Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Martha Morris was born in 1865 in New Zealand – the daughter of William Dawson and Susannah Jones.
She married Edward James Dawson, a wharf labourer, in 1881 and they had five children.
When Martha signed the suffrage petition they were living in Forth St, Dunedin. Edward died there in 1913.
In December 1920 Martha’s house caught fire, when the police constable arrived he found that Martha 'was still in one of the back rooms, and appeared to be dazed. He made an entrance through a window, and succeeded, with difficulty, in rescuing the woman. The house by this time was ablaze from end to end and full of smoke.'
Martha died on 9 May 1950, at the age of 86. She is buried with Edward 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