Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Beatrice Elizabeth Nicholls was born on 13 April 1858 in Portland, Victoria, Australia – the daughter of George John Nicholls and Elizabeth Mathews.
She married John Mehaffey, a schoolteacher, on 26 February 1879 at her parent’s home in Portland and shortly after the couple travelled to New Zealand.
They had eight children and settled in Queenstown where Beatrice signed the suffrage petition.
In 1903 the family moved to Woodlands in Southland then to Invercargill where John died in 1921.
Beatrice died at her home in Invercargill in October 1934, she is buried with John in the family grave in the Invercargill Eastern Cemetery.
Her obituary said she 'will be affectionately remembered by those boys and girls of the 'old brigade' who are still living in Queenstown, and who received at her hands many kindnesses during their school days'.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
Invercargill City Council https://icc.govt.nz