Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Rosetta Whitwam was born in 1865 in Leeds, England – the daughter of Abraham Whitwam, a shoemaker, and Rosette Smith.
She married Jonathan Rhodes, a dyer, in 1885 and they had a son before they emigrated to New Zealand in 1887 on the Arawa.
Also travelling with them was Jonathan’s sister Elizabeth. (See 163 Elizabeth Rhodes)
Their son died in 1892 and they had a further three children.
When Rosetta signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Hope Rd, North East Valley in Dunedin.
Jonathan ran the Jonathan Rhodes and Co. Practical Steam Dyers and Cleaners – their motto was “We Live to Die, and Dye to Live”. The business later became the Otago Steam Laundry and Dye Works.
In 1905 Rosetta and Jonathan, accompanied by their daughter, left on a 'trip to the Home Country', visiting 'the principal American towns en route'.
Jonathan became Mayor of North East Valley in 1910 and Rosetta ran for a place on the school committee in 1922.
She died at her home on 8 April 1941 and Jonathan re-married the following year.
Jonathan died in 1947 – he was cremated and his ashes are buried with Rosetta 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
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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/