Agnes Henderson

Biography contributed by Judith Fitchett, great great grand-daughter of Agnes Henderson (nee Gowans).

Agnes was born on 24 Aug 1841, at Cadder, Lanarkshire, Scotland. She was the only daughter of William and Margaret (nee Robertson/Robison) GOWANS. She had 5 brothers but all died in infancy or as young men. Her father was a gardener and Agnes grew up in Scotland, England and Wales where her father worked in the gardens of 'Big Houses'.

At 18 years old she immigrated to NZ on the Alpine arriving at Port Chalmers on 12 Sep 1859, with her parents and 2 brothers. On 9 July 1861 she was married by the Rev Dr Thomas Burns to James HENDERSON, a gardener then a farmer. Their families had known each other in Warwickshire, England. Agnes and James settled with her parents at Waikouaiti on a farm called Lamb Hill. Agnes had 17 children. The youngest was 3 years old when James left for San Francisco where he died on 2 October 1888. There is some speculation he was on his way to Argentina to look at improving his cattle stock.

Agnes moved into Dunedin where she lived the rest of her days at 117 Forth St and where she signed the 1893 petition for Women’s Suffrage. Members of the family lived with her at different times and photos show affectionate images with her daughters and grandchildren. With such a large family there were many tragedies with a daughter dying of measles, a son electrocuted, a son drowned in Australia and a son dying after the Boer War in South Africa.

She died on 8 Nov 1912 in Dunedin aged 71 years, the loved mother of her surviving 11 children. She is buried with 4 generations of her family in the Southern Cemetery, Dunedin.