Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Lydia Gertrude Slatter was born in 1854 in Berkshire, England – the daughter of Joseph Slatter, an agricultural labourer, and Martha Pocock.
In 1872 Lydia, accompanied by her sister Annie, arrived in Otago on the Charlotte Gladstone.
Lydia married Richard Parker on 20 October 1875 in Dunedin.
They had 13 children, three who died in infancy and lived in Dunedin and Ross before moving to Brunnerton where Richard worked as a coal miner.
Lydia signed the suffrage petition in Greymouth – she died on 19 December 1899, possibly in childbirth. Her burial place is not known.
Richard died at the Grey River Hospital in 1922 – he is buried in the Stillwater Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/