Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Gertrude Burgess was born in 1865 in Warwickshire, England – the daughter of Joseph Burgess, a brickmaker, and Martha Blackford. (See 30 Mrs Burgess Senr)
She emigrated to Otago in 1874 with her family on the Atrato and she had a daughter in 1885.
When Gertrude signed the suffrage petition she was living in Green Island with her family.
She married William Gatfield, a leather dresser and widower with seven children in 1895.
This marriage does not appear to have gone smoothly. In February 1899 Gertrude’s brother applied to have a prohibition order issued against her. The local constable stated 'that he had seen Mrs Gatfield drunk frequently. She had a very violent tongue when under the influence of liquor' - her family gave similar evidence.
In May 1901 William was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment for 'disobeying an order of the Court for the maintenance of his wife'. Later that year Gertrude was convicted and discharged for drunkenness.
William died at his brother’s home in Wanganui in 1910, he is buried in the Heads Road Old Public Cemetery.
Gertrude died in Dunedin on 31 March 1942, she is buried in the Green Island Cemetery.
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
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
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