Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Margaret Scott was born in 1855 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England –the daughter of Catherine Petrie and Joseph Scott, a baker.
Margaret emigrated to New Zealand in about 1855 with her parents and sister. The family lived in Wellington at first then travelled south and followed the gold rushes, finally settling in Wetherstones near Lawrence in Central Otago.
Margaret was one of the first pupils to attend the Lawrence District High School.
She married James Grant in 1872 and they had at least six children when, in February 1886, James petitioned the Tuapeka Hospital and Charitable Aid Board for relief: “he had been laid up for upwards of two years with a complication of diseases”. The board forwarded the case to the United Board recommending relief, as the case was a very deserving one. By March the Board was petitioned again as James had died.
Margaret continued to receive relief until 1888 when she married John Couper, a miner, who later worked as a water race minder for a gold claim. They had two children and lived at Blue Spur. John died in 1910 and after his death Margaret moved to Dunedin. She died there on 10 July 1942 and is buried in the Andersons Bay 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
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions