Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ellen Borthwick McNeil was born about 1866 in South Australia – the daughter of Peter McNeil, a shepherd, and Helen Borthwick.
Ellen’s father Peter died while helping to put out a large bush fire in 1867 at Bundaleer Springs, South Australia.
Ellen’s grandparents had gone to New Zealand - they had a large farm at Warepa in South Otago, and Ellen and her mother appear to have gone to join them. When she signed the suffrage petition Ellen was living in Russell St, Dunedin with her mother.
She did not marry and she died on 22 January 1899. She is buried in the family grave in the Southern Cemetery.
Sources
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
Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au
Family History SA http://www.familyhistorysa.org
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