Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Elizabeth Paisley Watson was born about 1864 in Glasgow, Scotland – the daughter of Thomas Watson.
She emigrated to Otago in 1884 on the Bombay. She married William McKenney the following year on July 31st at her uncle’s home at Waikoikoi in South Otago.
They lived at Moeraki where William kept a hotel before moving to Shag Valley near Palmerston.
They had 6 children, and when Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition they were living at Riverside farm.
In the 1920s they retired to live in Palmerston. Elizabeth died at Dunedin on April 16th 1939.
Her obituary said “the community has lost one whose life expressed the highest ideals of citizenship and human sympathy and understanding. Ever ready and willing to help those in sickness and trouble, she endeared herself to her many friends by kindly and thoughtful acts. In the war years she was a capable and tireless worker for the Red Cross Society.”
She was also active in the Presbyterian Church, Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union and served as president of the Ladies’ Guild. She was also a member of the local Hospital Committee and the local Plunket Society.
“She was highly esteemed by all, and her loss will be felt by a wide circle of friends”.
William died at Palmerston in 1945, they are buried in the family grave in the Palmerston Cemetery.
Sources
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