Caroline J. James

Signed family name

James

Signed given name

Caroline J.

Given address

Enfield

Sheet number

296

Town/Suburb

Enfield

City/Region

Otago

Notes

Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley

Caroline Jane Kemp was born in Woburn, Bedfordshire, England in 1845 – the daughter of George Kemp, a maltster, and Emma Bean.

She married George Bolt in 1866 – he died two years later in Woburn.

Caroline then married Walter Worley, a widower, on 28 February 1870.

Soon after their marriage they emigrated to New Zealand where they had three children.

They lived, at first, in Lawrence before moving to Enfield a couple of years later where Walter worked as a miller then as a butcher.

Walter died in 1881, aged 43 – he is buried in the Old Oamaru Cemetery.

Caroline re-married in 1884 to Edmund Peter James, a butcher, – they had three children, the eldest who died in infancy.

When Caroline signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Enfield in North Otago.

In 1915 Edmund, who was suffering from dementia, disappeared from Caroline’s son’s farm – his body was found about a month later lying in a gully under some bushes. The outcome of the inquest was death from natural causes.

Caroline died at her daughter’s home in Oamaru on 27 May 1935 – she is buried with Edmund in the Old Oamaru Cemetery.

Caroline’s obituary said she 'was very well-known throughout the Enfield district for her hospitable nature, and was always willing to help in time of sickness.'