Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Julia O’Shea was born about 1853 in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland.
She came to New Zealand where she married William Foster who kept the Empire Stables in Palmerston in 1877.
They had 2 children when, in November 1883, William died as the result of an accident when a buggy overturned into a river at night. William died the following day and is buried in the Palmerston Cemetery.
Their third child was born a few months later.
Julia re-married in 1885 to Jacob Turina, a carpenter from Austria.
They had 2 children and when Julia signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Palmerston.
Julia died at Palmerston on July 20th 1918 and Jacob died in 1928. They are buried in the Palmerston Cemetery.
Sources
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