Biography contributed by Ella Thorpe
Lavinia Mitchell was born in 1845 in Glansville, Dorsetshire, England. In 1869, she married George Hatcher, a carpenter. The 1871 England and Wales census records Lavinia as a glover living in Longburton, Dorsetshire. George, Lavinia and their two sons emigrated to Otago, New Zealand in 1874 through the Vogel Scheme. They settled in Dunedin where they had a further two sons and two daughters, one of whom didn’t survive infancy. In 1910, Lavinia’s husband George was accidentally shot through the calf by a pea rifle as he walked home from work. The injury was painful but not serious.
Lavinia died in Dunedin on 31 October 1914 at the age of 69.
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