Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ann Collett was born in 1837 in Alverscott, Oxfordshire, England – the daughter of Charles Collett, an agricultural labourer, and Emma Wakefield.
She married Charles Richards, a baker, in 1856 in Berkshire and they had four children.
The family emigrated to Otago in 1875 on the Wild Deer and their last child was born the following year.
They settled in Queenstown where, in 1876, Charles drowned in Lake Wakatipu, he is buried in the Queenstown Cemetery.
Ann ran a private boarding house on the Terrace, Queenstown after Charles’ death and she re-married in 1885 to Thomas Mantle, a gardener.
Ann signed the suffrage petition in Queenstown where she ran the 'Pleasant View Boarding House, Eastern Terrace...'First-Class Accommodation for Families and Tourists visiting the Lakes District who desire a quiet home during their stay.'
Ann died on 2 November 1919 and is buried in the Queenstown Cemetery.
After Ann’s death Thomas took a trip 'Home' where he died in Birmingham in 1925, he is buried in the Knowle Cemetery.
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/