Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Jessie Pick/Pike was born on 1 April 1826 in Fintry, Aberdeenshire, Scotland – the daughter of John Pick and Christian Gray.
She married Andrew Paton, a mason, on 11 October 1852 in Edinburgh and shortly after they emigrated to Victoria Australia on the Signet.
They had four children in Victoria, two who died in infancy, before the family sailed for Otago in 1861 on the Mary Ann Wilson.
Their two-year-old son died in 1862 and they had a daughter the following year who died aged six months.
When Jessie signed the suffrage petition the family were living at Highcliff on the Otago Peninsula.
Some interesting details of their life can be found here: https://adventure.nunn.nz/2018/05/19/the-suffragist-virago-and-the-stonemason-patons-of-highcliff/
Andrew died at their home in Highcliff in 1899 and Jessie died on 10 November 1913, in her 90th year.
They are buried with their children in the Southern Cemetery.
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
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
Public Record Office Victoria https://prov.vic.gov.au
Kiwi Adventures https://adventure.nunn.nz/2018/05/19/the-suffragist-virago-and-the-stonemason-patons-of-highcliff/