Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Helen Watson was born about 1851 in Scotland.
She married James Thomas Shephard, a master mariner, on 15 February 1872 in Aberdeen, Scotland.
They had a daughter in Glasgow in 1878, another daughter in 1880 (place of birth unknown) and a son in 1883 in Capetown, South Africa.
Their last child Florence was born in New Zealand in 1890 and when Helen signed the suffrage petition they were living in Cargill Rd, South Dunedin.
Florence died in 1899, Helen died on 19 August 1909 and James died in 1924.
They are buried in the family grave in the Southern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
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