Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Maria Patterson was born about 1840 in Ireland – the daughter of Thomas Patterson, a weaver.
She married weaver Charles Geddis on 14 December 1864 in Lurgan, County Armagh and they had three children.
The family emigrated to Otago in 1875 on the Timaru – their three-year-old daughter died on the voyage from scarlatina.
They had a further three children after their arrival and they settled in Mataura where Maria signed the suffrage petition.
She died at Mataura on 16 July 1913 and Charles died in 1923 – they are buried together in the Mataura Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Irish Genealogy https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/