suffrage_petition
Surname: 
Higgins
Given names: 
Adelaide
Given address: 
Hobson St Auckland
Sheet No: 391
Town/Suburb: 
Central Auckland
City/Region: 
Auckland
Notes: 

Biographical information provided by Stefanie Lash for the He Tohu exhibition:

Adelaide Higgins was one of twelve women to sign this sheet of the Women’s Suffrage Petition from central Auckland.

Adelaide Amelia Sophia Knight was born in 1831 in Newark-upon-Trent, Lincoln, to John Bedford Knight and Charlotte Knight. Her father died when she was young, and her mother supported the family by making stays (corsets).

In 1870 she married George Higgins, a bootmaker, and they migrated to New Zealand in about 1880. For many years George had a boot and shoe shop on the corner of Queen and Grey Streets. They lived on Hobson Street, and later in Howick. When George died in 1918 his obituary noted he was an active member of several school and social committees, a committed hospital visitor, and was noted for freely donating to all causes with which he was connected.

When she died in 1924 at the age of 94, her obituary noted that the 'highly-esteemed' Mrs Higgins was 'possessed of a kindly disposition' and that she 'made many friends during the years she resided in Auckland.'

Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.

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