Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Catherine Aird was born on 14 October 1857 in Edderton, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland – the daughter of David Aird and Margaret Fraser.
She emigrated to Otago in 1862 on the Robert Henderson with her mother, grandmother and several aunts and uncles.
Catherine married William Gifford, a mariner, on 2 August 1879 in the Invercargill Parish.
They had seven children and when Catherine signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Bluff – William was working as the harbour pilot.
Catherine died at the Bluff Pilot Station on 17 February 1922 and William died in 1928, they are buried in the family grave in the Bluff Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Invercargill City Council https://icc.govt.nz