Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Barbara McKay was born in 1859 in England – the daughter of Angus McKay, a veteran of the Crimean War, and Eliza Charlton.
The following year Barbara travelled with her family to New Zealand where her father’s regiment 'saw eight years of service' in 'the seat of the Maori War'.
In 1868 the family returned to Woolwich where Barbara’s father was discharged from service two years later.
He served as a prison warder in Edinburgh, Scotland for several years before the family returned to New Zealand about 1873.
Barbara married James Duncan Pollock in 1883, they had six children one who died in infancy.
When she signed the suffrage petition Barbara was living in Macrae St, Mornington, Dunedin.
James died in 1903, he is buried in the Pollock family grave in the Southern Cemetery.
Barbara died on 17 November 1923, she is buried with her parents and sister in the Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz