Mary Colclough, or "Polly Plum", was at the forefront of the women’s suffrage movement in New Zealand. She attracted large audiences in Auckland, Thames, Ngāruawāhia and Hamilton at a time when public speaking by women was not common (boats were laid on from the North Shore for her second Auckland lecture). Under her nom de plume "Polly Plum" she occupied many column inches squaring up to her numerous dissenters. Responding to a Letter to the Editor in 1871, Mary summed up her demands for all women succintly as “the right, as thinking, reasoning beings, to decide for themselves what is best for their own happiness. If they were satisfied with man's decision, this agitation for change would not be.”
Born in London in 1836, Mary trained as a teacher before coming to New Zealand in 1859, where she married in 1861. Her husband died young so Mary continued working and raised her two children independently. She became a household name in the 1870s as a champion for women’s rights to an education, their own careers, guardianship of their children and the vote. She also advocated for temperance as well as improved treatment of prostitutes and women prisoners.
Mary crossed the Tasman in 1874 where she continued her support for women’s causes. She returned to New Zealand and teaching in 1876 in time to witness the passing of the Married Women’s Property Act in 1884, but unfortunately did not live to see women in New Zealand receive the vote. She died in 1885, aged forty-nine, following a serious accident.
Her tireless advocacy is celebrated by this folding chair, inscribed with "M C" for Mary Colclough, "WCTU" for the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and "Polly Plum", along with the dedication "In memory of one who loved to serve".
Folding chair dedicated to MC "Polly Plum" and WCTU, Auckland [2006.98.2] © Auckland Museum CC BY