Page 8 - BBC History - September 2017

Anniversaries

17 September 1382 3 September 1658 22 September 1955
In Székesfehérvár, Hungary, After the death of his father Britain’s !rst commercial
Louis the Great’s daughter Mary Oliver, Richard Cromwell TV station, ITV, begins
(right) is crowned ‘King’ of becomes lord protector of the broadcasting in London. One of
Hungary, to the displeasure of Commonwealth of England, its !rst programmes is the game
some of her noblemen. Scotland and Ireland. show Take Your Pick (le").

The National Suffragists Memorial in Christchurch, New Zealand, honours the women who fought for – and won – the right to vote

19 September 1893
New Zealand makes
suffrage history councillors found out, they changed

their votes, allowing the bill to pass.
Twenty years of campaigning sees New Zealand women Still the anti-suffrage group did not
give up, lobbying New Zealand’s
given the right to vote, to the dismay of many men governor, the Earl of Glasgow, to refuse
Royal Assent. But on 19 September,
Glasgow gave his approval and New
or the women of New Zealand, and issue presented a dilemma. Many of Zealand became the first self-governing
Findeed the world, 19 September 1893 his own MPs were for it, but Seddon nation to allow women to vote.
was a day never to be forgotten. For two knew that women’s suffrage might also Not everyone rejoiced at the outcome.
decades, suffrage campaigners, with mean victory for the temperance For some men at least, the prospect of
Christian and temperance activists in movement, which called for the such activists influencing politics was
the vanguard, had been demanding the prohibition of all alcohol. ‘an evil day’ indeed. “Our only chance
right to vote. And that July, some 32,000 Seddon played a double game, of preventing New Zealand from
women – a quarter of the country’s adult pretending to accept the case for playing the fool before high heaven,”
female European population – signed a women’s votes, but secretly lobbying the one man wrote to the Christchurch
number of petitions calling for reform. upper house – the Legislative Council Press, “is to call in the aid of the women TOPFOTO/ALAMY
For New Zealand’s Liberal prime – to block the suffrage bill. But his plan who would prefer to leave the game of
minister, Richard Seddon, the suffrage backfired. When two independent politics to men.”

8 BBC History Magazine