Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Isabel Sly was born on 16 August 1858 in Hobart, Tasmania – the daughter of James Sly, a bootmaker, and Sarah Jane Fitzellen.
The family arrived in Otago in the early 1860s & her mother died in Dunedin, in childbirth, in 1865.
Isabel married George Augustus Ferens, a clothier, on 9 November 1886 in Greymouth.
They had three children and lived in Greymouth where Isabel signed the suffrage petition.
They later moved to Oamaru then to Marton where Isabel died on 10 October 1931.
Her obituary said since she had been in Marton she 'made many good friends who will regret the passing of a sympathetic heart and a wonderfully keen intellect....A devout Christian, the late Mrs Ferens was all her life associated with church activities; her fortitude and belief were an example to all who knew her'.
George died in 1949 – they are buried in the Mount View Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
Libraries Tasmania https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au