Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
also signed as 109 M Aitken
Margaret Stewart was born on 2 June 1855 in Doune, Perthshire, Scotland – the daughter of Alexander Stewart, a farmer, and Mary Dounie.
She married Andrew Aitken on 9 November 1875 in Doune and they had three children before they sailed for Otago in 1880 on the Stirlingshire.
They settled in the Waikaka Valley where they developed a farm and where they had a further nine children.
Margaret signed the suffrage petition at, nearby, Gore.
In 1906 they retired to Timaru where Andrew died in 1919 and Margaret died at her daughter’s home on 24 March 1944 – they are buried together in the Timaru Cemetery.
Margaret’s obituary said “outside her home Mrs Aitken was interested chiefly in the Presbyterian Church”.
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/
Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk