Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Margaret/Maggie Kelman was born on 11 February 1853 in Kincardineshire, Scotland – the daughter of James Kelman, a blacksmith, and Mary Fyfe.
She emigrated to New Zealand with her family in the 1860s & they settled in Riverton in Southland.
Margaret married John McPherson, a machinist, on 1 March 1878 in Otago and they had five children.
When she signed the suffrage petition they were living in Frederick St, Dunedin.
John died in 1932 in Dunedin and Margaret died on 9 May 1934 at her daughter’s home in Tuatapere, Southland.
They are buried in the family grave in the Northern Cemetery, Dunedin.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions