Annie Schnackenberg

Annie Jane Schnackenberg ( Allen; 22 November 1835 – 2 May 1905) was a New Zealand Wesleyan missionary, temperance and welfare worker, and suffragist. She served as president of the Auckland branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union New Zealand (WCTU NZ) 1887 to 1897, and national president for WCTU NZ from 1892 to 1901 – overseeing the final push for petitioning the government to grant women the right to vote in national elections. She also was a charter member of the National Council of Women of New Zealand.

Early life Annie Jane Allen was born in Leamington Priors, Warwickshire, England on 22 November 1835, the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Dodd (1808–1881) and Edward Allen (1811–1891).

Allen set out for Kawhia in November 1861, a difficult journey by bullock dray, canoe and foot which took two weeks. At Kawhia, she assisted Cort Schnackenberg (born 1812) and his wife Amy to save and educate the Māori people. The Inspector of Native Schools praised her work. They had five children: Katrina Elizabeth (1865–1952), married 1890 John Edward Astley (1861–1962) Amy Isabel Mary (1867–1947) Edward Henry (1869–1953), married 1890 Elsie Jane Evelyn Allen (1876–1921), his first cousin Thomas Carl (1871–1953), married 1901 Amy Taylor (1877–1956) Lucy Jane (1872–1937), married 1899 Samuel Tatton Astley (1876–1956), John's younger brother Raglan (Whāingaroa) Mission Station c1870sFrom 1865 to 1872 they had three daughters and two sons. The Waikato War of 1863–1864 disrupted the mission's work, and a subsequent ban imposed by the Māori King Movement on European travel in the area decided the church authorities to move the mission further north to Raglan.

They remained at Raglan until Cort's health failed in 1880. He died on board ship travelling to Auckland. Annie returned to live at her family's farmhouse with her children. In January 1887, she was elected to the presidency of the Auckland branch, serving until 1897. She was appointed to the national superintendency of scientific temperance instruction in schools at the WCTU convention in March 1887. In March 1892 she was elected national president and served through 1901. Due to her extensive experience with Māori people and fluency in the language, she became the WCTU national superintendent of Maori work in 1898. She was also on the board of their publication, The White Ribbon. She opposed the Contagious Diseases Act 1869, which allowed prostitutes but not their clients to be detained for inspection and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, because it made it safer for men to sin. She also opposed smoking tobacco and tattoos. She was buried beside her husband in Symonds Street Cemetery.