Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Jane McKay was born on 23 December 1854 in Melbourne, Australia – the daughter of John Aikman McKay, a butcher, and Louisa Sydenham.
She came to New Zealand with her parents in 1861 and they settled in Dunedin.
Jane’s father was declared bankrupt in 1874 and her mother took over his business debts – he appears to have left the family around this time.
Jane married farmer John Ballantyne in Dunedin in January 1874 and they had eight children.
They lived at Waikaka, north of Gore where Jane signed the suffrage petition at their farm Benger Burn.
Around this time John lost his sight and Jane took charge of running the family.
John died at Benger Burn in 1930 and Jane died at her daughter’s home in Waikaka on 16 July 1935 – they are buried together in the Waikaka 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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
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