in 1913. The trend continued long after Sheppard's lifetime.