Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Helen Stewart Paul was born on 29 June 1859 in Glasgow, Scotland – the daughter of James Paul, an East India merchant, and Louisa McClure. (See 53 Mrs Paul).
She emigrated to Otago with her family in the 1870s and settled in Dunedin.
Helen married William Charles Kennedy, an insurance agent, in 1884 and they had two sons.
In 1887 William went to Sydney to find steady work, he was unsuccessful, and 18 months later his body was found floating in Sydney Harbour. The verdict of the inquest was 'alcoholic poisoning'.
The following year Helen’s eldest son died at her parent’s home 'Manhattan' in George St, Dunedin – he is buried with her father in the Northern Cemetery.
When Helen signed the suffrage petition she was living in George St, probably with her parents.
Helen then shifted to New South Wales, possibly with her mother, and died there in 1913.
She is buried with William in the Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.
Sources
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au
NSW Government https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/
Rookwood Cemetery http://www.rookwoodcemetery.com.au/