Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley:
Jane Reid Russell was born on 31 August 1836 in Old Kilpatrick, Dunbartonshire, Scotland – the daughter of David Russell, a farmer, and Jane Wotherspoon.
Jane married the Rev. William Gillies on 21 April 1864 in Lanarkshire, Scotland and soon afterwards they emigrated to New Zealand where William took up a ministry in Otago.
They had 11 children, one dying at birth and one in infancy while they were living at West Taieri. They moved to Timaru where another son died, at the age of 10 years. Their daughter Isabella also signed the 1893 suffrage petition.
About 1904 the family moved to Tauranga. In 1908 William died suddenly on the Te Awamutu railway platform while waiting for the train. Jane and William were travelling to Dunedin to attend the Presbyterian Conference. His obituary says “our hearts go out in full sympathy and blessing to the loving and gentle wife who was ever his helper and heartener in life’s warfare”. William was buried in the Purewa Cemetery, Auckland.
Jane died at Napier on 15 July 1927, she is buried in the Old Napier Cemetery with her daughter.
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
Purewa Cemetery https://www.purewa.co.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com
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