In 1869 under a pseudonym, Mary Ann Müller wrote "An appeal to the men of New Zealand", the first pamphlet on the issue of women's suffrage to be published in New Zealand. In the 1870s Mary Ann Colclough (Polly Plum) was an active advocate for women's rights in general and women's suffrage. John Larkins Cheese Richardson was a keen proponent of women's equality, he was responsible for allowing women to enroll at the University of Otago in 1871, and helped to remove other barriers to their entry. Some politicians, including John Hall, Robert Stout, Julius Vogel, William Fox and John Ballance, also supported women’s suffrage and in 1878, 1879 and 1887 bills extending the vote to women were narrowly defeated in Parliament.