Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Martha Flook was born about 1855 in England.
She emigrated to Otago in 1876 on the Invercargill and married Alexander McKenzie Cunningham, a seaman, on 6 December 1880 in Dunedin.
They had five daughters and when Martha signed the suffrage petition the family were living in St Andrew St, Dunedin.
In 1893 Martha was charged with not sending her eldest daughter to school. She 'admitted that her daughter Clara, aged twelve, only attended school forty-two half-days last quarter.' When ordered to send her daughter to school Martha replied 'we must have food. I really cannot afford to send her oftener.' It was pointed out that if she failed to comply she was liable for a fine of £2.
The family remained living in St Andrew St where Alexander died in 1913 and Martha died on 24 May 1929.
They are buried with their daughter in the Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
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