Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Isabella Johnston was born in 1870 in New Zealand - the daughter of Alexander Johnston, a farmer, and Margaret Hardie.
When she signed the suffrage petition she was living on the family farm at Pureua.
Two of her sisters also signed the petition. (See 106 Maggie Morton and 106 Barbara Johnston)
She married James McLaren, a farm labourer, on 28 April 1893 in the Clutha Parish, they had two sons before James died in 1898 - he is buried in the Romahapa Cemetery.
Isabella died in July 1947 in Hastings, she is buried with her sister Barbara in the Hastings Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Hastings District Council http://cemeterybase.hdc.govt.nz/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
