Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Flora McNicol was born in 1850 in Dunedin, the daughter of Donald McNicol and Mary Barr.
She grew up at Goodwood, near Palmerston in North Otago. She married John Cook in 1869.
John worked as an overseer at the Shag Point coal mine. He drowned in 1870 when a boat overturned in rough seas.
Flora had a son in 1869, and her daughter Mary was born after John’s death.
She remarried in 1873 to Duncan McLaren, and she had a further 9 children.
When Flora signed the suffrage petition they were living in Palmerston. Around 1896 they moved to nearby Puketapu where Duncan died in 1928.
After his death Flora held a clearing sale at their property. She died at her home on July 22nd 1939 and is buried with Duncan in the Palmerston Cemetery.
Her obituary said “possessing a remarkable memory, she could tell interesting stories of the early days of Goodwood”.
“She was the oldest member” of the Palmerston Presbyterian Church and one of the oldest members of the PWMU.
Sources
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