Maker: Hilary Watson

Panel number: 327

Petition sheet number: 386

Person honouring: Mary Hames

Relationship to maker: Great-great-grandmother

Mary Hames was born May Maddox near Ledbury in England in 1827. She came to New Zealand in 1864 with her husband, Charles Hames, and their four sons (one, five, eight, and eleven years old). They headed to their allotment of land in ‘Albertland’, part of a Methodist settlement near the Kaipara Harbour in Paparoa. It took them a month to get there by boat, on horseback, and on foot. On the way, Mary shed her crinoline and left it behind a bush, never to put one on again. 

They set to work felling huge kauri trees to build a dwelling. Charles had been a teacher and was deaf, and not used to physical labour. They both learnt to farm and planted many fruit trees and vegetables. Mary later bought a cow to provide milk and butter for sale. She also periodically earned money in Auckland as a seamstress. Two daughters were born later, both of whom also signed the suffrage petition. It was largely due to Mary that the family survived and later prospered. 

Her energy, resourcefulness, Christian faith and determination are remembered by many of her descendants. On Mary’s death, at age 91 in 1919, the extended family farmed 1,000 acres.

Panel materials: Cotton and linen I had and an embroidered collar and some old cross stitch from my mother’s collection.