Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Janet/Jessie Russell was born in New Zealand in 1867 – the daughter of Hugh Russell, a farmer, and Margaret Caldwell.
She married Arthur Crosbie Wells, a farmer, on 4 April 1888 in the Waihola parish.
They had seven children and when Jessie signed the suffrage petition they were living at Glenore.
Soon after they moved to Taieri Beach, then to Geraldine, before retiring in Christchurch.
Jessie died on 7 July 1939 and Arthur died the following year, they are buried together in the Bromley 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/