The Alloo family and the Women’s Suffrage Petition
In 1891, 1892, and 1893, New Zealand women petitioned Parliament to give women the right to vote. Signatures were gathered from across the country including many that were collected in remote areas.
M Alloo signature on the Women's suffrage petition, Archives New Zealand Ref AEBE18507LE11893/7a.
Gathering signatures over time
With each year that women were striving to gain the vote, the petitions received an increasing amount of signatures on the year previous. More than 9,000 were gathered in 1891, almost 20,000 in 1892, and a massive 31,872 in 1893. The 1893 petition was just shy of one-quarter of the eligible (21 and over) female population making it one of the largest petitions of its time.
The 1892 petition is at Archives New Zealand. The large roll of 25, 519 signatures,of the 1893 petition, is part of the He Tohu exhibition at the National Library. The 1891 petition and some smaller petitions from 1893 have not survived.
Women vote at their first election, Tahakopa. McWhannell, Rhoda Leslie (Mrs), 1898-1996: Photographs of forestry and farming at Ohaupo Ref PA1-o-550-34-1
Signatories to the petition with Chinese ancestry
This year marks 125 years since New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world to give women the right to vote. Members of the Alloo family, who lived in Dunedin at the time, feature as signatories on the 1892 and 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petitions. They are some of the few signatories we know of that have Chinese ancestry.
The Alloo family
The family migrated to New Zealand in 1868, where John worked as a Police Constable and an Interpreter. In fact, John Alloo was the first ethnic Chinese person to be sworn-in as a Police District Constable in the New Zealand Constabulary Force.
Minnie Rose Alloo was born in Queenstown, New Zealand in 1874. Minnie was the youngest of 9 children of John (born in Guangzhou, China) and Margaret Alloo neé Peacock (born in Scotland). Most of John and Margaret’s children were born in Victoria, Australia, where John owned a well-known restaurant and Margaret owned a hotel.
National Gallery Victoria website — John Alloo's Chinese restaurant
Alloo family members signatories
In 1892, 3 members of the Alloo family signed the Women’s Suffrage Petition. They signed as Mrs Alloo (Margaret), A Alloo (Agnes), and Lena Alloo (Helena). Helena and Agnes were Minnie’s older sisters and they both worked as book folders.
M Alloo (most likely Margaret) and Minnie Alloo signed the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition. Minnie would have been 19 at the time, making her one of the underage signatories as the legal age for voting was 21.
M Alloo signature on the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition. Archives New Zealand Ref AEBE 18507 LE1 1893/7a.
Minnie Alloo family signature on the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition. Archives New Zealand Ref AEBE 18507 LE1 1893/7a.
Minnie Alloo
In 1904, Minnie married John Quane, an accountant born in the Isle of Man, in Christchurch. The following year, Minnie and John had a daughter named Isla Sylvia Quane, and 1909 a son, Maurice Ralph Quane.
Minnie and John’s notice of their intention to marry. Archives New Zealand Ref: ADAQ 8937 BDM20/59.
The young family emigrated to the United States in 1914 and lived in San Francisco, with Minnie and John later becoming citizens in 1940 after John was naturalised.
Minnie Quane died aged seventy-four in December 1948.
This blog was originally published on the Archives New Zealand Facebook page as part of Suffrage125 and Chinese Language week.
Read more about Being Chinese in Aotearoa in the 1890s
Further reading about the Alloo family and women's suffrage
NZ history website — Minnie Alloo
The Tiger's Mouth — Minnie Alloo.
Web archive — Dispersing Obscurity: The Alloo Family From Australia to New Zealand from 1868
Te Ara website — John Alloos chinese restaurant Ballarat 1855