Maker: Margot Booth

Panel number: 402

Petition sheet number: 491

Person honouring: Mary Jane Elliot

Relationship to maker: Great-great-great-grandmother

Mary Jane Elliot was the daughter of a very strong woman and no doubt inherited many of her mother’s attitudes and strengths. In 1893 when she signed the petition, her mother was also a signatory [sheet 487].

Mary Jane’s mother, Margaret Buchanan/Baillie/Peterson, was born in Scotland in 1838. She emigrated to Australia with her sister when she was just 14, later moved to New Zealand, and had two sets of children including Mary Jane.

Mary Jane Baillie was born in 1863 in Dunedin. She grew up with two lots of siblings after the death of her father John Baillie and her mother’s remarriage to Hans Peterson. Hans was a shoemaker from Denmark – his name was anglicised from Pederson.

The new family settled in the Wairarapa; this is where Mary Jane met and married James Elliot, a saddler. They married in 1883 and had six children. Their son also became a saddler. Mary Jane and James remained in the Wairarapa all their lives, surrounded by various Baillie, Peterson, and Elliot siblings and their families.

Mary Jane died in 1948, aged 85, and was buried in Masterton.

Panel materials: I used fabrics I had, including organza, velvet edging, metallic organza, cotton, satin, and lace from my wedding dress. The panel represents Castlepoint and the landscape of Masterton. It also has an outline of my grandmother’s glove – to represent all the hands that signed the petition and 46 French knots for the 46 women who signed her page.