Listed on 1896 electoral roll as living at Purekireki in South Otago.
Biographical information provided for the He Tohu exhibition:
Isabella Murdie Thomson was born in 1836 in Auchterarder, Scotland. She emigrated to New Zealand, and in Dunedin in 1863 married James Brugh, a fellow settler from Auchterarder. The couple had at least three children. They were among the first European families to settle the Clutha district – a difficult job that meant literally building a township, including felling, sawing and carrying timber. James died in 1878. The three Brugh signatures below Isabella’s on Sheet 126 of the Petition are those of her daughters, Christina Allen, Mary Catherine and Margaret Maggie Barnett. Isabella Brugh died in 1897 at South Molyneux.
Additional biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Isabella Murdoch/Murdie Thomson was born on 25 November 1836 in Errol, Perthshire, Scotland – the daughter of Robert Thomson, a farmer, and Christina Allen.
She emigrated to New Zealand and she married James Brugh, a farmer on 22 April 1863.
They lived at Cloan near Port Molyeux and had eight children, the youngest who died in infancy.
They also farmed at 'Wisphill Station' near Purekireki in the Owaka Valley.
In 1878 James died while visiting Dunedin and, for a time in the early 1880s, Isabella lived in Duncan St, Dunedin while some of the children attended Arthur Street School.
When Isabella signed the suffrage petition she was living at the family farm 'Wisphill Station' near Purekireki in the Owaka Valley – the electoral roll gives her occupation as lady.
About 1896 Isabella and her three daughters (See 126 C A Brugh, 126 M C Brugh and 126 M Barnett Brugh) moved to Dunedin and lived in Serpentine Avenue.
Isabella died there on 1 August 1897, she is buried in the family grave in the Romahapa 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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/