Biographical information provided by Hannah Benbow, Alexander Turnbull Library, for the He Tohu exhibition:
Annie Verry was born Ann Burbush in 1849 in Cambridge, United Kingdom. She came to New Zealand aged five months and her family lived first in Wakefield, near Nelson, and later in Wellington. Annie married Thomas Verry in 1874, with Thomas returning to Wellington for the wedding after establishing his farm in Sanson. Annie was a mother of six when she signed the Petition in 1893 (Edith Annie, Thomas, Louis, Constance, William and Frank). Her occupation is given as Postmistress of Sanson on the 1896 electoral roll, with later rolls listing ‘household duties’ and ‘married’. According to family, she had worked as a lady’s maid for Lady Tollemache. The family appears to have moved around the Manawatu region as Thomas worked on different farms. Annie died in Palmerston North in 1941, 25 years after her husband.
Amelia signed the petition alongside Amelia Verry, the wife of her cousin Thomas Verry.
See also:
Verry, R. Bruce. The Burbush family in England and New Zealand. Auckland, 1986
Verry, R. Bruce. The Verry family in Buckinghamshire and New Zealand. Auckland, 1986.
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions