Biography contributed by Sharlene Rummey.
Emily Jane Birdwood was born in Sydney in 1858 to Elizabeth (nee Riddle) and James Stewart Birdwood. Her father was a miner at the Imperial Crown Company in Thames and died in a work accident in 1872.
In 1878, Emily gave birth to Daisy Ethel Kelsall Birdwood and in July at the Police Court John Edmund Kelsall was ordered to pay child support of 10s per week.
Emily Jane Birdwood married Thomas William Coldicutt in March 1879 and they had five children. Thomas was a sawyer at Bagnall’s Mill in Turua and on 10 December 1886 died from injuries when a tree fell on him.
Emily married Charles Henry Addison in 1888 and they had six children.
Emily Jane Addison and her mother Elizabeth Purdom signed page 408 of the 1892 suffrage petition as well as sheet 390 in 1893.
Four of Emily’s children attended Turua School in 1893 and 1895. Charles was a member of the Turua school committee.
The 1896 and 1900 Ohinemuri electoral rolls record Emily as living in Thames and domestic duties as her occupation.
Emily died on 5 January 1902, and is buried at Shortland Cemetery, Thames.
Sources
Births Deaths and Marriages New South Wales
Papers Past:
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