He Tohu Rangatira - Māori Women & the 1893 Suffrage Petition
Ngā kōrero o ngā Wāhine Māori i waitohu i te petihana mana pōti 1893.
Stories of Māori Women who signed the 1893 suffrage petition
I te tau 1893 puta noa i te motu - i te raki, te tonga, te rāwhiti, te hauāuru, me waenganui - i whakarite ngā wāhine i a rātou anō ki te ātete. I muri tata i te petihana mana pōti wāhine mūhore o te tau 1892, i whakahihiri ake te tū a ngā kaiwhakahau ki te whakapā haere ki te whakaara i te iwi. I whakarite ngā kaiātete mana pōti i ā rātou anō ki te kohikohi i ngā waitohu i ngā tū kaupapa, mā roto i ngā whatunga, me te pātōtō ki ngā kuaha. Nō te whakaaturanga o te petihana ki te Pāremata i te Hune, neke atu i te 24,000 tāngata i tautoko i te kaupapa, me te tono kia toro atu te mana pōti ki ngā wāhine. 12 ngā pētihana iti ake, kua ngaro ināianei, i te huri haere i taua wā hoki. Mēnā ka tatauria ēnei tatauranga, ka eke pea ki te 30,000.
O ngā manomano tāngata i tāpiri i ō rātou tohu, waitohu rānei ki te petihana, he itiiti noa ngā mea i tautohua hei wāhine Māori.
He nui ngā kōrero e mōhiotia ana mō Kate Sheppard, te kaikōkiri mana pōti wāhine rongonui rawa o Aotearoa; te wāhi i whānau ai ia, me ōna whakaaro mō te ao, otirā me tana āhua ake. Kei runga hoki a Kate i te noti $10. Engari, 125 ngā tau i muri mai, he aha tā tātou e mōhio ana mō ngā kaiwaitohu Māori? Kāore noa e tino mōhiotia he kōrero mō rātou, tatū noa ki te hia mano wāhine i waiho i tā rātou tohu. Kāore mātou i te kī, ehara rātou i te tuawahine, kāore rānei he mana i roto i ō rātou ake whānau, hapori rānei, engari kāore anō ā rātou kōrero kia tae ki ngā kairangahau me ngā kaipūranga i roto i ngā whare tiaki mauhanga.
He wāhine Māori anō i waitohu i raro kē i ngā ingoa kua whakapākehātia, i raro rānei i ngā ingoa o ō rātou hoa tāne? I reira anō te wairua karo, te wairua pōhēhē ki te kāwanatanga? Ina whakaarotia te pāmamaetanga o ngā Riri Whenua o Aotearoa, kāore tēnei i ohorere. Tērā pea kāore i tae ngā rau petihana ki aua hapori? Tērā rānei he maha ake ngā wāhine Māori i waitohu i ngā petihana 12 i ngaro? Ahakoa he aha rā te take i kitea ai ēnei āputa i ngā mauhanga tūmatanui, ko te ingoa karanga a ngā kaipūranga, he wahangūtanga pūranga.
Ko tō mātou whāinga he whakararu i te wahangūtanga me te kohi i ngā kōrero huhua o ngā kaiwaitohu. Auare ake taku kite kōrero mō ētahi atu wāhine i tua atu i a Jane Driver, ki te pūranga o Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Kitea ai te tohu a Jane i ngā pūranga i te tau 1898 i roto i tētahi kōnae o te Tari o Tūmatauenga R24337567.
I kitea e Stefanie Lash, te kairauhī matua o He Tohu, ētahi kaiwaitohu wāhine Māori tokorua: a Rora F. Orbell me tana tamāhine a Frances Ada Orbell, otirā i waitohu ngātahi rāua i te Petihana. Hei wāhanga o te kaupapa haurongo o Te Petihana Mana Pōti Wāhine, i hangaia e Stefanie tētahi tāurunga mō Rora F. Orbell. Ka taea e koe te pānui i ētahi atu kōrero mō Jane, rātou ko Rora, ko Frances i raro nei.
Ko tā mātou hiahia kia nui ake ā mātou mōhiotanga mō ia wahine, ia tāne hoki i waitohu i te petihana o te 1893, inakoa rā ngā kōrero mō ētahi atu wāhine Māori. Mēnā he kōrero āu hei tuku mai, ā, kei te hiahia koe ki te āwhina, ka whakaaturia ō rangahau ki te pāhekoheko mana pōti i te whakaaturanga o He Tohu, ā, ka whakaurua hoki ki te pātengi raraunga o Te Petihana Mana Pōti Wāhine.
