Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sarah Mary Smith was born in 1847 in Monmouthshire, Wales – the daughter of Joseph Smith, a collier, and Jane East.
She married William Wright, a coal miner, in 1864 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
They had two children before they emigrated to Otago in 1875 on the Waimea.
A further five children were born in New Zealand, one who died in infancy.
When Sarah signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Abbotsford, Dunedin.
William died at his home on 23 July 1928 and Sarah died just three days later on the 26th.
They are buried together in the Green Island 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
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