Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Rachel Boyd was born on 8 December 1856 in Lanarkshire, Scotland – the daughter of Stevenson Boyd, a farm labourer, and Margaret Dean.
Rachel emigrated to Otago in 1878 on the Canterbury accompanied by her sister Margaret.
She married William Wilson, a dairy farmer, in 1879 and they had 11 children.
When Rachel signed the suffrage petition the family were living in East Gore.
Rachel 'was a keen competitor at the Gore A. and P. Shows in the butter, cheese and produce departments for many years'.
In the late 1890s the family moved to the Catlins where they continued to farm.
Rachel died at her daughter’s home in Gore on 17 September 1924. Her obituary said she 'was a fine type of woman, ever ready to do a good turn and assist a neighbour where necessary'.
William died in 1937 – they are buried together in the Gore Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.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