Margaret Holland

Margaret Holland, The Glen, Dunedin (Margaret Elizabeth Fossitt Holland)
Margaret was born 7th September 1863 at Carraun Grange, near Ballinasloe, county Galway, Ireland, the eldest child of Sara Fossitt and William Anthony Holland. William was a gentleman farmer and they lived with his parents; there were four children in the family: 2 girls and 2 boys. Her mother and sister also signed the petition. Margaret would have been 16 when the family emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in Dunedin in November 1879 on the Wanganui.
In December 1894 she married John Samuel Ash, a journalist and compositor; they lived in the Mornington area, often with her mother and sister sharing the house. Margaret and John had no children of their own, but did informally adopt a nephew of John’s. I have the impression from family members who knew her that she was quite a formal woman.
Margaret died on 17th January 1948; she was cremated and her ashes were scattered; John had died in 1944.