Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Helen Fairweather was born about 1847 in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland – the daughter of John Fairweather, a handloom weaver, and Janet McRitchie.
She emigrated to New Zealand with her family in the early 1860s and they settled in Southland.
Helen married Joseph Brey/Bray, a contractor, in 1874 and they had one daughter.
When Helen signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Gladstone, Invercargill.
Joseph died in 1921 and Helen died in June 1940, they are buried with their daughter in the Invercargill Eastern 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