Contributed by Clare Cramond
Maggie (Margaret Andrews) Alcorn was born on 11 July 1868 to Samuel Wesley and Jane Alcorn in Hokitika. She was the second eldest of their eight children.
Samuel was a successful draper. The family moved to Wellington and her father had a business and home in Lambton Quay. In 1877, a fire destroyed the premises and Margaret’s young sister Winifred died in the fire. The family moved to Ashburton and the children attended school there.
By 1893, Maggie was in Waimate where she signed the Petition, and she is on the 1893 Electoral Roll for the area. She was likely working as a dressmaker. Two years later the family returned to Wellington and Margaret studied Art and Design at Wellington Technical School and was also employed there.
By the mid 1900s, Margaret and her sister Mary had a successful retail business and provided expertise on interior design. They imported merchandise from Liberty’s in London. Some of their designs are preserved at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa.
They lived at 48 Clyde Quay and in the 1910s the sisters moved to a large house with views over Oriental Bay at 8 Wilkinson Street. Their parents and other family members lived with them at various times. Her father died in 1922 and her mother in 1925.
Margaret’s sister and business partner, Mary died in 1928. Margaret kept the business going right through the Great Depression, but it finally went into liquidation in 1934.
Margaret died at her home in Oriental Bay, Wellington on 1 November 1967, aged 99 years. She was buried in Bolton Street Cemetery, alongside other family members.
There is more information about Margaret Andrews Alcorn on Wikipedia.
Sources
Births Deaths and Marriages Online https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
"New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1865-1957", Database. FamilySearch. https://familysearch.org
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Alcorn
https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/1071516
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32030045/margaret-andrews-alcorn
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