Biography contributed by Wendy Napier-Walker
Mrs Peck was born Martha Stuffins on 2 April 1856, Mill End, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, England, to James Stuffins and his wife Sarah Swanson.
On 8 March 1877 in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, Martha married Matthew Bridgeman Peck.
Martha, Matthew and daughter Caroline departed Clyde on 7 November 1878 for Otago on the ship Taranaki, arriving on 24 January 1879.
They had a further eight children in New Zealand.
Martha Peck signed the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition, and at the time was living in Rhodes Street, Waimate. Matthew had a ½ acre with a 2-roomed house.
In 1902 Martha and Matthew moved to Morven and by 1905 they were living in Willowbridge. Matthew was a Labourer.
Martha died on 4 January 1911 at Willowbridge, Waimate age 54 years and is buried in the Waimate Old cemetery, Row 16, Plot 000209.
Matthew died on 27 March 1930, age 79 years at Sawyers Bay, Dunedin. He was a Retired Farmer. He is buried in the Northern Cemetery, Block 46, Plot 8.
Sources
Familysearch Passenger lists
Ancestry – Public Family Trees
Ancestry – New Zealand Electoral Rolls
NZ DIA Death – 1911/9705 Martha Peck
Waimate District Council online cemetery database
NZ DIA Death – 1930/4205 Matthew Bridgman Peck
Dunedin City Council online cemetery database