Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Jean/Janet Buchan Beath was born on 27 August 1858 in Portmoak, Kinross, Scotland – the daughter of Andrew Beath, a hand loom weaver, and Jean Crombie. (See 94 Jane Beath)
She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1875 on the Oamaru and they settled in Dunedin.
Janet married Thomas Walter Sime, a labourer, on 5 October 1877 in Dunedin and they had 10 children, two who died in infancy.
When Janet signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Forth St, Kaikorai.
Thomas died in 1915 and Janet died on 3 May 1931, they are buried in the family grave in the Northern Cemetery.
Janet’s obituary said she was 'a very old and esteemed resident of Dunedin.'
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
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