Barbara Shirley

Signed family name

Shirley

Signed given name

Barbara

Given address

Greenisland

Sheet number

105

Town/Suburb

Green Island

City/Region

Dunedin

Notes

Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.

Barbara Shand was born about 1840 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland – the daughter of James Shand, a flesher, and Barbara Angus.

In 1850 the family emigrated to Otago on the “Phoebe Dunbar” and they settled at Green Island Bush, near Dunedin.

Her father died in 1851 and her mother, helped by her children, established a dairy farm.

Barbara married George Brown on 29 March 1870 at her home in Green Island and they had a son in 1872.

George left the family sometime after this and apparently went to America.

Barbara re-married in 1889 to Paul Shirley, a police constable.

This marriage did not last long – in 1891 Paul had moved to Clyde and Barbara took him to court to recover money from furniture that had been sold. “Mrs Shirley was somewhat eccentric, and though efforts to bring about a settlement between the husband and wife were attempted they had failed”.

When Barbara signed the suffrage petition she was living in Green Island.

She later moved to Dunedin where, in 1897, Barbara applied for a “judicial separation on the ground of cruelty”, this was denied and Paul applied to have the marriage nullified due to Barbara’s previous marriage – this was granted.

Barbara then used the name Brown – in 1899 she was arrested for drunkenness and soon after moved to the hospital, suffering from apoplexy.

She died a few days later on 19 November and is buried in the family grave in the Southern Cemetery.