Selina Terrill, signatory

Panama House Blenheim. Image supplied by author

Selina Terrill  (1857 - 1934), neé Holtham was 36 when she signed the petition. Selina was born in Cheltenham, England, but was living in New Zealand by the time she was married at age 21 in 1877 to Francis, a forty year old widower with three children . At the time she signed the petition she and her husband had a further five children, the youngest being just an infant.

Photo supplied by Marlborough Museum

 

Marlborough Express, Vol.XXXVII, Issue 139, 18 June 1904

In 1893, her husband had just opened a new General Store at Tua Marina. By 1900, her husband had presumably retired, ownership of the store had changed hands, and her husband's occupation was listed as' labourer.'

Selina then acquired and ran Panama House, a boarding house opposite the Criterion Hotel.

It advertised itself in 1902 as a comfortable home for those taking up their residence in Blenheim; with rooms en suite, single and double bedrooms, hot and cold water baths, cuisine a
specialty, comfort above all things.

Her husband died in 1910, and Selina kept the boarding house going well into her 60s.

Story by: Marlborough Museum and Archives