Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Annie Eliza Morton was born in 1858 in County Cavan, Ireland – the third daughter of David Morton and Elizabeth Noble.
She came to New Zealand with her family in the 1860’s and they settled in Southland.
Annie married James McPhail, a farmer, on 6 April 1881 at her home Riversdale at Oteramika, east of Invercargill.
They had nine children and when Annie signed the suffrage petition in Gore they were living in the, nearby, Waikaka Valley.
In later life they retired to Gore where Annie died on 11 October 1938 and James died in 1946 – they are buried in the family grave 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/