suffrage_petition
Surname: 
D'Ath
Given names: 
Kate
Given address: 
Otaki
Sheet No: 304
Town/Suburb: 
Otaki
City/Region: 
Manawatu / Horowhenua
Notes: 

Biography contributed by Barbara Sullivan

Kate D'Ath was born in about 1844 in Bolton, England, so would have been about 49 when she signed the suffrage petition.

Her father was a colour sergeant in the 65th Regiment ('Royal Tigers').

On 4 March 1866, at the age of 22, Kate married Joseph Death. (The family name was later changed to D'Ath.) Joseph Death/D'Ath first farmed at Waiwhetu, where their first three children were born, and then moved to Otaki where he raised sheep and bullocks. Kate and Joseph had seven children - Mary /May (who married Frederick Ryder), Catherine /Kate (who married Francis Bennett), Joseph, Ossian, Reginald/Reggie, Harold (who died in infancy), and Eva (who married George Harper).

Kate died in Otaki in 1912, and is buried at the Catholic cemetery. In her book De'ath Families in New Zealand, Helen Coker mentions that Kate was a frugal housekeeper, Kate and Joseph 'were a hospitable couple and the house was often filled with people who were passing through', and they had a beautiful garden at their home - the 'mission House' on Tasman Road. 

Image

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

3 comments have been posted about Kate D'Ath

What do you know?

Anonymous

Posted: 26 Aug 2018

This Kate D'Ath, who signed the suffrage petition, was born circa 1844. Her father was Henry Lynch and her mother was Catherine Harris. She married Joseph D'Ath/Death in 1866 and lived in Otaki where she signed the petition. She died in 1912. Joseph died in 1924. They are buried in Pukekaraka Catholic Cemetery in Otaki even although Joseph was an Anglican.

Vivien

Posted: 19 Sep 2012

Aunt Kate was my grandfather's older sister, the second of seven children born to Joseph and Catherine (Death), early settlers of Otaki. (Their children changed their name to D'Ath)
She was born in 1869, and married Frances Bennett, with whom she had nine children. She died in 1958.