Biographical information provided by Pauline Gallagher for the He Tohu exhibition:
Mary Annie Skipwith was born Mary Annie Cremer in December 1865 in Croyden England to English parents George Frederick Cremer and Catherine Mary Leek. She was the third of their nine children. The family arrived in New Zealand in 1884 on the ship Aorangi, settling in Whanganui.
On 16 February 1893 Mary Annie married Frederick Charles Skipwith at the Christ Church in Whanganui. Frederick, a keen cricketer originally from Bedford, England, arrived in New Zealand on 17 August 1878 on the ship Lady Jocelyn as one of Mr Stewarts Special Settlers. They would have two sons: Gore Peyton Lewis 1894 – 1955 and Lionel Ernest 1896 – 1980. At some point in the early 1900s the family moved to Auckland where Frederick died at his residence 3 Dunkerron Ave, Epsom on 26 March 1940 aged 82 and Mary Annie died 21 months later on 28 December 1941, aged 76.
Mary Annie’s mother, Catherine Cremer 1840 - 1908, signed the petition directly above Mary Annie’s signature.
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
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