Isabella May (née Malcolm, 22 June 1850 – 1 May 1926) was a New Zealand temperance worker, suffragist and dress reformer.

May was born in Hoxton, London, England, on 22 June 1850, and was the younger sister of suffragist Kate Sheppard. She arrived in New Zealand in 1869 with her mother, Kate, and their two brothers. In 1879, ten years after landing in Christchurch, she married Henry Ernest May.

Isabella May

May would work alongside other feminists and social activists to enact changes in New Zealand. Her efforts would be recognised abroad for her role in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Isabella May

In 1897 May became president of the Canterbury Women's Institute.

Isabella May

References

1850 births

1926 deaths

New Zealand temperance activists

New Zealand suffragists

People from Hoxton

English emigrants to New Zealand

19th-century New Zealand people

Kate Sheppard