Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Thirza Beck was born on 16 July 1835 in Hastings, Sussex, England – the daughter of Henry Beck, a draper, and Charlotte Carey.
She emigrated to Otago in 1858 with her parents and seven siblings on the Palmyra.
Thirza married John Bell, a clerk, in 1865 and they had eight children.
The family lived in the subdivision of Hawthorndale in Roslyn, Dunedin where Thirza signed the suffrage petition.
John died at his daughter’s home in Maori Hill, Dunedin in 1926 and Thirza died on 17 October 1932 at her daughter’s home in Timaru.
She is buried with John in the Timaru Cemetery.
She was survived by seven children, 17 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
NZ Yesteryears http://www.yesteryears.co.nz
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Timaru District Council https://www.timaru.govt.nz/services
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