Maker: Clare Smith

Panel number: 147

Petition Sheet Number: 178

Person honouring: Annie Kepple

Relationship to makers: My husband’s great-grandmother

Annie Elizabeth Kepple (nee Mills) was born in 1857 in Spreydon, Christchurch. This was six months after her parents, John Mills and Ann Mills (nee Cherry) arrived in New Zealand on the ship ‘Rose of Sharon’. 

Annie subsequently had three younger brothers: John, George and William. She was seven years old when her mother died and she went to live with the family of Colonel James Brett in Kirwee, about 14 miles away. She was brought up with the Brett family but also appears to have spent time with her own family. Her father, John Mills, built a hotel called the Forresters Arms in Oxford St and the family lived in the hotel. He commissioned a small paddle steamer for use as a pleasure boat on the Avon and Heathcote rivers. Annie (aged eight) had the honour of launching ‘The Maid of the Avon’ on 13th March 1866, smashing a bottle of wine over her bows. The boat began taking excursions but was unable to pass under the Stanmore Street Bridge. After four days, John Mills gained some notoriety by chopping down part of the bridge to allow the boat through. 

While staying at Kirwee, Annie met Irishman William Kepple. They married in July 1880. William worked for the post office and was head of the mail room. They had three sons and two daughters, Annie working as a tailoress. She was 36 when she signed the petition and the signature below hers is her sister-in-law Fanny Elizabeth (Lizzie) Mills.

Panel materials: Suiting samples from Rembrandt Suits. Buttons and hooks and eyes from my stash, some from my grandmother. Nothing was bought.