Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Jane/Jennie Fidler was born in 1852 in Newcastle on Tyne, England – the daughter of William Fidler, a draper, and Jane Stewart.
She emigrated to Victoria, Australia with her mother in 1856 on the Champion of the Seas – her father appears to have arrived sometime before.
The family moved to Otago in the early 1860s where they ran the 'Auld Scotland Hotel' in Stuart St, Dunedin.
Jennie married John Aris, a printer, on 25 May 1876 at her parents’ home.
They had five children, one who died at birth, and when Jennie signed the suffrage petition they were living in Leith Street.
In the 1900s they moved to Hawera where Jennie died on 22 June 1909 – she is buried in the Hawera Cemetery.
Her obituary said 'her kindly disposition won for her many friends, and much sympathy will be felt for the bereaved family'.
John died in 1927 in Palmerston North – he is buried in the Kelvin Grove 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
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