Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ann Sophia Cornish was born in 1857 in Victoria, Australia – the daughter of Frederick Cornish, a dairyman, and Mary Ann Birch.
The family came to New Zealand soon after Ann’s birth and settled in Dunedin.
Ann married William Mason, a blacksmith, on 7 February 1878 at her parent’s home in Leith Street.
They had nine children and, when Ann signed the suffrage petition, the family were living in Elm Row.
William died in 1915 and Ann died on 13 September 1942. They are buried in the family grave 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
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au