Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Esther Silk was born in Victoria, Australia in 1862 – the daughter of George Silk, a miner, and Anstiss Dottin Mills.
Esther’s father came to Otago in February 1868 and the rest of the family followed in October of the same year.
They lived in Wetherstones then Lawrence in the Otago Goldfields.
Esther married James Hunter, an accountant, on 18 December 1885 at Dunedin and they had three children.
When Esther signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Mechanic St, North East Valley, Dunedin.
In the late 1890s the family moved to Wellington then to Invercargill ending their days in Nelson.
Esther died in Nelson on 12 May 1947 and James died in 1952, they were both cremated and their ashes interred in the Wakapuaka Cemetery, Nelson.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Nelson City Council http://www.nelson.govt.nz/services