Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Maria Jane Butcher was born about 1847 in Berkshire, England – the daughter of Zachariah Butcher, a gardener, and Mary Davies.
She married Henry Madden Henderson, a joiner, in 1872 in their only child Adelaide (See 28 Miss Henderson) was born the following year.
The family emigrated to Otago in 1874 on the Jessie Readman and they settled in Dunedin.
When Maria signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Macandrew Road.
Henry died in 1915 and after his death Maria went to live with her daughter in Balclutha where she died on 25 October 1933.
She is buried with Henry in the family grave in the Southern Cemetery, Dunedin.
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
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
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