Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Margaret Gardiner was born about 1818 in Scotland. On 14 July 1839 at High Church, Paisley, Renfrewshire, she married Robert Gillies, a weaver.
On 23 November 1847 Margaret & Robert with 4 children sailed on the “Philip Laing” for Dunedin.
Robert was one of a party of four weavers from Paisley, who were granted land by Captain Cargill. They called this 'Little Paisley' and it is now part of the front of the Southern Cemetery.
Robert and Margaret had two more children before Robert died in March 1854. In December of that year Margaret married mason David Wilson, a widower with two children whose wife had died the previous year.
Margaret and David had three children together, two of whom survived to adulthood. Around 1859 the family moved to the Andersons Bay area. David is said to have 'tried his luck at Gabriel’s and did very well there', whether Margaret & the children joined him is not known.
By 1878 the family were at Caversham where they were when David died in 1899, Margaret died on 8 September 1903 and is buried with David in the Southern Cemetery. Her obituary says that she 'has lived in Caversham for over 30 years, was a respected member of the Baptist Church'.
Sources
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Passenger arrivals at Port Chalmers http://www.ngaiopress.com/drhocken.htm
Presbyterian Archives http://www.archives.presbyterian.org.nz