Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Bertha was born in 1871 in Sheffield, England – the daughter of James Grigg Tomkinson, an ironmonger, and Ann Ward.
She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1886 on the “Arawa”.
The family lived in Ravensbourne, Dunedin for a year before shifting to Waihola in South Otago where they had a farm and where Bertha was living when she signed the suffrage petition. Bertha died at her home on 22 October 1901 – she is buried with her parents in the Fairfax Cemetery, Milton.
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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/