Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Margaret Rushton was born in 1870 in London – the daughter of George Rushton, a stationer, and Margaret Kennedy.
She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1874 on the Buckinghamshire. Shortly after their arrival her father was charged with violently assaulting his wife.
By March the following year he had abandoned the family and the children were placed in the Industrial School.
Margaret stayed at the school until 1887 when, being of age, she would have been released.
When she signed the suffrage petition Margaret was living in Andersons Bay, Dunedin working as a domestic servant.
She married William Henry Money, a wood turner, in 1897 and they had three children, they lived in Napier and Wellington.
On 24 February 1900 Margaret committed suicide by drowning. 'Of late she had been very despondent and suffered greatly from sleeplessness.'
A note left for William said 'Good-bye, dearest; look after my darling children.'
Her body was found a few days later and she is buried in the Karori Cemetery.
William re-married the following year and had a further six children. He died in 1952 and was cremated at Karori.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
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