Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Constance Mabel Pardow was born in Manchester, England in 1872 – the daughter of Herbert Pardoe, a solicitor, and Edith Deborah Humphries.(See 112 Mrs Pardoe)
Her parents separated in the 1870's and the family along with her mother’s new partner Walter sailed for Tasmania in 1883.
They lived there until around 1892 when Walter was charged with “criminally assaulting” Constance over a period of several years - he was found not guilty due to insufficient evidence.
The family then came to New Zealand and were living in Caversham when Constance signed the suffrage petition.
She was in Dunedin in 1896 then appears to have returned to England with her mother after that.
Her mother died in 1902 and she returned to Australia where she had a son in Queensland who died in 1903.
After her son’s death Constance returned to Dunedin where she married William Thomas Martin, a widower with two sons who worked as a leather dresser, in 1904.
They had five children, one who died in infancy. William died in 1938 and Constance died on 12 October 1954 – she is buried with William in the Green Island 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
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz