Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Thirza Williams was born in 1863 in Maidstone, Kent, England – the daughter of John Williams, a carrier, and Matilda Town.
She emigrated to Otago with her, possibly widowed, mother in 1874 on the William Davie.
Thirza married Francis Blew Smith, a town clerk, in 1880 and they had five children.
When she signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Crosby St, Mornington, Dunedin.
Francis died at their home in 1944 and Thirza died on 1 February 1955, they are buried together in the Southern 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