In New Zealand, people use 10 dollar bills sometimes. There is a tiny detail you never noticed in those ten dollar bills. “The bird?” No, not the bird… It’s a woman called Kate Sheppard! “What’s so cool about her?” What’s cool is that she changed voting rights for all women across Aotearoa. “How?” I’ll tell you…
Long ago, Catherine Wilson Sheppard was born in 10 March 1848 in Liverpool, England, UK. She moved to New Zealand in 1868. There, she became active in many community groups. She also joined the Women’s Christian Temperance Union New Zealand. In 1887, she became WCTU NZ’s leader for voting rights and laws. She used this role to push for women’s right to vote. Kate worked hard to give women voting rights. Her hard work gave her 30,000 signatures. In 1893, the women successfully gained the right to vote. This made New Zealand the first country to allow women to vote. Kate is seen as an important person in New Zealand history. She replaced Queen Elizabeth II in the 10 dollar note. Till this day, she still holds a significant role in our history.
If you ever saw Kate Sheppard, what would you do?