Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Jessie Nichol was born on 8 April 1847 in Caithness, Scotland – the daughter of William Nichol, a shepherd and Jane Irvine.
The family emigrated to Otago in 1858 on the Strathmore and they settled at West Taieri.
Jessie married farmer Alexander McKinnon on 6 May 1864 in Dunedin and they had 10 children.
They lived, at first, at Maungatua on the Taieri Plain then moved to Waikaka, near Gore, in 1875.
Jessie signed the suffrage petition the family at Waikaka.
They retired around 1921 before Jessie died on 13 May 1922.
Alexander died in 1926 – they are buried together in the Gore 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
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/