Who was Kate Sheppard?
Kate Sheppard was from a Scottish and Irish background, believed to be born in Liverpool, England on 10 March 1848. She was one of five children born to Andrew Wilson Malcom, lawyer, and his wife Jemima Crawford Souter, who started their married life on the Isle of Islay in the Hebrides, Scotland. When her father died, Kate was sent to live with an uncle in Nairn, in the north-east of Scotland and Kate is believed to have inherited her keenness for good causes from him. She later joined the rest of her family who were living with relatives in Dublin. When she was nearly twenty-one, Kate emigrated 12,000 miles to New Zealand, to start a new life in the growing colony, where she had the support of her mother and siblings. She settled in Christchurch in the South Island. Kate, the Tireless Worker for Women’s Suffrage Kate and her fervent group of women, persevered for seven years in their endeavour to gain women’s franchise. Franchise pamphlets were distributed in Christchurch, many lette
