Originally transcribed as Miss Beckman
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Maria Elizabeth Beekman was born in 1872 in New Zealand – the daughter of George Antoine Beekman, a baker and confectioner, and Maria Pyke. (See 46 Maria Beekman)
When Maria signed the suffrage petition she was living with her widowed mother and siblings in Forth St, Dunedin working as a tailoress.
She married Frederick Woodbury, a lighthouse keeper, in 1900 and they had three children.
The family lived in Devonport and Cape Campbell during their working life.
Maria died in Dunedin on 22 November 1960 and Frederick died in 1965, they were both cremated and their ashes scattered.
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