Georgiana Gray

Signed family name

Gray

Signed given name

Georgiana

Given address

Milton

Sheet number

104

Town/Suburb

Milton

City/Region

Otago

Notes

Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley

Georgiana Harlow was born about 1838 in Dublin, Ireland – the daughter of George Harlow, a printer, and Elizabeth.

She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1862 on the Sevilla and she married James Gray, a storekeeper and draper, on 27 November 1866 in Dunedin.

They lived in Milton, where Georgiana signed the suffrage petition, and they had six children, one who died in infancy.

James died in 1898 in Melbourne – Georgiana had accompanied him on a trip to visit his sister in Melbourne to benefit his failing health – his body was brought back to Milton.

Georgiana died at her seaside residence at Chrystal’s Beach, near Milton, on 18 September 1932, she is buried with James in the family grave in the Fairfax Cemetery, Milton.

Her obituary said 'throughout her long life she was always an ardent supporter of the Presbyterian Church, and she claimed the honour of having made the first gown worn by a Presbyterian clergyman in Dunedin. She unostentatiously showed her Christianity in a practical manner by rendering aid to those in sickness and distress. She was an ardent lover of nature, was fond of music, and was one of the first members of the Dunedin Choral Society.'