Sheppard, Kate (1847-1934), was a New Zealand writer and campaigner for women’s rights. She led New Zealand’s woman suffrage (right to vote) movement. In 1893, New Zealand became the first nation to grant women full voting rights.
Catherine Wilson Malcolm was born in Liverpool, England, probably on March 10, 1847. Her family immigrated to New Zealand in 1869. The family settled in Christchurch in New Zealand’s South Island. On July 21, 1871, Kate married Walter Allen Sheppard, a local merchant. The couple had one son, Douglas, in 1880.
Through her church, Sheppard became involved in the temperance movement. The movement sought to end the consumption of alcoholic beverages. In 1885, she became a founding member of the New Zealand Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The WCTU worked for a number of social causes, including public health, temperance, and woman suffrage.
Sheppard became an important leader in the WCTU. She wrote pamphlets and petitions, made speeches, and met with members of Parliament to promote woman suffrage. In 1893, she presented to New Zealand’s Parliament a petition with more than 30,000 signatures in support of votes for women. That September, Parliament passed a law giving women the right to vote in national elections. With the WCTU, Sheppard worked to register women to vote in the November 1893 election.
In 1896, Sheppard helped found the National Council of Women of New Zealand. For several years, Sheppard served as editor of the WCTU’s newspaper, The White Ribbon. At that time, it was New Zealand’s only newspaper written and managed by women. Due to ill health, Sheppard retired from public speaking in the early 1900’s. However, she continued to influence the women’s movement through her writings.
Walter Sheppard died on July 24, 1915. Kate married fellow suffragist writer William Sidney Lovell-Smith on Aug. 15, 1925. She died in Christchurch on July 13, 1934.
