Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Laura Louisa Craven was born in New Zealand in 1870, the daughter of William Craven, a miner from Denmark, and Mary Ann.
Laura attended Waitahuna Gully School.
When she signed the suffrage petition, Laura was living in Great King St, Dunedin with her mother, Mary Ann, and sister, Dagmar. They signed the petition as well.
On 4 July 1900, Laura married John Paterson at St Peters Church, South Dunedin. They had five children, two dying in infancy.
John died in Wellington in 1915.
Laura died on 23 December 1955 in New Plymouth.
She is buried in the Te Henui Cemetery, New Plymouth.
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
New Plymouth District Council http://www.newplymouthnz.com
Wellington City Council https://wellington.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