Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Williamina Halls was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1866 – the daughter of Mellony Halls. (See 63 Mellony Sears)
Her mother married George Sears in 1868 and she took her step-father’s name.
When she signed the suffrage petition Williamina was living with her family in William St, Roslyn.
She married Herbert Reader Steel, a coach builder, in 1897. They lived in Ashburton and had a son before Herbert died in 1901, he is buried in the Ashburton Cemetery.
Williamina married Thomas Kelly, a farmer and widower, in 1914. This marriage did not appear to go well as when Thomas died in 1930 his will awarded Williamina £92 per year 'I firmly believe that she by her disgraceful and cruel conduct towards me deserves no monetary or other consideration. She has by her selfish and cruel action in leaving me two weeks after our marriage for no reason other than to pursue her own motives made me in my declining years most unhappy'.
Thomas is buried in the Ashburton Cemetery.
Williamina died on 30 June 1945, she is buried in the Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
Christchurch City Council http://heritage.christchurchcitylibraries.com
Ashburton District Council https://infoservices.adc.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