Biographical information provided for by Fiona Oliver for the He Tohu exhibition:
Born Maria Muir in 1827 in Sunderland, Durham, England. She married Edward Thirkell at the age of 20, and they had two daughters, Maria and Amelia. Probably a third, Jessie, was also born in England. By 1858 the family had sailed to New Zealand and were settled in Wellington, where Maria had five more children: Louisa, Frederick, Kate, Ada and George. Maria’s husband was a successful ship repairer. He owned a yard and was well-known for his encyclopedic knowledge of anything to do with shipping. He died after a long illness at their Kent Terrace home in 1882. When Maria died in 1905, aged 78, she was still a wealthy woman.
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
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