Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Bertha Slater was born in 1867 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England – the daughter of John Slater and Maria Dewhirst.
Her father died in the early 1870s and her family, accompanied by Benjamin Slater (possibly an uncle) emigrated to Otago in 1874 on the Surat.
The family settled in Dunedin & Bertha married Rufus William Wheeler, a storekeeper, on 21 June 1887 at the Cargill Rd Methodist Church, South Dunedin.
They had five children and when Bertha signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Richmond St, South Dunedin.
They later moved to Palmerston in North Otago where they celebrated their Silver Wedding anniversary before moving to Auckland where Rufus died in 1936.
Bertha died on 21 April 1953, they are buried together in the Hillsborough Cemetery, Auckland.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
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
Auckland Council https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/cemeteries
