Kate and the Girls

On the way to collect Mrs H from work, I stopped to take this shot. It's a place I haven't photographed for several years, mainly because it's been out of bounds for quite some time post-earthquakes.

The Kate Sheppard Memorial is the work of sculptor Margriet Windhausen, and comprises a 3.3m by 2.1m bronze bas-relief supported by a 5m pebbled wall. It was unveiled on 19 September 1993, by the Governor General, Dame Catherine Tizard, to commemorate 100 years since New Zealand women won the right to vote.

The Memorial stands in a landscaped area beside the Avon River on Oxford Terrace known as the Kate Sheppard National Memorial Reserve.

Interestingly, this is the only National Memorial in Christchurch and is the only New Zealand monument depicting the fight for women’s suffrage. Given our proud history of equal rights, I'm quite surprised by this.

The women on the memorial are, pictured left to right:
-Meri Te Tai Mangakahia of Taitokerau, who requested the vote for women from the Kotahitanga Māori Parliament;
-Amey Daldy,a foundation member of the Auckland WCTU and president of the Auckland Franchise League;
- Kate Sheppard of Christchurch, the leader of the suffrage campaign;
- Ada Wells of Christchurch who campaigned vigorously for equal educational opportunities for girls and women;
- Harriet Morison of Dunedin, vice president of the Tailoresses’ Union and a powerful advocate for working women; and
- Helen Nicol who pioneered the women’s franchise campaign in Dunedin.