Biographical information provided by Stefanie Lash, Archives New Zealand, for the He Tohu exhibition:
Alice Ogden was born in Rangiora in 1871, the daughter of Amos and Mary Ogden, immigrants from Lancashire. When she was 19 she married James Theodore Withers, a builder and timber merchant. They lived at Southbrook in Rangiora, and had seven children; two daughters and five sons. A daughter, Sophia, died in infancy. Three of their sons served in the First World War, and all returned home.
When Alice died in 1928 at the age of 57, she was noted as having a very wide circle of friends, and being very well-liked and respected. She was a lifelong member of the choir in the local Methodist Church, and had a beautiful singing voice.
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
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