Originally transcribed as Rachel Ann Fleury
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Rachel Ann Shury was born in 1865 in New Zealand – the daughter of William Edward Shury, a police constable, and Rachel.
She moved around the South Island with her family during her early years - living in Switzers, Clyde, Dunedin and Lawrence where she attended the Lawrence Grammar School.
When Rachel signed the suffrage petition she was living with her parents in Lawrence working as a dressmaker.
She married Samuel Smith on 25 July 1901 at the English Church, Lawrence.
They had five children and lived for a time at Waipori before moving to Geraldine where Rachel died in July 1909.
Samuel died in 1926, he is buried in the Geraldine Cemetery, presumably with Rachel.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Timaru District Council https://www.timaru.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