Annie Kirk was born in Waverley in 1873, the eldest of the six children of Ellen (also Helen) who came from Motueka and John, a farmer from the Shetland Islands. Annie went to Waverley School where she passed her examinations on a regular basis.
In 1881 when Annie was eight her father died, apparently leaving his family with sufficient to live on. In 1888 Ellen sold the farm, but the family stayed in Waverley.
In 1892 Annie married William Kirk, who had been working with his father Edwin and brother Harry who were flaxmillers. In January 1893 when William’s sister Florence (see 413 Florence Kilfoy) married in Waverley, there were probably at least four women present who signed the petition: Annie herself, Annie’s mother-in-law, Pamela Kirk (313 Pamela Kirk), and Florence’s mother-in-law Rosetta Kilfoy (330 Rosetta Kilfoy).
Annie and William moved to Palmerston North at about the same time as Pamela and her family, for when Annie signed she was living in Fritz Street (now Russell Street). In 1897 Annie’s husband William and Edward Holben started a successful plumbing business, Holben and Kirk in Palmerston North, and the couple had two sons and two daughters. In 1920 Annie and William moved to Wellington where they lived not far from Florence Kilfoy in Lyall Bay. About 1925 the Kirks moved to Auckland. Annie died in Auckland in 1943 at the age of 70 and is buried in Hillsborough Cemetery.
Sources
Auckland City Council https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Pages/default.aspx
BDM online https://bdmonline.dia.govt.nz/
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
Land Information New Zealand https://www.linz.govt.nz/