May, Isabella (1850–1926)

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May, Isabella (1850–1926)

New Zealand temperance worker, suffragist, and dress reformer. Name variations: Isabella Malcolm. Born Isabella Malcolm, June 22, 1850, in Hoxton, London, England; died May 1, 1926, at Kingston upon Thames, England; dau. of Andrew Wilson Malcolm (brewer's clerk) and Jemima Crawford (Souter) Malcolm; sister of Kate Sheppard (suffragist); m. Henry Ernest May (draper), 1879; children: 2 daughters, 2 sons.

Immigrated with family to New Zealand (1869); worked with sister Kate Sheppard to promote women's suffrage; active in New Zealand Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU); member of Rational Dress Society, London; elected to first committee of Christian Ethical Society (1890); served as president of Canterbury Women's Institute (1897); founding member of Lyceum Club; relocated to China before settling permanently near London (c. 1900).

See also Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 3).