Things have been a little hectic recently. The week that
this blog post was scheduled was the week of the milestones and celebrations of
my last blog. I had intended to catch up after returning from New Zealand, but
a new job and all that entails kind of got in the way.
But here I am.
Cause of death. Apart from getting distracted by some of
the terminology found on old death certificates and trying to translate them to
terms we use today, I have been wondering where else to focus my writing.
So I looked at my tree and in particular at the
deaths occurring in the week which this was scheduled for (October 22-29). There are some names which I don’t know a lot about. Most are people for whom I have not seen a
death certificate – so I don’t know the cause of death. (Maybe I should buy
some certificates or print-outs to furnish these details.)
Amongst the names though, one direct ancestor and surprisingly, one
who I have not written about before.
Sarah Elizabeth Laney was born in Nelson, New Zealand on
10 April 1850, almost eight years after her parents, eldest brother and two
step siblings had arrived in the new colony from Andover, Hampshire, England.
In the late 1860’s after the death of her eldest brother,
then her mother and a serious fire which damaged or destroyed her father’s
bakery business and residence, the family relocated to the Wairau Valley in
Marlborough. Perhaps it was here where Sarah met her future husband, or perhaps
they had met earlier while both families lived in the Nelson area. Their families had travelled from England on the same ship, so they likely had always had a family connection. Her stepsister Ann had earlier married into the Bartlett family.
She married George Bartlett on 27 December 1870 at
Bartletts Creek. Together they raised a family of ELEVEN children as they moved
around the country from Marlborough to Horowhenua, Manawatu, Rangitikei and
finally Waikato.
In 1893 she and her eldest daughter signed sheet #308 of theSuffrage Petition in Manakau, Horowhenua. This was the successful petition
which resulted in the 1893 Electoral Act being passed on 19 September; giving
all women over 21 years of age the vote in New Zealand. The first self-governing
country in the world to so empower women.
My great-great-grandmother Sarah was one of the 30,853
women who signed.
A suffragette.
New Zealand has just celebrated the 125th
anniversary of this achievement. On 28 November 2018 it will also be 125 years
since all those women first appeared on an electoral roll and exercised their
right to vote in the Parliamentary elections for the first time.
There are currently 46 female Members of Parliament including
the Prime Minister of New Zealand, who is one of her great-great-great-granddaughters.
How proud would she be to learn that, just 124 years since making her mark on
the suffrage petition ?
Sarah died on 25 October 1910 just fifteen months after
her husband.
Marlborough Express Monday 31 October 1910 page 4, www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz,
Accessed 10 November 2018
