Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Catherine/Katherine Neil Harris was born in 1869 in New Zealand - the daughter of John Harris and Mary Hay Neilson. (See 126 Mary Harris)
When she signed the suffrage petition Catherine was living with her family at at Purekireki in the Owaka Valley.
Three of her sisters also signed the petition (See 137 Elizabeth Dick, 126 Mary Hewson and 126 Jeannie Black Harris)
She married John Sharpe, a widower and sawmiller, on 17 December 1910.
Catherine ran a store at Owaka and she was declared insolvent in 1926 with liabilities to unsecured creditors of over £500.
They retired to Kaka Point where John died in 1933.
Catherine died on 8 March 1935 in Balclutha, they are buried in the Balclutha Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions