Biography contributed by Olive Hancox
Louisa Penny was born on 28 April 1863 in Motueka.
She married John Allen Hancox, a widower with one son. They were married at Wesley Church Taranaki St, 7 July 1887. John was a chemist and had a business in Manners St. John died in 1890, leaving Louisa with a step-son and an infant son Donald. Louisa was helped by her mother Emma Parry to raise the little family.
Louisa was very active in the women’s suffrage campaign and collected many signatures on the petition. Sixty are attributed to her. She wrote a declaration along the margin stating that all names were correct – even one signed by a cross and witnessed.
Louisa was the Honorary Secretary of the WCTU and placed an advertisement in the Evening Post of 26 September for an important meeting on the 27th. This meeting was only a few days after the Franchise Bill was passed by Parliament on September 19 and there were only six weeks to make sure that all the names were on the Electoral Roll.
Louisa died in Wellington on June 30 1924 and is buried in Karori Cemetery.
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