Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Janet Bunting was born on 26 December 1830 in Anderston, Lanarkshire, Scotland – the daughter of George Bunting, an upholsterer, and Agnes Thomson.
She emigrated to Tasmania, Australia in 1855 on the “Duncan Hoyle” and she married James Watson, a labourer, on 17 July 1857 in Launceston.
They had two children before they sailed for Otago in the mid 1860s.
The family settled in Orepuki in Southland where James worked as a miner and they had a further six children.
James died in 1878 when their youngest child was one-year-old, he is buried in the Orepuki Cemetery.
A subscription was held which raised £11 19s 6d to help the family.
When Janet signed the suffrage petition she was still at Orepuki and her occupation was storekeeper.
She died at Invercargill on 1 November 1907 and is buried in the Invercargill Eastern 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/
Invercargill City Council https://icc.govt.nz
Libraries Tasmania https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au
