Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Maria Cullis was born in 1851 in Cheltenham, Worcestershire, England – the daughter of Joseph Cullis, a glover, and Maria Surman.
She married George Bailey, a tailor, in 1871 and they had two children before they emigrated to Otago in 1879 on the Stadt Haarlem.
They had a further seven children, two who died in infancy and one who died in early childhood.
When Maria signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Dalkeith, North East Valley.
George died in 1922 and Maria died at her home on 13 February 1926 – they are buried together 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
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
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