Kate Sheppard's House For Sale - Harcourts Holmwood

Kate Sheppard’s House For Sale

19 September 2018 is a very special day for women and the global democratic process. It marks the 125th anniversary of New Zealand becoming in 1893 the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote. In the UK it took a further 25 years for women to be given the vote in 1918, while in the USA some women were given the vote in 1920, although African American women were not enfranchised until 1965.

Kate Sheppard was the trailblazer and driving force for this momentous ground-breaking development, which she directed from her villa at 83 Clyde Road in Christchurch, writing pamphlets, preparing speeches, lobbying and most importantly collating thousands of signatures from throughout New Zealand for her petition to Parliament. The signatures were pasted on to rolls of wallpaper in her dining room and later theatrically rolled out on the floor of Parliament by Sir John Hall, which helped convince a sceptical Parliament to vote through the revolutionary new electoral law.

Arguably one of New Zealand’s most famous and influential women, Kate Sheppard now appears on its $10 note – with Everest conqueror, Sir Edmund Hillary on the $5 note and HM The Queen on the $20 note. A commemorative bust of Sheppard has pride of place in the New Zealand Parliament and together with others in her progressive movement, she appears on a large bronze plaque on the banks of the River Avon in Christchurch.

The iconic home of Kate Sheppard still exists, looking much as it did in Sheppard’s time, sitting on more than a manicured acre close to the heart of the city. Eulogised on TV shows and in numerous magazine stories, this special family home, which is a heritage one listed property with its exquisite gardens having been a New Zealand Garden of Significance, is now for sale – and for the first time in 33 years.