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Kate Sheppard Facts & Worksheets

Kate Sheppard is widely regarded as the champion of women’s suffrage in New Zealand in the 19th century.

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Kate Sheppard is widely regarded as the champion of women’s suffrage in New Zealand. She and other trailblazing women campaigned so successfully that New Zealand became the world’s first self-governing nation to grant the vote to all women over 21 in 1893.

See the fact file below for more information about Kate Sheppard, or you can download our 27-page Kate Sheppard worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE

  • Catherine Wilson Malcolm was born on March 10, 1847, in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, the daughter of Scots Jemima Crawford Souter and her clerk husband, Andrew Wilson Malcolm. Catherine was named after her grandmother, but she preferred the names, Katherine or Kate. 
  • Her childhood was spent in London, Nairn, Scotland, and Dublin. Katherine’s father died in 1862, and her mother took her two brothers and sister to New Zealand as saloon passengers in 1868; they arrived on the Matoaka in Lyttelton in February 1869.
  • Franchise departments were established inside local unions in 1887, and Sheppard was named national superintendent of the franchise and legislation department.
  • She was in charge of coordinating and encouraging local unions, which included preparing and distributing pamphlets, writing letters to the press, church meetings, stimulating debate within the WCTU, and temperance and political clubs.
  • She was an adept public speaker and writer with a clear, logical mind and the ability to argue without venom. Humanitarian beliefs and a deep sense of fairness drove Kate Sheppard.
  • Kate’s younger sister, Isabella May, who worked as the WCTU’s superintendent of the literature department, accompanied her on her speaking engagements. The union’s leaflets were given to members of Parliament.
  • Temperance societies, which were already well-organized in the community, believed that if women were given the vote, there would be a nationwide majority in favor of prohibition. Throughout the campaign, the emphasis was on the right of women to vote, which had previously been extended to males above the age of 21. Women were classified as juveniles, lunatics, and criminals due to their exclusion.
  • In 1891, the WCTU’s franchise department presented the first three critical petitions to Parliament. Sir John Hall, a New Zealand politician who served as the 12th premier of New Zealand from 1879 to 1882, presented the petition, which was enthusiastically supported by Alfred Saunders and the Premier, John Ballance. More than 9,000 women signed it, and more than 19,000 signed the second one in 1892.
  • In June 1891, Kate Sheppard developed and began editing a women’s page in the Prohibitionist, the national temperance magazine. 
  • The most extraordinary petition ever presented to Parliament, with approximately 32,000 signatures, was collected in 1893, with the foundation of franchise leagues in several centers and the increasing activity and growth of the WCTU auxiliary in the smaller locations. 
  • The WCTU’s group of 600 female members had successfully raised public opinion so Parliament could no longer ignore their demands.
  • On September 19, 1893, the Electoral Act 1893 was approved. Kate Sheppard received a telegraph from the premier, Richard Seddon, who had previously been her political adversary in the House, conceding victory to the women. 
  • Lord Glasgow, the governor, honored Kate Sheppard as a political leader by symbolically presenting her with the pen to sign the bill granting womanhood suffrage.
  • The WCTU began recruiting women ten weeks before the election. Kate Sheppard emphasized that the WCTU’s franchise section was eager for all women of all classes to enroll. 
  • In the inaugural election, 65% of all New Zealand women over 21 voted. New Zealand became the first country in which all women could vote.
  • In 1894, Kate Sheppard returned to England with her husband and son, where she met other famous feminists and participated in a frenetic cycle of public speaking and discussion supporting women’s suffrage. 
  • The success and encouragement of the New Zealand activists gave new life to England’s women’s suffrage movement. Sheppard was New Zealand’s delegate to the World Woman’s Christian Temperance Union’s biannual convention in London in June 1895, when she met the union’s president, Frances Willard.
  • The International Council of Women asked Kate Sheppard to organize a national council of women in New Zealand while she was in London. 
  • When she returned to Christchurch, she discovered that the Canterbury Women’s Institute had already convened a conference of franchise leagues and other women’s societies to form a federation of women’s organizations.

