Mid Cantabrians can add their mark this weekend to work being carried out by The Tapestry Trust of New Zealand.
They are creating a visual history of New Zealand — one stitch at time.
One hundred and thirty panels have been created by the Trust to depict the history of New Zealand.
Interested people can leave their mark on one of those panels celebrating the suffragette and/or attend a special session about some of Mid Canterbury’s connections to the movement. Both events take place on Saturday at Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum.
Ros McCarthy of the Canterbury Guild said its Guild had embroidered The Foundation of Canterbury and took on the suffrage tapestry because Kate Sheppard was from Christchurch.
Sheppard was a New Zealand suffragist known for organising the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition.
The petition was signed by about 32,000 women and resulted in New Zealand becoming the first country to establish universal suffrage in 1893.
‘‘Hundreds of hours have already gone into the tapestry. We are now working on the harder part as its more intricate like the women’s dresses,” McCarthy said.
Work on the suffragette panel has taken places at various sites around Canterbury including at the Hororata home of the late Sir John Hall who presented the petition to parliament.
The concept for the panels came from Otago businessman Fred Haslam in 2008.
He approached then president of the Otago Embroiderers’ Guild with the idea of stitching tapestries telling the story of New Zealand.
He had recently seen the Bayeux Tapestry and was keen to see the history of New Zealand in stitched form.
New Zealand materials were sourced and purchased.
The fabric was woven by Stansborough Mills in the Wairarapa from wool grown by sheep specially bred. It was then spun by Mosgiel Woollen Mills in Milton and returned to Stansborough for weaving.
The Ashburton Embroiderers’ Guild has completed the panel called From the Mountains to the Sea.
Meanwhile for eight years members of the Ashburton Family History Group have been researching and compiling stories of about 600 women from Mid Canterbury who signed the petition.
Members will present their findings on at least three local women who signed the petition and talk about the significance of the petition at a public session, also tomorrow, at 11am at the Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum.
Researcher Lyn Armstrong said she and fellow researchers were three quarters finished collecting information on women from the district. It had been a long process.
‘‘We thought we could find the women on electoral role but not all those who signed the petition voted and vice versa,” Armstrong said.
Trying to ensure they had the right women had also been trying as not all women were recorded with a first name, in some cases it was an initial. They have had to work through if the Ashburton meant the town or the district.
About 75 per cent of the local women who signed the petition were born overseas.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union New Zealand took an active part in promoting the signing of the petition.
A large number of Methodist women signed the petition especially from the Ashburton township and Willowby area.
– Ashburton Museum and Ashburton Embroiderers’ Guild – Stitching the Suffrage Panel at the Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum on Saturday from 10.30am to 3.30pm for anyone wanting to add a stitch to the tapestry.
Ashburton Family History group heritage talk — Mid Canterbury Suffragettes from 11am to noon Saturday at the Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum.
