Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Eliza Jessie Meiklejohn was born on 20 December 1861 in Hobart, Tasmania – the daughter of John Meiklejohn, a gardener, and Hanna Omond. (See 168 Hanna Meiklejohn)
She came to Otago with her parents as an infant and they lived in Dunedin.
Jessie married John King Farnie, a grocer, on 29 April 1891 in the Mornington parish. 'At the Mornington Temperance Hall last night, Mrs and Mrs John K Farnie, on the occasion of their marriage, were the recipients of a carved silver teapot, presented to them by the Presbyterian Church choir, of which they are members.'
When Jessie signed the suffrage petition they were living in Mornington, they had no children.
John died in 1936 and Jessie died at her home on 6 July 1941, they are both buried in the Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Sources
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/
Libraries Tasmania https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.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