Biography contributed by Clare Cramond
Contributed by Clare Cramond
Kittie Davison was born Blanche Kate Burdett-Stuart in 1867 in Bristol. She signed the Women’s Suffrage Petition together with her mother Selina Davison, on the other side of the world.
Kittie’s father, John Robert Burdett-Stuart died the same year she was born. He was an engineer. Kittie had an older brother Francis Antonio Burdett-Stuart and they were both baptised on 2 May 1867.
When Kittie was six years old, she emigrated to New Zealand. She and her mother Selina sailed on the Edwin Fox. The 1873 voyage was longer than usual, departing in January and arriving in June. Selina is listed as the Matron for the voyage. The ship was damaged in a gale early in the voyage and spent six weeks in Brest, France under repair. Various accounts record bad weather, problems with the crew, sickness, deaths, and extra time on board in Lyttleton when they were quarantined on arrival.
Kittie’s mother married John Davison in 1881 and Kittie seems to have lived with them in Ashburton for most of her life. She signed the Petition in 1893, the same year her brother Francis married Augusta Clark. Their daughter Kate Augusta Burdett-Stuart, Kittie’s niece, was born the following year. Kittie is on the Canterbury 1893 and 1896 Electoral Rolls, living in Ashburton and engaged in residential home duties.
Kittie died on February 4, 1899 in Christchurch. A newspaper report said '…she had been a great invalid for a long time past, and all that surgical and medical skill could do for her had been done…Great and widespread sympathy is felt for Mr and Mrs John Davison and family in their painful bereavement.' Blanche Kate Burdett-Stuart was taken by train from Christchurch to Ashburton for her funeral and burial on 6 February 1899.
Sources
Bristol, England, Church of England Baptisms 1813-1922, Bristol Redcliffe St Mary Parish 1860-1876 No 1722/3
"New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSYY-SMP : Wed Nov 01 13:48:59 UTC 2023), Entry for Blanche K Stewart, 28 Jun 1873.
NZ Electoral Rolls 1853-2010, Canterbury, 1893 and 1896
Births Deaths and Marriages Online https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Papers Past, Ashburton Guardian, Volume XX, Issue 4717, 4 February 1899, Page 2, Page 3
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
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