Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Sophia Aitkenhead was born about 1824 in England – the daughter of Robert Aitkenhead, a cow feeder.
She grew up in Scotland and she married James Paterson, a baker, on 15 January 1853 in Edinburgh.
They had three children before the family emigrated to Otago in 1858 on the Jura.
Their last child was born after their arrival - at first James worked at 'road making' before started his own business in Dunedin.
In 1864 the family purchased land at Port Molyneux but they did not take to farming and bought a store and business in Port Molyneux township where Sophia signed the suffrage petition. Sophia died at her home, 'Pleasance', on 15 October 1900, her obituary said she 'was of a rather retiring disposition, but was very kind-hearted and many in times gone past have experienced her kindness and practical sympathy. She did many acts of kindness and thoughtfulness of which few but those immediately concerned knew anything.'
James died in 1917, he is buried with Sophia in the family grave in the Port Molyneux Cemetery.
Sources
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
NZ Yesteryears http://www.yesteryears.co.nz
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions