Biography provided by Katherine Blakeley:
Bessie Sanders was born in 1863 in Buckland Brewer, Bideford, Devonshire – daughter of John Sanders and Anna Maria Glass.
Bessie arrived in New Zealand with her family about 1887.
When she signed the suffrage petition Bessie was living in Maitland St, Dunedin with her family working as a shop assistant. She did not marry.
Bessie died on 16 April 1944 and is buried in the family grave in the Southern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
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