Another signature for 'Mrs Bush' appears on sheet 95 and may also be Sarah.
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Sarah Ann Watts was born on 11 March 1843 in Wymondham, Norfolk, England – the daughter of William Watts, a bricklayer, and Susanna Tuttle.
She married William John Bush, a canvas repairer, in 1870 in Romford, Essex. They had two daughters before they emigrated to Otago in 1874 on the Otago. Their 17 month old daughter Rosanna died on the voyage. They had a further nine children in New Zealand, three of whom died young.
The family settled in Dunedin where William worked as an expressman. When Sarah signed the suffrage petition she was living with her family in Mornington.
William died in 1931 and Sarah died on 24 October 1934 at her son’s house at Burnside, Dunedin. They are buried in the family grave in the Southern 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