Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Jane Sutherland was born about 1861 in Scotland – the daughter of Captain Sutherland of Paisley.
She came to New Zealand where she married Dr Robert Gordon MacDonald on 26 July 1881 in Oamaru.
They had no children and when Jane signed the suffrage petition they were living in High St, Dunedin.
Jane died at her home on 18 June 1907. At the next meeting of the Dunedin Burns Club the president said Jane “had been a gifted and enthusiastic Highlander, and would be greatly missed in the circles in which she moved, and in which she was abundant in activities. She was also, as he knew, a perfect helpmate to her husband throughout his professional career in Dunedin”. This was followed by a piper playing a Burns lament.
Robert re-married in 1915 – he died in 1931 and is buried with Jane & his second wife in the Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Sources:
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/