suffrage_petition
Surname: 
Bowden
Given names: 
Mary
Given address: 
Woodville
Sheet No: 305
Town/Suburb: 
Woodville
City/Region: 
Hawke's Bay
Notes: 

Biography contributed by Clare Cramond

Mary Bowden aged 14 years arrived at Napier on the Montmorency in 1866. She was accompanied by her parents Francis (Frank) and Mary, and her siblings Aldred (Alfred), Felicia, Ellen and William. The Montmorency caught fire several days after the passengers disembarked and was destroyed, along with the records.

The family settled in Hawkes Bay and for the most part lived throughout the region, as far south as Woodville. Mary’s father died in 1870 and is buried in Napier. Her sister Felicia married Charles Gustav Broberg in 1868 but Felicia died in 1875 in Auckland. Later Mary’s niece, also named Felicia Broberg moved to Matamau and worked as a teacher before marrying Alfred Henry Beckett in 1895. In 1878, Mary’s sister Ellen married Samuel Livingston Chandler at Kaikora in Otane, Hawkes Bay. Mary’s mother died in 1885 and is also buried in Napier.

It is not clear why Mary Bowden from Woodville signed the petition in Frasertown – was she visiting friends there or passing through?

Mary was on the 1893 Electoral Roll, with her location as Woodville and her occupation as Private Means. In the 1896 Roll she was at Matamau and her occupation was Spinster. Mary (known as Pollie) according to her death notice, died in December 1898, aged 48. She was buried at the Matamau Cemetery.

Sources

Immigration https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18670302.2.4.2 Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 831, 2 March 1867, Page 3

Montmorency https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBWT18670408.2.20 Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume I, Issue 14, 8 April 1867, Page 81

Felicia Bowden https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18751217.2.35.3 New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4398, 17 December 1875, Page 7

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/171368640/felicia-broberg

Ellen Bowden https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18780330.2.8 Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5041, 30 March 1878, Page 2

Death Notice https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WOODEX18981216.2.4 Woodville Examiner, Volume XVI, Issue 2897, 16 December 1898, Page 2

Births Deaths and Marriages Online https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.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.

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