Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Helen Fairley was born on 12 August 1846 in Kirkliston, West Lothian, Scotland – the daughter of John Fairley, an agricultural labourer, and Janet Muir.
In 1861, at the age of 14, Helen emigrated to Otago on the Lady Egidia with her older half-sisters (See 61 Janet Fairley and 61 Margaret Pinkerton) and twin brothers Thomas and John aged 12.
She married James Dickison, a builder, in 1868 and had 12 children, two of who died in infancy, including twins in 1875 and in 1877.
When she signed the suffrage petition Helen and her family were living in Eglinton Rd, Dunedin.
James died in 1909 & Helen died on 27 September 1928. They are buried together in the Southern 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
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