Arabella Anderson

Biographical information provided by Stefanie Lash, Archives New Zealand, for the He Tohu exhibition:

Mrs Arabella Anderson signed the Petition with her daughter Arabella, who had the same name.

The elder Arabella was born Arabella Henry, in the village of Poplar in Middlesex, England. She married Charles Anderson, a saddler, in 1868. They came to New Zealand in 1873 and settled at Rangiora.

Mrs Anderson was a staunch anti-alcohol advocate and was said to have many friends, being a friendly and kind woman. They were a Presbyterian family. She and Charles had one son, William, and five daughters: Rosaline, Mabel, Winnifred, Elizabeth and Arabella.

After Charles died in 1903 Arabella worked as a draper. She moved in with members of her family in Christchurch, where she lived until she died in 1930, aged 83.