SHEPPARD AND THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN OF NEW ZEALAND

  • Sheppard was elected the first president of the National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ). Some early squabbles arose because Anna Stout, the founder of the Women’s Franchise League, had expected to be president of the organization because of her husband’s title and position as a leading politician in New Zealand, and she had been offered that position before the first meeting.
  • The NCWNZ’s early resolutions focused on the need for legal equality for men and women in areas like marriage and employment. The NCWNZ decided that women should be allowed to run for Parliament, be appointed police officers, and serve on juries.
  • It also passed several resolutions supporting societal moral change, such as raising the consent age, establishing shelters for alcoholics, strengthening liquor regulations, allowing children to be educated freely for more extended periods, and abolishing the capital penalty.

LATER LIFE

  • As president of the NCWZ, Sheppard pushed numerous proposals to improve women’s situation and status. She was particularly interested in promoting women’s legal and economic independence from men.
  • She was not only concerned with women’s rights but also with political reforms such as proportional representation, binding referendums, and a Cabinet directly elected by Parliament.
  • She resigned from her employment at the National Council of Women and relocated to England with no set return date. She stayed in Canada and the United States along the trip, where she met American suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt.
  • She was involved in advocating women’s suffrage in London, but her health deteriorated further, requiring her to discontinue this effort. 
  • She stayed relatively quiet in political circles and ceased giving speeches, but she continued to write.
  • She wrote the pamphlet Woman Suffrage in New Zealand for the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance in 1907 and prepared a presentation on the history of women’s suffrage for the 1906 Christchurch Exhibition.
  • While she never regained her previous vitality, her health had stabilized, and she could still influence the New Zealand women’s movement. 
  • In 1916, she was the first to sign a petition to Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward urging the British government to enfranchise women. In 1918, she revived the National Council of Women with other famous suffragists. 
  • That year, Sheppard was chosen president of the National Council, a position he held until 1919.
  • Sheppard died on July 13, 1934, at 86, in Christchurch. She was laid to rest in Addington Cemetery, Christchurch, with her mother and brother Robert.

Kate Sheppard Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about Kate Sheppard across 27 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Kate Sheppard. Kate Sheppard was widely regarded as the champion of women’s suffrage in New Zealand. She and other trailblazing women campaigned so successfully that New Zealand became the world’s first self-governing nation to grant the vote to all women over 21 in 1893.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Kate Sheppard Facts
  2. She
  3. Yes? No?
  4. Timeline
  5. Your Thoughts?
  6. Woman on the Go
  7. Give Women the Vote?
  8. You Can Do It!
  9. Women of Today
  10. My Vote Gives Me Power
  11. The Right To Vote

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Kate Sheppard?

Kate Sheppard was a prominent New Zealand suffragette and women’s rights activist. She is best known for her leading role in the campaign to secure women’s suffrage (the right to vote) in New Zealand, making it the first self-governing country in the world to grant women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

When and where was Kate Sheppard born?

Kate Sheppard was born on March 10, 1847, in Liverpool, England. She later immigrated to New Zealand with her family in 1868 and settled in Christchurch.

What were Kate Sheppard’s key contributions to the suffrage movement?

Kate Sheppard was a tireless advocate for women’s suffrage in New Zealand. Her key contributions included:

  • Organizing and leading suffrage campaigns, including petition drives and public meetings.
  • Lobbying and building a network of supporters, including both women and sympathetic men.
  • Drafting and presenting the Women’s Suffrage Petition of 1893, which collected over 25,000 signatures and played a crucial role in convincing the New Zealand government to pass the Electoral Act granting women the right to vote.
  • Being a vocal and persuasive spokesperson for women’s rights in New Zealand.

When did New Zealand grant women the right to vote?

New Zealand granted women the right to vote on September 19, 1893, when the Electoral Act was signed into law. This made New Zealand the first self-governing country in the world to grant women full suffrage in parliamentary elections.

What is Kate Sheppard’s legacy?

Kate Sheppard’s legacy is enduring and celebrated in New Zealand and around the world. Her advocacy for women’s rights and her instrumental role in achieving suffrage in New Zealand helped pave the way for progress in women’s rights globally. She is often hailed as a feminist icon and a symbol of women’s empowerment. Today, New Zealand commemorates her contributions by featuring her image on the $10 New Zealand banknote and naming various institutions and awards in her honor, including the Kate Sheppard Memorial Trust and the Kate Sheppard Cup for women’s football.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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