Maker: Margaret Rogerson

Panel number: 351

Petition sheet number: 422

Person honouring: Emma Williamson

Relationship to maker: Maternal great-grandmother

Emma, her step-daughter Jeanie, and her mother Jane all signed the petition. 

Emma was born in Turakina to Jane and Charles Parkinson. On 15 June 1878, she married a widower and schoolteacher – Alexander Watt Williamson. Her husband was the first person in New Zealand to graduate, gaining a BA degree from Otago University in 1876.

Emma and Alexander had eight children: Charles, Henry (aka Pompei), Amy (my grandmother), Fred, Edie, Nell, Isa, Sam, plus there was Jeanie from Alexander’s first marriage. Pompei died from pneumonia in 1897 and Jeanie from tuberculosis in 1899. 

Emma and Alexander lived for many years in a house called Brandon in Lower Hutt. Emma was a loving grandmother and was called Gay by her grandchildren.

Panel materials: Fabrics, laces, and trims I already had.