Mrs Kerr

Biography and image supplied by Clare Gleeson.

Margaret Kerr (nee Cameron) was born in Scotland c1820. In 1845 she married Angus Kerr, a joiner in Glasgow. A daughter, May Chisholm was born in 1846 and a son John in 1848. In 1849 the family emigrated as assisted emigrants to New South Wales on the Victory. By 1850 they were living in Victoria where their next six children were born; Isabella Campbell (1850-1935), Mary (born and died 1855) Kate Stuart (born c1859 – 1913), Margaret (1854-1860), Archibald Campbell (born and died 1860) and Jane (born and died 1861). Angus Kerr came to Invercargill in 1862. Margaret, her son and three surviving daughters followed on the Maria Gambrill in October 1863. The family settled in Invercargill where Angus worked as an architect, designing many of Invercargill’s earliest public buildings and other buildings throughout Southland. Angus Kerr died in 1898 and Margaret died in 1911. Margaret Kerr adhered strictly to her Presbyterian upbringing and spent Sundays in Bible study with curtains closed and eating a simple meal. Margaret’s three daughters, May Chisholm Erskine, Isabella Campbell Fraser and Kate Stuart Kerr, also signed the petition.

Four generations of the Kerr family.  Margaret Kerr, her daughter Isabella Fraser (standing), her daughter Katherine Begg and her son Eric Begg c1900. Credit: Clare Gleeson

Resources used

DCC Cemetery Records
Papers Past
Family Search
BDM New Zealand
BDM Victoria
Ancestry.com
Oral histories
Clare Gleeson