Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Isabella Scott Napier was born about 1844 in Glasgow, Scotland – the daughter of Dugald Napier, a carter, and Grace Geddes.
She emigrated to New Zealand with her family in 1863 on the “Mataura” and they settled in Otago.
Isabella married Captain Jacob Eckhoff on 11 January 1865 in Dunedin and they had 10 children.
Jacob was declared bankrupt in 1887 and, in 1891, Jacob drowned when the “Kakanui” was lost at sea near the Macquarie Islands.
When Isabella signed the suffrage petition she was living with her family in Queen Street, Dunedin.
In 1901 her eldest son Dugald died when the “Federal” was wrecked off the coast of Victoria.
Isabella died on 8 April 1924 at her daughter’s home in Wellington – she is buried in the Karori Cemetery.
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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au