Te Tai Tokerau | Northland

Te Tai Tokerau | Northland

Te Tai Tokerau | Northland

Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland

Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland

Te puku o te ika a Māui | Central North Island

Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington

Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington

Te raki o te Moana Pounamu | Upper South Island

Te raki o te Moana Pounamu | Upper South Island

Ōtākou | Otago

Ōtākou | Otago

After women gained the right to vote in 1893, A&P shows became a valuable opportunity to attract the support of female voters.

Anna Maria Lafranchi arrived in New Zealand with her husband Giovachimo sometime before 1871. The couple lived in the mining settlements of Macetown and Cardrona. Anna Maria signed sheet 79 of the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition.

Elizabeth Forrester nee Stevenson

When Elizabeth died in 1940 her obituary noted that she was ‘without doubt, the most outstanding woman personality in the history of Ōamaru’.

Emily was careful to set a good precedent as New Zealand’s first woman medical student. While she was studying, Emily signed sheet 97 of the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition from her home in central Dunedin.

Through her temperance work, Helen became involved in women’s suffrage. She believed that if women could vote, they would put men in parliament who could reform society. Helen helped lead the movement in Dunedin.

Kate Sheppard, the woman on New Zealand’s 10 dollar note, spearheaded the campaign to achieve women’s suffrage. She was an intelligent, educated woman who believed in helping others.

Lily was well educated, speaking fluent German and French. Committed to social service, she taught English to Chinese immigrants and reading to factory girls. Lily became involved in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union movement (WCTU) in 1885.

Born in Panguru in the Hokianga in 1868, Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia was rangatira born and used her influence as an advocate for Māori women, including having the right to vote.

Not all women who signed the suffrage petition were outspoken social campaigners. Lady Hall was married to Sir John Hall, the member of the House of Representatives who took parliamentary leadership of the women’s suffrage campaign.

Symbols found on headstones can tell us a lot about the people they commemorate. Decoding this unusual language enables us to understand more about their lives. Here are some examples of symbols and what they represent.

A poster series exploring the French settlement in Northland, New Zealand.

About 300,000 years ago, lava from the Hurupaki eruption formed an elevated ridge we now know as Bank Street.

Nestled on the western shores of Moturua Island lies Mangahāwea Bay. A haven for boaties and visitors to Ipipiri, this beautiful cove is revealing secrets about its past.

Ancestral Maori travelled the length and breadth of the country in search of stone. These precious lithic resources – stretching from the bottom of Te Wai Pounamu to the top of Te Ika a Māui – were adapted and used by Māori for a range of purposes.