The "Caversham Working Women’s History Tour" organised by the Otago Socialist Society for International Women’s Day, explored the lives of working-class women who lived, worked and organised in the area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The tour was researched by historian Lucy Gray.
One of the women highlighted by Etū union representative Nadine Simpson was Harriet Morrison, a Dunedin tailoress who helped transform working conditions for women across New Zealand.
Born in Ireland in 1862, Morrison arrived in New Zealand as a child and later worked in Dunedin’s clothing factories, facing long hours, low wages and insecure employment. Rather than accept those conditions, she helped organise change.
In 1890, she became the first vice-president of the Tailoresses’ Union — New Zealand’s first union for women workers.
As the secretary she played a key role in establishing the Southern Log, which set fair wages and hours for clothing workers.
Morrison was also deeply involved in the suffrage movement, helping build support for women’s right to vote.
In 1892, she spoke to 1200 people in Dunedin, arguing that laws had too often protected property and trade rather than people — and that women’s voices were needed to change that.
Morrison also worked alongside Helen Nicol to help establish the Dunedin Women’s Franchise League.
After women won the vote, the organisation continued community work, running soup kitchens and sewing blankets for people in need.
The walking tour also highlighted the wider landscape of women’s work in Caversham — from domestic servants and factory workers to shopkeepers, teachers and community organisers who built churches, welfare institutions and support networks.
Over a century later, the streets of South Dunedin still hold the stories of women who helped change the country’s working life. — Allied Media
