Maker: Lee-Ann Newton

Panel number: 525

Petition sheet number: Did not sign 1893 petition

Person honouring: May Isabella Wilson Prestney

Relationship to maker: Grandmother.

May Johnstone  was born 31 May 1925 and was one of those everyday woman that I see on the petition sheets. They had unspectacular lives but made a huge difference to those around them – raising families, caring for community, supporting others to do what they had to do. 

My grandmother had a tough upbringing full of the harsh realities of life – from a family of Scottish immigrant miners, a father who was absent in mind, and later in person after not coping with the trauma of World War 1 and Gallipoli after losing a brother in the war. Her mother was left to bring up three girls in a time where there was no real welfare system and battling severe manic depression. This shaped her view of family, which she held on dearly to and supported and helped raise grand- and great-grandchildren.

She was a WREN in the Royal NZ Navy, cooking for men in Petone, which we found amusing as she was terrified of water. She married Jack Prestney who was a man full of ambition and who held many Olympic responsibilities. May carried the family so he could pursue his interests. 

She was an amazing homemaker who could make anything out of nothing. Meals from meagre ingredients, homewares and clothes from bags of fabric scraps. She would attend Benson and Hedges fashion shows in Wellington and the next day whip up a designer item from her memory of what she had seen the night before. She was one of those hard workers in the kitchen at badminton, tennis, and equestrian clubs. 

May helped my grandfather run farm stations in Pirinoa and Mimiwhangata – at the latter she met the Queen and Prince Philip. She valued family, put them first, and embodied the spirit of our suffragists – allowing women to choose what they wanted to do. May relished her role in being the matriarch in our family, supporting me to be the woman and mother I have become.

May died on 9 October 2016.

Panel materials: Hand painted old sheet and photo transfer. The fabric hexagons were a simple stitching project I had when I sat at her bedside when she was hospitalised so she didn’t feel the need to talk and I could just be there, stitching also being an act of comfort distracting me from the thought that she may not be in my life soon. She survived that and lived to see a bit more of us before passing away aged 91. I found the hexies in my cupboard - no real use for them but not being able to give or throw away due to significance when making them. Now they have a place and can rest in peace with her story.