Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Margaret Brown was born in 1843 in England – the daughter of Stephen Brown, a painter, and Mary Noble Brown.
She emigrated to Otago in 1861 with her widowed mother and two siblings on the Lady Egidia.
Margaret married James Keay, a storekeeper, in 1866 - they had eight children and lived in Queenstown where Margaret signed the suffrage petition.
James died at Frankton Hospital in 1898 and Margaret died at her home in Queenstown on 29 November 1907.
They are buried together in the Queenstown Cemetery.
Margaret’s obituary said she was 'one of the oldest and most respected residents of Queenstown'.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
NZ Yesteryears http://www.yesteryears.co.nz
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Queenstown Lakes District Council http://cemeteries.qldc.govt.nz/
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