How Waikato is celebrating

Back in the 1800s, she taught an illiterate husband to read and write, raised 10 children and signed the petition that would win New Zealand women the vote.

Elizabeth Ann Boyden was 40 and pregnant with her ninth child on that historic day in 1893.

On Wednesday, the 125th anniversary of becoming the first nation on the planet to allow women to vote, her greatgranddaughter Dame Peggy KoopmanBoyden will honour her.

Koopman-Boyden is the fourth generation in her family to be a feminist.

Elizabeth Boyden’s political interests were probably born through speaking with the workers in her father’s mine back in England, Koopman-Boyden said.

She used to make beer for the miners and got to know them.

‘‘I think that’s how she realised the toughness of life.’’

Boyden, who had a good education, taught her illiterate husband William to read and write. He went on to become a surveyor in New Zealand.

Kate Sheppard, known as the most prominent New Zealand activist for the suffrage movement, pasted each petition sheet together before rolling it around a broom handle to be presented to Parliament.

Out of 31,872 suffrage petition signatories, just 21 men are known to have signed.

The women of the Boyden family have always juggled work, community roles and raising children, as many do, Koopman-Boyden said. ‘‘She sounds a bit like me. It’s very interesting for us to dig it up.’’

Koopman-Boyden, a social scientist and mum of two, has given more than 45 years of service to gerontology. She also led major research projects for the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology during the 1990s and 2000s.

As a mother of 10, her greatgrandmother would have known what she was signing, Koopman-Boyden said.

Three of her children were born in the UK, one on the voyage from Britain and the remaining six in New Zealand.

Koopman-Boyden first found out about her family’s connection to the suffrage petition after visiting the archives in Wellington on the 100th anniversary of suffrage.

‘‘People said to me, go on, Peggy, you’ve been around for a while – go have a look.’’

And there it was: EA Boyden, scrawled between other signatures.

‘‘I could have cried,’’ Koopman-Boyden said. ❚ Today, stories will be told over a fancy morning tea run by the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. The meeting will be suffrage-themed, with purple and white decorations. Members will share stories, memorabilia and photos of any family members who signed petitions or appear on the 1893 electoral roll. The morning tea will kick off at 9.30am at the Chartwell Cooperating Parish Hall in Hamilton.

❚ Art historian and exhibition curator Penelope Jackson will talk about Ida Carey and other female artists at Waikato Museum from 5.30pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday. Carey, a Hamilton artist born in 1891, was well known for painting Ma¯ ori men, women and children. Admission is free.

❚ A suffrage celebration will be held at SkyCity in Hamilton from 5.30pm to 8.30pm on Wednesday. There will be speakers, entertainment and spot prizes. Drinks and nibbles will also be available. Those attending need to be 13 or older. Tickets for adults are $45 and tickets for high schoolers $25. Tickets can be bought at eventspronto.co.nz/suffrage125.

❚ Also on Wednesday, a high tea will be held for 125 pioneering Waikato women, for the Waikato 125 project led by Angela O’Leary, who is also a Hamilton City councillor. While the event is invite-only, the Waikato 125 website will eventually hold a collection of profiles on Waikato women and a video project will document messages from some of the nominees, leaving advice for women over the next 125 years.