Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Margaret Whyte was born about 1840 in Glasgow, Scotland.
She emigrated to New Zealand about 1863 and married James Bowie, a grocer, in 1866. They did not have any children.
The Bowies ran a fruit shop in George St, Dunedin before opening a new shop on the corner of Filleul and St Andrews St in 1878.
James died the following year, aged 45, and Margaret appears to have continued to run the store on her own.
She died on 7 January 1912 and is buried with James in the Northern Cemetery, Dunedin.
In her will Margaret left bequests to the Presbyterian Orphanage, Baptist Church, Salvation Army and many other charitable organisations in the City.
Sources
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz