J. Manson

Janet Manson was a signatory to the Women’s Suffrage Petition presented to Parliament in 1893 (Sheet No. 1). Her signature can be found underneath the signatures of Kate Sheppard and Emily Wallis (later Townsend), all of Clyde Road in Riccarton, Christchurch. It appears that Janet and Emily were living with and working as maids for Kate and her husband. Emily's mother, Eliza Wallis, was a close friend of Kate's and a fellow suffragist and founding member of the National Council of Women. The Petition led to the Electoral Act and New Zealand becoming the first self-governing country in the world to grant women the right to vote. Janet was surely one of more than 90,000 women who voted for the first time on 28 November 1893.