Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Originally transcribed as Jessie Dievwright
Jessie Sievwright was born about 1838 in Lerwick in the Shetland Islands – the daughter of William Sievwright, a solicitor, and Jessie Spence.
Her parents died in 1867 and 1870 – sometime after this Jessie emigrated to New Zealand where three of her brothers were living.
When Jessie signed the suffrage petition she was living in Hope St, Dunedin working as a boarding house keeper.
In the 1910’s Jessie moved to Wellington where she died on 17 November 1925 – she is buried in the Karori 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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk