Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Lydia Catherine Sweeting was born in 1838 in Shoreditch, London – the daughter of William Sweeting, a silversmith, and Mary Ann Dundon.
She married John Webber, a shoemaker, in 1859 and they had 6 children before they emigrated to Otago in 1874 on the Asia.
They had a further 4 children after their arrival in New Zealand.
The family lived in Rothesay, Ravensbourne near Dunedin where Lydia signed the suffrage petition.
John died at his home in 1905 and Lydia died on 6 September 1913 at her daughter’s home in Leith Valley, Dunedin.
They are buried together 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
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