SNIPPET: At Glenavy in Co. Antrim, about eight miles from Lisburn, is the preserved farmstead boyhood home of John BALLANCE (1839-93) a reformer whose deeds set a pattern for social change throughout the world. BALLANCE took a keen interest in politics, and his nationalist leanings and abhorrence of land monopoly, greedy landlords, inequality and dominance by outsiders set the pattern for his future career. At 18, he moved to England and studied politics at night school and wrote newspaper articles castigating England's rigid class system. Six years later he emigrated to New Zealand and started his own newspaper, the 'Wanganui Herald,' which is still in circulation. John soon became involved in politics of his adopted country and women's rights. He wrote: "In every sense the interests of civilisation ...demand that women should be placed in perfect ... equality with men." He used his newspaper to attack land speculators and to press for independence from Britain and free education for all. In 1875, BALLANCE was elected to the New Zealand Parliament as a member of the opposition Liberal Party. He became party leader and, when he took power in December 1890, immediately introduced measures to enfranchise women, help small farmers, and revolutionise education. When offered a knighthood, his response was that it was "more noble to reject such honours and die in possession of the confidence of the people." BALLANCE's ground-breaking equality legislation was passed in 1893 when NZ became the first country to give women the vote, property rights and the authority to practise in the learned professions. He did not live to see women vote in the election held the end of 1893, however, as he failed to regain consciousness after a long operation for cancer earlier that year. The BALLANCE House at Glenavy has been restored by the Ulster-New Zealand Trust and is open to visitors Among its attractions are an orchard, of 19th century varieties, which were planted by the All-Blacks rugby team in 1989, and a library with information on pioneer life in NZ, the Irish influence in that country and Maori culture. A permanent exhibition is devoted to BALLANCE's life and there are guided tours. This homestead and his statute in front of the New Zealand Parliament are very fitting tributes to the County Antrim farmer's son whose crusade against the old order surely makes him one of history's great reformers. -- Excerpts, 'Antrim's Crusaders,' Leslie GILMORE (July-Aug 2005 issue, Dublin's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine).