Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Agnes Smith Gardiner was born in 1861 in Victoria, Australia – the daughter of James Gardiner, a miner, and Margaret Ross. (See 107 M Gardiner)
She came to Otago with her family in 1864 and they spent about three years at the Nokomai diggings before moving to Queenstown in 1869.
Agnes did not marry and after her father died in 1880 she helped her mother run Rossford House, a boarding house in Gorge Rd, Queenstown where she signed the suffrage petition.
After Agnes’ mother died in 1910 she continued to run Rossford House until her death on 17 October 1926 - she is buried in the Queenstown Cemetery.
Her obituary said she 'was of a quiet unassuming nature. Of a kindly disposition, she was known to dispense charity with a free hand and those who knew her best could not but respect and love her.'
Sources
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Queenstown Lakes District Council http://cemeteries.qldc.govt.nz/
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
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