in 1893 new zealand became the first country in the world to grant voting rights to
Women's suffrage in New Zealand The Electoral Bill granting women the franchise was given Royal Assent by Governor Lord Glasgow on 19 September 1893.[2] Women voted for the first time in the election held on 28 November 1893 (elections for the Māori electorates were held on 20 December). In 1893, Elizabeth Yates also became Mayor of Onehunga, the first time such a post had been held by a woman anywhere in the British Empire.[3]
Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty was written at a time when British colonists were pressuring the Crown to establish a colony in New Zealand, and when some Māori leaders had petitioned the British for protection against French forces. It was drafted with the intention of establishing a British Governor of New Zealand, recognising Māori ownership of their lands, forests and other possessions, and giving Māori the rights of British subjects. It was intended to ensure that when the declaration of British sovereignty over New Zealand was made by Lieutenant Governor William Hobson in May 1840, the Māori people would not feel that their rights had been ignored. Once it had been written and translated, it was first signed by Northern Māori leaders at Waitangi, and subsequently copies of the Treaty were taken around New Zealand and over the following months many other chiefs signed.[1] Around 530 to 540 Māori, at least 13 of them women, signed the Treaty of Waitangi, despite some Māori leaders cautioning against it.[2][3] An immediate result of the Treaty was that Queen Victoria's government gained the sole right to purchase land.[4] In total there are nine signed copies of the Treaty of Waitangi including the sheet signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi.[5]