Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Jessie Hay was born about 1839 in Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland – the daughter of Robert Hay, a mason, and Margaret Turnbull.
Her mother died in the 1860s and she emigrated to Otago with her father and two brothers sometime after this.
When Jessie signed the suffrage petition she was living with her family in Mosgiel, near Dunedin, working in a factory.
Jessie died at her home in Mosgiel on 10 June 1908 – she is buried with her father in the East Taieri Cemetery.
Sources
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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk