Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Bella/Isabella Simpson Sutherland was born in 1862 in New Zealand – the daughter of George Davidson Sutherland, a farmer, and Dorothy MacKay.
She married John Meek, a fireman, on 21 November 1883 in the Waitati parish.
They had nine children, two who died in infancy, and when Bella signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Waverley St, South Dunedin.
Bella died on 13 November 1907 and John died in 1930 – they are buried together in the Southern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/