Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ann Pearson was born in 1848 in Altrincham, Cheshire – the daughter of James Pearson, a coal merchant, and Elizabeth Gamble.
She married Christopher Woodyatt, a draper, in Altrincham in 1872 and they had six children, three who died in infancy, before the family emigrated to Otago in 1883 on the British Queen.
They settled, at first, in Dunedin before they moved to Gore in the late 1880s.
They had a further two children, one who also died in infancy, and they ran a drapery store in the town.
Around 1900 they moved back to Dunedin before retiring to Fairlie.
Christopher died in Dunedin Hospital in 1919 and Ann died at her daughter’s home in Ashburton on 23 January 1925 – they are buried together in the Ashburton Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.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