Jan ...
we are in some ways lucky that New Zealand was the first country to give "women the Vote" in 1893.
That means that there is the possibility of finding much more information for women of that era, than there might be for say, Australia / UK etc. But there are no guarantees.
The newspapers of the day ran the usual "gossip" columns ... and social columns featuring mostly "the well-to-do". There were reports of women who committed crimes etc. / and those who were witnesses to same named in court cases ... in fact all manner of everyday activites were reported on, but not every woman came to the attention of the press.
A picture though of a woman's life at that time, can still be built by utilising snippets of information gained from various sources : e. g. Newspapers of the day " what was happening in the area in which she lived / how did her life in New Zealand compare to what she had left behind in the country she came from" etc. etc. Newspapers are a good starting point for further research.
Here's the link to NZ PaperPast >
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers ~ Lu
