Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Leah Hurrell was born in Essex, England in 1857 – the daughter of James Hurrell, a railway plate layer, and Rhoda King. (See 34 Mrs Hurrell)
She emigrated to Otago on the Waimea with her family in 1875 and they settled in Dunedin.
Leah married Daniel Hart, a labourer, in 1876 and they had 10 children, two who died in infancy.
In 1880 Daniel was declared insolvent owing £56 17s.
Four years later the house the family were renting in St Kilda caught fire, Daniel 'had considerable difficulty in getting his wife and five children out safely.'
Once again, in 1889, the family’s home caught fire – 'as there was no water supply, nothing could be done to prevent the spread of the flames, and the building was completely destroyed.' Daniel then ran the London Hotel followed by the Racecourse Hotel in St Kilda. This did not appear to be profitable as he was declared insolvent in 1892, when Leah signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Young St, St Kilda.
Daniel died in 1935 and Leah died on 5 June 1940, they are buried together in the Southern 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
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