suffrage_petition
Surname: 
Manktelow
Given names: 
A.
Given address: 
Mackelvie St
Sheet No: 26
Town/Suburb: 
Ponsonby
City/Region: 
Auckland
Notes: 

Information adapted from content provided by Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision – see full version here.

Arabella Manktelow was born in London in 1872 and came to New Zealand with her family, arriving in March 1876 after a harrowing voyage in which their ship was dismasted, becalmed and the crew mutinied. The family settled in Hamilton, but Arabella moved to Auckland around 1890, and worked as a dressmaker. She signed the 1893 suffrage petition while living in Mackelvie Street, Ponsonby.

According to Manktelow family history, her grandmother was French and Arabella was said to have inherited both her skill as a seamstress and her good looks. She is also described as not liking men and never married. [1]

Arabella moved to Mangere to live around 1919, when this was still a largely rural area. She was active in the Women’s Division of the Farmer’s Union and maintained a well-known, old-world garden at her property “The Acre.” She moved back into Auckland city in later life and passed away less than a month after her interview was recorded in October 1963.

[1] Manktelow family history, courtesy Bill Manktelow.

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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