Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Annie Woods was born about 1864 in Ireland – the daughter of William Woods, a farmer, and Ann Parker.
She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1872 on the “May Queen” and they settled in Dunedin.
Annie married John Simpson McArthur, a bootmaker, on 8 April 1887 and they had two children.
When she signed the suffrage petition the family were living in No 6 Street, Opoho.
Annie died at her home on 30 March 1894 “after a long and trying illness born with christian patience”.
She is buried with her parents in the family grave in the Southern Cemetery.
John remarried in 1896 and had a further three children – he died in 1942 and is buried in the McArthur family grave in the Northern Cemetery.
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
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
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