Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
also signed as 109 R Jenkins
Rachel McShannon was born in 1867 in New Zealand – the daughter of Archibald McShannon, a farmer, and Rachel Nicol. (See 123 Rachel McDonald)
Her father died in 1868 when he was thrown from his horse and her mother re-married in 1874.
Rachel gave birth to a son in 1888 and she married William Cuthbert Jenkins, a butcher, in 1891.
They had six daughters, one who died in childhood, and when Rachel signed the suffrage petition they were living in Gore.
They moved to Dunedin in the 1900’s where Rachel died at her home on 8 September 1941 and William died in 1945 – they are buried together 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
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/