Originally transcribed as Maria Beckman
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Maria Pyke was born about 1846 in England - she came to New Zealand in the mid 1850s.
Maria married George Antoine Beekman, a baker and confectioner, in 1866 and they had 6 children.
George died in 1886, apparently leaving Maria without a great deal of money. After his death she placed a notice in the newspaper saying 'I beg to return my sincere Thanks to the Gentleman who collected the sum of £6 7s to enable me to pay the Funeral Expenses of my deceased husband.'
When Maria signed the suffrage petition she was living with some of her children in Forth, Dunedin.
She died on 26 April 1911 at her son’s home in Dundas St, Dunedin and is buried in the family grave in the Northern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
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