Ki te rapu kōrero me pēhea te rangahau me te tuhi haurongo, tēnā pānuitia tā mātou tuhinga ki Suffrage 125 – Whakatū Wāhine.
In 1893 all across the motu – north, south, east, west and in-between – women readied themselves for agitation. Hot on the heels of the failed 1892 women’s suffrage petition, campaigners upped their game and canvassing power. Suffrage activists organised themselves to collect signatures at events, through networks and by going door to door. When the petition was presented to Parliament in June more than 24,000 people had supported the cause, demanding that electoral franchise be extended to women. 12 smaller petitions, now lost, were also circulating at the time. If these are taken into account the numbers could be as high as 30,000.
Of the thousands who added their tohu or signature to the petition, only a handful have been identified as Māori women.
Much is known about Kate Sheppard, New Zealand’s most prominent suffragist; where she was born, her views on the world and what she looked like. Kate is even on the $10 note. However, 125 years on, what do we know of the Māori signatories? They, along with thousands of others who left their mark have very little public profile, if any at all. That’s not to say they weren’t exceptional or weren’t viewed as having mana in their whānau or communities, just that their stories haven’t reached the researchers and archivists in heritage organisations.
Are there more wāhine who signed using an anglicised name or that of their husbands? Was there an avoidance or scepticism towards central government? Considering the trauma of the New Zealand Wars that wouldn’t be surprising. Perhaps the petitions sheets weren’t circulated in their communities? Or maybe more Māori women signed one of the lost 12 petitions? Whatever the reason for these gaps in the public record, we archivists call them archival silences.
Our goal is to disrupt the silence and collect as many stories of the signatories as possible. Unlike the other women I was able to find traces of Jane Driver in the Wellington repository. Jane’s tohu next appears in the archives in 1898 within an Army Department file R24337567.
Stefanie Lash, the lead curator of He Tohu, identified two Māori women signatories: Rora F. Orbell and her daughter Frances Ada Orbell who signed the Petition together. As part of the Women’s Suffrage Petition biographies project Stefanie created an entry for Rora F. Orbell. You can read more about Jane, Rora and Frances below.
We’d love to know more about every woman and man who signed the 1893 petition, in particular, the stories of the other wāhine. If you have knowledge to share and want to help your research will feature on the suffrage interactive in the He Tohu exhibition, and will also be included in the Women’s Suffrage Petition database.
To find out how research and write a biography read our article on Suffrage 125.
Ngā wāhine i waitohu i te Petihana Mana Pōti 1893 Mary Bevan
Wāhine who signed the 1893 Suffrage Petition
Mary Bevan
Mary Bevan
Mary Cross
Mary Cross
Matilda Ngapua
Matilda Ngapua
Mrs M. Rangiora
Mrs M. Rangiora
Sarah West
Sarah West
Mrs Hassall
Jane Driver
Jane Driver
I te 1889, i whakauru te tama a Jane, a Richard Driver, i noho i Ōtepoti i taua wā, ki te Marīhia Tūturu. I whakapuakitia te 'hāwhe-kaihe' nei, 21 ōna tau, hei tangata 'pakari te tinana', ā, i tohua kia haere i Ōtepoti ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara. I muri i te matenga o tōna matua, me ngā āwangawanga mō te hauora o tōna whaea, ka hoki a Richard ki Ōtākou, e 2 tau i muri mai. Engari, ka tīmata te paheke o te ora o Richard i taua wā. Nā te pānga ki te mate o te tikihope, ka kīia ia he haumate, ā, ka tukua i te Marīhia i te Māehe 1897. Kotahi marama i muri mai, i te 6 o Āperira ka mate a Richard i te hōhipera o Ōtepoti.
I te 5 o Āperira 1898, ka tuku pīra anō a Jane Driver ki te kāwanatanga. Engari kāore ia i pīra mō te mana o te pōti, i tono kē ia i tētahi pūtea aroha; otirā he nui te pānga ki a ia, ā-pūtea, ā-kare ā-roto hoki o te matenga o tana tama.
In 1889, Jane’s son Richard Driver who was living in Dunedin enrolled with the Permanent Militia. The 21-year-old ‘half-caste’ was subsequently declared as ‘in good health’ and instructed to make his way from Dunedin to Wellington. Following his father’s death and concerned about his mother’s health, Richard transferred back to Otago only 2 years later. However, Richard’s own health soon began to decline. Suffering from hip disease he was found medically unfit and discharged from the Militia in March 1897. Less than a month later on 6 April Richard died in Dunedin hospital.
