Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Annabel Levison was born in 1855 in Durham, England – the daughter of Charles Levison, a coal miner, and Margaret Oliver.
She married miner, John Gills in 1875 and they had three children before the family emigrated to Nelson in on the Eastminster in 1879.
Their youngest child, Margaret, died on the voyage and was buried at sea.
Their eldest daughter, Jeannie, died in 1884 and they had a further four children.
When Annabel signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Taylorville.
They moved to Cheviot for a time before returning to the West Coast and living at Granity.
John died there in 1910 and Annabel died on 17 November 1944 – they are buried in the Waimangaroa Cemetery.
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
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/