Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Gaskell was born in 1845 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England – the daughter of Thomas Gaskell and Sarah Fearns.
She emigrated to Canterbury with her family in 1851 on the Labuan and she married Charles Jeffs, a widower and farmer, in 1861.
Mary and Charles had 11 children together and when Mary signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Templeton south of Christchurch.
Charles died in 1902 and Mary died at her daughter’s home in Christchurch on 2 May 1922, she is buried with Charles in the Templeton Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