On 5 April 1898, Jane Driver again petitioned government. Although, instead of demanding her right to vote this time Jane requested a compassionate allowance; her son’s death had taken a financial and emotional toll.
R.F. Orbell
Nō muri ka tautohu a Stefanie Lash, te kairauhī matua o He Tohu, i tētahi atu wahine Māori, ā, ka tuhi i te haurongo i raro nei.
R.F. Orbell
Later Stefanie Lash, the lead curator of He Tohu, identified another Māori woman and wrote the biography below.
I whānau mai a Rora Orbell nee Wilkie i te 1838 ki Taiaroa, ki a Peter Wilkie rāua ko Mata, Martha Whio rānei o Ngāi Tahu. Ko Mata te tamaiti a Te Hori rāua ko Te Ruahaunui. Ka moe a Mata i a Wiremu Nera Potiki [Hononga ā-waho], i te 1843. Tokorua ā rāua tamariki: ko Henare Kingi rāua ko Ihaia Potiki.
Ko tētahi atu ingoa i whāia e Rora, ko Rhoda Flora, ā, ka moe ia ki tētahi manene Pākehā, ko Arthur Orbell te ingoa, i te 1857. He 19 tana pakeke. I runga i te tiwhikete mārena, i tuhia e Arthur tana tūranga mahi hei 'gentleman'. I mārena rāua ki te kāinga o Mrs Haberfield. Ka tohu tēnei i a Hakiri, i mōhiotia ko Kararaina, ko Kiti, ko Akari, ko Catherine, me Kate - otirā ko te taina tēnei o Mata, me te whaea kēkē o Rora. Ka noho rāua ki Moeraki, ā, 12 ā rāua tamariki.
Ka waitohu a Rora Orbell i te Petihana, me tana tamāhine a Frances Ada Amelia [Hononga ā-waho]. Mō te roanga o tōna oranga ka ātete, ka petihana hoki mō te puritanga o te whenua Māori, i roto, i waho hoki i ngā kōti whenua.
I pouarutia a Rora Orbell i te 1916, ka mate i te tau i muri mai i te 30 o Āperira 1917, he 80 te pakeke.
F.A. Orbell
Ko Frances Ada Amelia Orbell te tamāhine a Rora (Rhoda Flora) [Hononga ā-waho] rāua ko Arthur Orbell. I whānau mai i te Ōketopa o te 1871, i mōhiotia a Frances ko Fanny, ā, ka waitohu ia i te Petihana me tōna whaea hoki ki Ōamaru. E kitea ngātahitia ana ā rāua tohu ki te ata i runga nei. I mārena a Fanny rāua ko William Gibson ki Ōtepoti i te 17 o Mei 1899. I mate a Frances Ada Gibson nee Orbell i te 31 o Mei 1949, 77 ōna tau.
Rora Orbell nee Wilkie was born in 1838 at Otago Heads to Peter Wilkie and Mata or Martha Whio of Ngāi Tahu. Mata was the child of Te Hori and Te Ruahaunui. Mata married Wiremu Nera Potiki, in 1843. They had two children: Henare Kingi and Ihaia Potiki.
Rora, who went by the names Rhoda Flora, married an English migrant named Arthur Orbell in 1857. She was 19. On their marriage certificate Arthur put his occupation as ‘gentleman’. They were married at the house of Mrs Haberfield. This refers to Hakiri, also known as Kararaina, Kiti, Akari, Catherine and Kate – Mata’s sister and Rora’s aunt. They settled at Moeraki and had twelve children.
Rora Orbell signed the Petition with her daughter Frances Ada Amelia. She spent her life agitating and petitioning for the retention of Māori land both in and out of the land courts.
Rora Orbell was widowed in 1916 and died the following year on 30 April 1917, aged 80.
F.A. Orbell
Frances Ada Amelia Orbell was the daughter of Rora (Rhoda Flora) and Arthur Orbell. Born in October 1871, Frances, also known as Fanny, signed the Petition with her mother at Ōamaru. Their signatures are visible together in the image above.
Fanny and William Gibson were married in Dunedin on 17 May 1899. Frances Ada Gibson nee Orbell died on 31 May 1949 at the age of 77.