Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Cecilia Woods was born in New Zealand about 1866 – the daughter of Thomas Woods, a stage hand and caretaker at the Princess Theatre in Dunedin, and Eliza. Sarah's sister Florence also signed the 1893 suffrage petition.
Cecilia married James Joseph Ayers, a baker, in 1897. They had one daughter in 1905.
In 1919 their marriage was in trouble, Cecilia was running up debts and Joseph was drinking and taking out another woman. Cecilia filed for divorce in 1921 on the grounds of misconduct. Joseph was, at the time, living with another woman by whom he had two children.
Sarah died on 7 August 1953 in Dunedin. She is buried in the Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
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