Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Catherine Gray was born about 1835 in Ross & Cromarty, Scotland, the daughter of William Gray, a farmer.
She married Finlay Finlayson, a gamekeeper, on 24 March 1853 in Contin, Ross and Cromarty.
They had nine children, including twins, before they emigrated to Otago in 1872 on the May Queen with eight of their children.
One further child was born in 1876.
Two years later Finlay died at the age of 63.
When Catherine signed the suffrage petition she was living in Hanover St, Dunedin.
She died in her home on 15 August 1914 and is buried with Finlay in the family grave in the Northern 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
Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
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