Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Catherine McArthur Wilson was born about 1847 in Dunoon, Argyllshire, Scotland – the daughter of John Campbell Wilson, a joiner, and Jane Paton.
She came to New Zealand about 1860 and she married Andrew Sutherland, an engineer, on 20 June 1866 in Dunedin.
They had seven children and, in 1881, they were living in Port Chalmers while Andrew worked as third engineer on the Tararua.
On 29 April Andrew died when the Tararua ran aground on Waipapa Reef in Southland – he was one of 131 passengers and crew to lose their lives and is buried in Tararua Acre Cemetery where many of the victims are also buried.
Catherine re-married in 1884 to Charles Henry Etheridge Pearce, a painter and widower with five children.
Catherine’s eldest son died in 1885 and her last child, a daughter, was born in 1889.
When she signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Rockyside, Mornington in Dunedin.
She died at her home on 15 April 1904 and Charles died in 1908 – they are buried with Charles’ first wife in the Southern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
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
