suffrage_petition
Surname: 
Wilson
Given names: 
M. A.
Given address: 
Kaiapoi
Sheet No: 258
Town/Suburb: 
Kaiapoi
City/Region: 
Canterbury
Notes: 

Biography contributed by Mrs Colyn Storer, Sydney, Australia

M A Wilson was born Mary Ann Baker in early 1844 at Seasalter Kent and was baptised on 18 February 1844 at St Alphage Seasalter. She was the third child of James Baker, a labourer and Sarah nee Court. They had five other children in Kent, Maltida 1840, Richard 1842, James 1846, Sarah 1848 and Edward 1850, before they left for Canterbury New Zealand in 1850 on the Cressy

Mary Ann married Isaac Wilson on 8 August 1861. They had one child, Sarah Jane who was born 14 July 1867. She married Rev Thomas Joughin, a widower in 1902. The family had a trip back to England in 1879.

Her daughter’s obituary in The New Zealand Methodist Times 6 February 1943 speaks of her mother presiding over a home where Methodism was honoured and its ministers were welcome guests.

They lived at Kaiapoi for many years near her family. Mary suffered ill health for more than five years before she died at home at Fuller St on 17 August 1897. There are many reports of her passing and funeral and memorial service both at Kaiapoi Wesleyan church in local papers, which spoke of her exemplary life and commitment to the local church. She was buried at the Wesleyan Cemetery at Woodend on 19August.

Isaac was a very successful businessman and served on local councils for a number of years, and in 1881 a member of Parliament for a short time till he resigned because of serious health issues. The family lived at Kaiapoi at that time where he was a staunch supporter of the Wesleyan church and the Temperance movement. He remarried after Mary Ann’s passing and died in 1912.

Her mother Baker X Mrs, and sister Mrs Thorne also signed the same sheet (258) of the petition and her daughter Sarah J Wilson sheet 269.

References

Baptism:

Findmypast, Kent Canterbury Archdeaconry Baptisms

NZ BDMs: 

https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz

PapersPast: 
Many records of the extended families, from the 1860s onwards, occupations, Community involvement, Church associations, Deaths,

Death, Burial: 
Various death and funeral notices:

Funeral: THE LATE MRS WILSON.
Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9810, 20 August 1897 page 5
Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Cemetery Records, 1800-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Obituary: 

Mary Ann’s Obituary:

OBITUARY. Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVIII, Issue 11350, 18 August 1897 page 6

Isaac’s OBITUARY. Star, Issue 10430, 9 April 1912 page 2
Her daughter Sarah Jane Joughin’s Obituary 
Including references to her parents and grandparents
https://kinderlibrary.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/5338#idx124546
The New Zealand Methodist Times 6 February 1943, page 11 

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

1 comment has been posted about M. A. Wilson

What do you know?

Will Esler

Posted: 08 Feb 2017

"M. A. Wilson" is likely to be Mary Ann WILSON nee BAKER of Kaiapoi, who died Aug 1897 aged 53y. Mary Ann married Isaac WILSON; a wealthy man with a stake in the Kaiapoi Woollen Mills. They had one child, Sarah Jane WILSON [also a signatory; see sheet 269] b. abt 1868 d 1943 aged 75. Sarah Jane married 18 Sep 1902 a widower, Methodist minister Rev Thomas Alfred JOUGHIN (1864-1942). Isaac remarried 30 Jan 1900 Elizabeth Lilly / Lily JOHNSON b. 11.4.1873 d. 5.8.1936.