Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Jessie Gardner was born about 1844 in Innerleithen, Peebleshire, Scotland.
She married James Deas, a plumber, on 18 February 1870 in Galashiels, Selkirkshire.
They had two daughters before they emigrated to New Zealand about 1876 and one more daughter after their arrival.
James died in 1880 and when Jessie signed the suffrage petition she was living with her daughters in Hawthorne Terrace, Mornington, Dunedin working as a darner.
She died at her home on 30 October 1918 and is buried with James in the Northern Cemetery.
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
Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk