Maker: Vanessa McDonald

Panel number: 442

Petition sheet number: 541

Person honouring: Mary Gavin

Relationship to maker: None

Mary Ann Gavin was born in Chatham, Kent in 1845. She was the daughter of Sarah and Charles McFall. Charles was a soldier and after his discharge from service in 1849 became a convict guard on the ship Hashemy. He left for Tasmania in 1850 along with his wife and daughter Mary Ann.

At the age of 15 Mary Ann married ex-convict James Gavin at Westbury, Tasmania. They had two children before leaving for Grasmere, Invercargill in 1862/63. James worked as a contractor to the Otago goldfields. They had 11more children.

Mary Ann died in 1895 at the age of 50.

Panel materials: Either things I already owned or from op-shops. I particularly enjoyed choosing the buttons from a large collection I found in an op-shop. I stitched Mary Ann Gavin’s name in purple as she signed the petition using purple ink. When I saw a copy of her page in the petition her signature jumped out at me. I wanted to capture this in my panel.