First woman mayor in British Empire elected

By becoming mayor of Onehunga, Auckland, Elizabeth Yates struck another blow for female rights in local-body polls held the day after the first general election in which women could vote.

Elizabeth’s husband, Captain Michael Yates, had been a member of the Onehunga Borough Council since 1885 and was mayor from 1888 until 1892, when ill health forced his retirement. The following year Elizabeth, who was a strong supporter of the women’s suffrage movement, accepted nomination for the office of mayor. After a ‘spirited contest’ she defeated her only opponent, local draper Frederick Court, by just 13 votes to become the first ‘lady mayor’ in the British Empire.

Her victory was big news in New Zealand and around the empire, and she received congratulations from both Premier Richard Seddon and Queen Victoria. But not everyone was happy: four councillors and the town clerk resigned in protest, others opposed her every move, and council meetings were often unruly. At the next mayoral election, on 28 November 1894, Yates was soundly defeated. Voted onto the Onehunga Borough Council in September 1899, she served until April 1901. Elizabeth Yates died in 1918.

Image: Elizabeth Yates (DNZB - Te Ara Biographies)