Biography contribted by Katherine Blakeley.
Ann was born in Ireland about 1852. She emigrated to Otago in 1874 on the Carnatic with her husband Thomas Griffiths, an engine fitter, and two sons.
Three more children were born in Dunedin before Thomas died after ‘a long and painful illness’ in 1883.
The following year Ann married Abraham Posnanski, a tailor. The family lived in George St opposite ‘the new Knox Church’ where Ann signed the suffrage petition.
Abraham died in 1896 and is buried in the Northern Cemetery, Dunedin with Ann’s first husband Thomas.
The next time Ann appears in the records is her marriage to Benjamin Harford, a farmer and widower, of Tadmor near Nelson in 1902.
Benjamin died in 1908 and his family later contested Ann’s rights under his will.
She re-married, in 1910, to Everett Hales, a carpenter – they lived in Wellington.
Ann died on 7 May 1914 and Everett died one week later, they are buried together in the Karori Cemetery, Wellington.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Wellington City Council https://wellington.govt.nz
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions