Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Susanna Carpenter was born in 1866 in Somerset, England – the daughter of James Carpenter, a shoemaker, and Hester Gadd.
In 1874 the family boarded the Dunedin bound for Canterbury.
They settled in Southland where Susanna married James Morton, a farmer, on 14 June 1887 in the Woodlands parish.
They had 13 children and when Susanna signed the suffrage petition at Gore they were living at, nearby, Pukerau.
In later life they retired to Timaru where James died in 1921.
Susanna died at her daughter’s home in Mosgiel on 3 November 1940 – they are buried together in the Timaru Cemetery.
Sources:
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/