1893 Women's Suffrage Petition

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In 1893, New Zealand received the third and largest petition asking Parliament to extend the vote to women. This work helped pass the Electoral Act 1893, which gave women the right to vote in the 1893 general election.

The 1893 petition was bigger than the earlier ones (about 9,000 signatures in 1891 and around 20,000 in 1892). It gathered nearly 32,000 signatures from women aged 21 or older, with many signing their names and addresses, and at least 20 men also signing. The main petition had more than 500 sheets joined to form a roll about 270 metres long; when Sir John Hall presented it on 28 July 1893, staff unwound the roll the length of the debating chamber.

Twelve smaller petitions also accompanied it, but those have not survived.

Support for suffrage came from politicians John Hall, Alfred Saunders, and Premier John Ballance, but the campaign was led mainly by the New Zealand branch of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, led by Kate Sheppard since 1887.

Today, the petition is on display at the National Library of New Zealand in Wellington as part of the He Tohu exhibition. It is cared for by Archives New Zealand and has been listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World since 1997, as well as New Zealand’s Memory of the World register. The 1891 petition has not survived, but Archives New Zealand holds the 1892 petition.

The text of the 1893 petition (as presented to Parliament) urged that women 21 or older be allowed to vote, noting that Parliament had already acknowledged the justice of the demand. It asked that Parliament grant women the vote before the next general election and not pass any electoral bill that would deny them this right.