Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Margaret McArthur McKay was born in 1858 in Victoria, Australia – the daughter of John Aikman McKay, a butcher, and Louisa Sydenham.
She came to New Zealand with her family in the mid 1870s and lived in Andersons Bay, Dunedin.
Her father was declared bankrupt in 1875 and her mother took over the business - her father seems to have disappeared some-time after this.
Margaret married David Jesse Jackson Peter, a stockman, on 19 December 1878 at her family home in Andersons Bay and they had three children.
The family lived in Christchurch and Timaru before moving back to Dunedin in 1889 where Margaret signed the suffrage petition in Macandrew Rd, South Dunedin - soon after they moved to Wellington.
David died in Victoria, Australia in 1905 & Margaret died on 2 May 1938 in Wellington, she was cremated.
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
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
Wellington City Council https://wellington.govt.nz