suffrage_petition
Surname: 
Risk
Given names: 
Margaret
Given address: 
Sanson
Sheet No: 5
Town/Suburb: 
Sanson
City/Region: 
Manawatu / Horowhenua
Notes: 

Biographical information provided by Alison Downes and Adrienne Nightingale for the He Tohu exhibition:

Margaret Risk (nee Hughey) was born in Karori, Wellington in 1844. Her parents were William and Mary Ann Hughey, who arrived on the Martha Ridgeway at Petone in 1840. Margaret was the seventh child of 10 born to William and Mary Ann and the second to be born in New Zealand. At the time of Margaret’s birth the family owned 10 acres of land in Karori. They felled the bush and built a home. This is present day Campbell St – Margaret’s mother was originally Mary Ann Campbell.

After buying and selling land in Taita and the Taratahi Plains in the Wairarapa, William and Mary Ann and their adult family moved to Sandon and purchased land as members of the Hutt Small Farms Settlement Association. It is said that William Hughey and James Risk (from Stirlingshire in Scotland) were original settlers in Sandon in 1872. Margaret Hughey married James Risk in Sandon in 1873. The couple had eight children. Margaret Risk was 49 years old when she signed the Petition in 1893. It is said that James Risk was very religious and was against the vote for women. It is likely many women like Margaret Risk signed the Petition against their husbands’ wishes.

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

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Alison Downes

Posted: 20 Dec 2020

My great grandmother.