Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Lavinia Emma Sarney was born in London in 1859 – the daughter of William Henry Sarney, a smith, and Lavinia Wynne Houchin. Lavinia’s mother died in 1867 and her father re-married the following year.
Lavinia emigrated to Otago with her family in 1874 on the Tweed. She married Henry Blanch Watts, a dairyman, on 4 December 1890 at Chalmers Church, York Place, Dunedin.
They had three children together. Their son died at 14 years of age while they were living at the creamery, Palmerston - north of Dunedin.
When she signed the suffrage petition Lavinia was living in Hanover St, Dunedin.
Henry died in Dunedin in 1933 and Lavinia died on 16 November 1937. They are both buried in the Palmerston Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
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