Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Catherine Dunlop Guthrie was born on 14 March 1858 in Edinburgh, Scotland – the daughter of Thomas Guthrie and Jane Sibbald.
She came to New Zealand with her family in the late 1860’s and they settled at Otokia on the Taieri Plains, south of Dunedin.
Catherine married James Hood Laurie Oliver, a saddler, at her home on 7 January 1881.
They had four children and when Catherine signed the suffrage petition the family were living on the corner of Maitland and Steep streets in Dunedin.
Catherine died at her home on 21 January 1897 and James died in 1906 – they are buried together in the Southern 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
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/