Maker: Maureen Cassey

Panel number: 3

Petition sheet number: Signed 1892 suffrage petition

Person honouring: Jessie Sands

Relationship to maker: Mother’s grandmother

Jessie was the daughter of Robert Bissett, and was born in 1844 in Stranraer, Scotland before they moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland. 

In 1872, she married William Sands in Hillsborough, Ireland. Along with their six children they emigrated to Auckland in 1882. 

Jessie, and her husband William (an accountant) were living in Jervois Road, Ponsonby, Auckland when she signed the 1892 Suffrage Petition.

She lived in Ponsonby for the rest of her life and died in 1931. Jessie is buried in the Hillsborough Cemetery.

Panel materials: Materials I already had – included a piece of her granddaughter’s (my auntie) wedding frock lace, and a button off an old cardigan of her other granddaughter (my mother).