Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Catherine Ann/Annie Jeffs was born in 1862 in Warwickshire, England – the daughter of Emanuel Jeffs, a labourer, and Anne Batchelor. (See 278 A Jeffs)
She emigrated to Canterbury on the Ballochmyle in 1874 with her family and they settled at Ashburton.
Annie married Francis McKeown on 12 January 1885 in Dunedin and they had nine children, two who died in infancy.
From the start their marriage was not a happy one. In 1887 Francis was charged with 'disobeying the order of the court that he should provide for her support', he was sentenced to seven days in prison with hard labour.
When Annie signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Owaka. In 1898 the family home was destroyed by fire and, in 1902, Annie applied for a legal separation.
The separation was granted and Francis was ordered to pay maintenance. Francis continued to fail to pay maintenance and served more time in jail as punishment.
Annie died on 5 June 1919 at her home in Balclutha, she is buried in the Balclutha Cemetery.
Francis’ date and place of death are unknown.
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
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
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