Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Millicent Meadon was born about 1836 in Lancashire, England – the daughter of Thomas Meadon and Millicent Robinson.
She married Walter Hales, a tile and brick maker, on 5 June 1860 in Northwood, Staffordshire.
After their marriage they kept a boarding house in Blackpool where they had a daughter in 1864 who died in infancy.
Millicent and Thomas emigrated to Otago in 1870 on the Robert Henderson accompanied by their young daughter Mary – she died on the voyage aged four months.
They stayed in Dunedin for about six months before moving to Queenstown where their next three children were born and where Millicent signed the suffrage petition.
Millicent died at their home 'Lakeside', Queenstown on 11 September 1911 and Walter died in 1916, they are buried together in the Queenstown Cemetery.
Millicent’s obituary says she will 'be remembered for her many acts of kindness during her stay here. She was of a retiring disposition, but made many friends who mourn her demise.'
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Queenstown Lakes District Council http://cemeteries.qldc.govt.nz/