Maker: Anne DeSalis

Panel number: 271

Petition sheet numbers: 325 and 537

Person honouring: Clara Jane Seabourn

Relationship to maker: None

Clara Jane Perryman was born in Hammersmith, London, in 1866. At the age of eight she moved to New Zealand with her parents and two sisters.

In 1891 when she was 25 she married John Seabourn, a baker. He was a widower with seven children, and they had a further five children together.

Clara signed the suffrage petition twice [sheets 325 and 537] while living in Brougham St in Christchurch.

Clara was widowed at the age of 35 when John accidentally drowned at the Sydenham Baths in 1902, despite being an excellent swimmer. Clara raised her children by herself, and then moved to 44 Malcolm Avenue in Beckenham, where she lived until her death at the age of 85.

Panel materials: Grey serge from a dear friend’s mother who had died. Fine curtain linen. My mother’s (1916–2011) button brooch is on the hat and a friend of 42 years provided her mother’s brooch for the sleeve. Lace from my partner’s grandmother.