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JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
Barbara Bowie, left, and Christine Kershaw tour the recently renovated home of their ancestor, Kate Sheppard.
Descendants of Kate Sheppard felt a connection to their suffrage past as they walked the halls where global feminist history was made.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern officially opened the Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard home at an event in Christchurch on Tuesday.
The house, at 83 Clyde Rd, Ilam, was the center of the campaign to secure the right of New Zealand women to vote in the late 1800s.
It was bought by the government last year and is now run by Heritage New Zealand / Pouhere Taonga, who have renovated the building.
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Sheppard worked in the house, writing letters and speeches, between 1888 and 1902.
In the dining room of the house, in 1893, a 270 meter long petition demanding that women obtain the right to vote was compiled in the dining room of the house, which was signed by 32,000 people.
Later that year, New Zealand became the first autonomous country to grant women the right to vote.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern takes a journey through the history of women.
Ardern said the building, in particular the dining room, was an “incredible piece” of New Zealand history.
“That’s a place where people will get a feel for the history of this home, the place where thousands of women’s signatures gathered and ultimately helped women have the right to vote.”
The house would have an “ongoing life as a place for reflection and debate”.
“If this place and what happened here can bring our people, but especially our young women, much closer to a story that is theirs … maybe they too can feel that anything is possible.”
Sheppard’s family members were also at the opening, and it was an “incredible experience” to tour the building with them, Ardern said.
“It’s literally like looking through family albums.”
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
Kate Sheppard lived in the Christchurch house in the late 1880s.
Barbara Bowie and Christine Kershaw, Sheppard’s great-great-great nieces came from other parts of the country for Tuesday’s event in Christchurch.
Bowie said it was “amazing” to see the work that had been done at home.
“My grandmother used to sit down and explain everything that used to happen here. I had photos and memories; kept wonderful records. “
Kershaw said it was an “added bonus” to tour the house with Ardern.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
Te Whare Waiutuutu Kate Sheppard House will now be a venue for school visits and functions.
Heritage New Zealand Deputy Executive Director Nicola Jackson said the “visitor experience” told the story of Sheppard and “overall social change.”
It contained items such as Sheppard’s locket and chair and many replicas, such as the dining room table.
The back of the house was still being renovated and would eventually be used for functions.
The house would be open on weekends through the end of January, pending construction completion. Then it would be open on weekdays and used for trips and school group events.
