Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Margaret Catherine/Kate Thompson was born about 1862 in England.
She came to New Zealand and she married George Parkes, a cook, on 24 February 1883 in the Duntroon parish.
They had seven children, one who died in infancy, and when Margaret signed the suffrage petition they were living in Duntroon in North Otago.
Around the time that their last child was born in 1896 Margaret and George parted company and she moved to Oamaru with the children.
In 1898 she went to court to get support from George. He was ordered to pay 15s a week towards the family’s support.
In the 1900s the family moved to Gisborne where Margaret died on 5 May 1942.
She is buried in the Taruheru Cemetery, Gisborne.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Waitaki District Council https://www.waitaki.govt.nz/Services/Cemeteries
Gisborne District Council https://cemeterysearch.gdc.govt.nz/