Maker: Deb Barker

Panel number: 127

Petition Sheet Number: 141

Person honouring: Sarah Gibson

Relationship to makers: None

Sarah Gibson (nee) Maxwell was born around 1859. She married William Gibson in 1881 in New Zealand. Sarah and William had five daughters and three sons during the 1880′s and 1890′s.

Sarah was living in Stafford Street Dunedin when she signed the Petition. The family lived there until about 1900 when they moved to Invercargill. In 1911, their 20 year old daughter Elizabeth died tragically while jumping off a train. Her parents were on board and newspapers reported that they were under the influence of alcohol and their daughters were ‘very much against drink’. Sarah died in Invercargill on 8 January 1928 and William died in 1936. They are buried together in the Invercargill Eastern Cemetery.

Panel materials: Mix of recycled and vintage materials. The panel is one white linen, with a mix of hand and machine stitching. There is a copy of Sarah’s signature taken from the petition, and below 46 hand stitches representing ‘sign here’ boxes, one box with an ‘x’ as a recognition of those who were illiterate. The panel has a total of 546 beads representing the total pages of the petition, most of which are seed beads hand sewn into some treasured vintage lace which before now I have now been able to bring myself to use. Two handmade 'flowers’ represent the suffrage movement and a mourning adornment.