Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Bridget Mary Connell/O’Connell was born about 1830.
She married James Kennedy, a widower and military pensioner, in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia on 15 January 1855.
They had two daughters in Tasmania, one who died in infancy, before they travelled to Ireland where their four youngest children were born.
In 1874 the family sailed for Otago on the Carnatic.
They settled in Dunedin and when Bridget signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Hall St, South Dunedin.
James died at their home in 1893 his obituary said he 'was no doubt the oldest soldier in New Zealand' having enlisted in 1826.
Bridget died on 5 May 1896, she is buried with James in the Southern Cemetery.
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
Libraries Tasmania https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au