Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Betsy Jane Callaway Phillips was born in 1844 in Truro, Cornwall – the daughter of William Henry Phillips, a chairmaker, and Betsy Callaway.
In 1849 the family sailed for Adelaide and spent the next few years living in Victoria.
They sailed again, this time for Otago, in 1861 then settled in Nelson.
Bessie married John Heron, a carpenter and undertaker, on 27 February 1866 at Wakefield, Nelson and they had five children.
When Bessie signed the suffrage petition they were living in Greymouth.
Sometime after this they moved to Whanganui where Bessie died on 6 September 1919 and John died in 1922 – they are buried together in the Aramoho Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
Cornwall OPC https://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/