Addington Cemetery: in memory of the radicals

Established in 1858 Addington Cemetery may not be the oldest in Christchurch, but it is the oldest 'public' cemetery that allowed burial for non-Anglicans. As such, many former luminaries that were either non-conformist, or even radical, were buried in its grounds.

Perhaps the most famous person interred here is Kate Sheppard (or as she is known on her grave, Katherine Wilson Lovell-Smith). Founding member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, Sheppard's and the WCTU's lobbying was instrumental in universal suffrage being instituted in 1893.

New Zealand is rightly proud of Sheppard's life's work in establishing votes for women - the first country to do so, and perhaps it could be argued, the world's first true democracy.