Biography contributed by Graeme Siddle
Ann Elizabeth White (nee Thorp) was the eldest daughter of Thomas and Mary Thorp (nee Burton) and was born in Yorkshire on 15th June 1854 possibly in Huddersfield. Her name is variously spelled as Anne or Annie.
When she was 19 the family migrated to New Zealand on the ship Carisbrooke Castle. They arrived at Lyttelton on 2 September 1874. Her father was a member of a committee of passengers who signed a testimonial to the Captain, John Freebody. Thomas Thorp is given in the passenger list as a carpenter. Seven siblings –three sisters and four brothers travelled to Canterbury with her.
Ann married John Thomas White in 1891– he was from Geelong in Victoria. They had eight children including John Albert (1891), William Frederick , Walter Herbert (1894) Gertrude Louise and four others.
Her husband – a gardener - died in Waimate on his 75th birthday December 4, 1921. Ann died in 1938 aged 84.
Her sister Eliza Emma Millichamp (nee Thorp) also signed the 1893 Women’s Suffrage petition - see E. Millichamp Tinwald Sheet no. 279, Ashburton, Canterbury.
Sources:
Passenger list for ship Carisbrooke Castle National Archives IM 15/135.
Testimonial for Captain of Carisbrooke Castle The Press (Christchurch) 4 September 1874 p.2
Births, Deaths & Marriages website https://www.bdmonline.dia.govt.nz/
Marriage Certificate date Annie Elizabeth Thorp and John Thomas White https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/Search?Path=querySubmit.m%3fReportName%3dMarriageSearch%26recordsPP%3d30#SearchResults
Birth records for children of Annie and John
Information about Annie Elizabeth White nee Thorp
https://www.myheritage.com/names/ann_thorp
https://www.curiousfox.com/uk/mbprof2.lasso?eid=184646&-nothing
Information about John Thomas White
https://www.geni.com/people/John-White/6000000024865440204
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