Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Laura Jane Kellow was born in St Mabyn, Cornwall in 1869 – the daughter of William Kellow, a farm labourer, and Sarah Menhennick.
Laura’s brother came to New Zealand in the 1870’s and, after Laura’s mother died in 1890, she sailed for Bluff with her father on the “Tainui” in 1892.
When Laura signed the suffrage petition she was living in Dundas Street, Dunedin and she was active in the Band of Hope and Temperance of the Bible Christian Church.
In 1895 she “gave a stirring address, calling on Christians to do their very best to remove the great stumbling block – strong drink – out of the way of the weak ones”. Later that year she gave a “farewell address”.
Where she went is unclear - she returned to New Zealand in 1906 on the “Corinthic”. After her return she lived, near her father and brother, in Aparima in Southland. She was active in the local Methodist church being appointed as president of the bazaar committee.
Laura married Robert Taylor in 1908 – they had three children.
Laura died on 22 August 1940 in Springburn in Canterbury – she is buried in the Ashburton Cemetery.
Sources:
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions