Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Winifred Woods was born about 1853 in Annaghdown, County Galway, Ireland – the daughter of George Barry Woods and Honoria/Hannah Delaney.
The family emigrated to Otago in 1859 on the Sevilla and they settled in the Tokomairiro district.
Winifred married Thomas Howie, a farmer, on 12 April 1872 in the Tokomairiro parish and they had five children.
When their youngest child was two-years-old Thomas died when he was gored by one of his prize bulls which he had taken to the show grounds.
Winifred carried on with the farm until 1891 when she leased the land and sold the stock.
When she signed the suffrage petition Winifred was living in Milton.
She died at her daughter’s home in Balclutha on 1 December 1928 and she is buried with Thomas in the Fairfax Cemetery, Milton.
Her obituary said she 'was a woman of most estimable character and was very highly respected.'
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
Ireland Reaching Out https://irelandxo.com/
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