Biographical information provided by Stefanie Lash, Archives New Zealand, for the He Tohu exhibition:
This is likely to be the signature of Mary Ann Crisp, born Mary Ann Lines in 1848 in Nelson. Her signature indicates she was left-handed.
Mary Ann married Joseph Crisp in 1869 at the age of 20. Their first daughter was born three months later. They went on to have nine children in total, with all but one, Ada, surviving infancy.
In 1893 the Crisp family were living in Lumsden, Southland, but they moved often due to Joseph’s job as a railways inspector. By 1911 they had relocated to Auckland and retired, while several of their unmarried children remained living with them.
In 1933 Mary Ann and Joseph celebrated 65 years of marriage. They died within six weeks of each other later that year. Mary Ann’s obituary noted that she was a keen worker of St Jude’s Anglican Church up until her final illness. She was survived by eight children, 19 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.