The Meeting Place - A New Zealand History Blog

Some time ago I was interviewed for the He Tohu exhibition that is located at the National Library of New Zealand . He Tohu is a permanent exhibition of three iconic constitutional documents that shape Aotearoa/New Zealand. The documents are: 1835 He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni — Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand 1840 Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Treaty of Waitangi 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition – Te Petihana Whakamana Pōti Wahine. The full version of my interview (around 16 minutes long) has recently been released online. It traverses He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti, but also the wider context of Māori and Pākehā relationships from the eighteenth century through to today. Many more videos with a wide range of experts and commentators can be viewed on the He Tohu website . 

A Declaration. A Treaty. A Petition. He Whakaputanga/The Declaration of Independence, 1835 Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi, 1840 The Women’s Suffrage Petition/Te Petihana Whakamana Pōti Wahine, 1893   These three iconic New Zealand documents are now on public display at the National Library of New Zealand in the He Tohu exhibition held jointly with Archives New Zealand. Three books, published by Bridget Williams Books with the Department of Internal Affairs, take the story of these three foundational documents out to readers throughout the country.  Each book contains full colour facsimiles of the original document, and wide-ranging new research, led by Archives New Zealand, introduces us to many of the signatories. Texts by historians sets each document in context. Having served as an historical advisor in the preparation of the He Tohu exhibition content, I was delighted to be asked to contribute to the book on He Whakaputanga o te Ran...

It is International Women's Day today. So what better time to discover that one of your own ancestors was a suffragette? Searching the database of the 1893 suffrage petition on the NZ History website, I came across Fanny M. Hannan of Seaward Bush, near Invercargill. Fanny is my great-grandmother. She was one of more than 25,000 signatories to the petition, which, when stitched together, was more than 270 metres in length. First page of the 1893 Suffrage Petition, http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/suffrage-petition-1893 After a long struggle, the suffragettes finally achieved their goal, when on 19 September 1893 a new Electoral Act was signed into law, making New Zealand the first country in the world where women gained the right to vote. As for Fanny, she lived long enough to see the First Labour Government come to power in 1935, passing away in 1941, as New Zealand fought the Second World War. And it seems Fanny was not the only member of her family to sign the pe...