Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley:
Rosanna/Rosina Wood was born on 30 October 1836 at Tranent, East Lothian, Scotland – the daughter of James Wood, a coal miner and Janet Smith.
Rosanna married William Gray on 17 June 1859 at Newton, Midlothian. They had a son in Tranent in April 1861 and they travelled to Otago on the Silistria later that same year, arriving in January 1862.
William Gray died in April 1862 and Rosanna then married Arthur Tidey, a wheelwright, on 20 October the same year. They had two children.
Arthur died in 1906. Rosanna was mentioned in the “Evening Star” newspaper in January 1926 as being the oldest person to visit the Exhibition at Logan Park. She “walked through some of the courts and also enjoyed the playing of the band and the sights in the Amusement Park.”
Rosanna died on 28 February 1928 and she is buried with Arthur in the Southern Cemetery.
Their daughter Janet also signed the 1893 suffrage petition.
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
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