Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Annie/Ada Ann was born in 1871 in the Central Otago Goldfields – the daughter of Samuel Whiteside, a miner, and Bertha Isteed.
She attended the Blue Spur School and the family lived at Gabriels Gully and Beaumont before moving to Tapanui where she signed the suffrage petition and worked as a dressmaker.
She married Joseph Brooks, a painter, in 1897 and they had seven children.
The family moved to Westport with Ada’s extended family before ending their days in Palmerston North.
Joseph died there in 1963 and Ada died at Upper Hutt on 20 December 1964.
They were both cremated in Palmerston North.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Palmerston North City Council https://www.pncc.govt.nz/services