Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Martha Jane Emerson was born about 1848 in County Clare, Ireland – the daughter of John Emerson and Elizabeth Ann Wilson.
Martha married Richard McDowall on 30 October 1868 in the Parish Church, Tullylish, County Down. They had a daughter, Annie, before they emigrated to Canterbury in 1870 with Martha’s widowed mother and siblings on the Siberia.
Martha and Richard had a further nine children after their arrival in New Zealand. The family lived in Templeton, south of Christchurch, where they had a farm.
Richard died in 1909 and Martha died on 17 December 1925. They are both buried in the Riccarton Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz