Address and town/suburb previously listed as Oamaru. New details confirmed by electoral roll.
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Williamina McDonald was born about 1846.
She married James Craig on 15 August 1867 and they had 14 children, one who died in infancy.
In 1869 when they were running a general store at the Maerewhenua Diggings their employee tried to murder them with a tomahawk. It was presumed that he was trying to steal gold that they had hidden in their bedroom – he was sentenced to 15 years prison.
In 1872 they leased the Royal Hotel at Maerewhenua, then the Junction Hotel near Beaumont in 1874.
The family also lived in Ngapara and Oamaru before settling in Hampden in North Otago where Williamina signed the suffrage petition.
She died at their home on 26 September 1896 and James died in 1924, they are buried in the Hampden Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Waitaki District Council https://www.waitaki.govt.nz/Services/Cemeteries
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