Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Agnes Reid was born on 21 July 1864 in Glasgow, Scotland, the daughter of Robert Reid, a boot and shoemaker, and Ann Barr.
Her family emigrated to Otago about 1874 and she married John Benfell, a tailor, in 1882. They had two children before John died in 1886, aged 24 years.
Agnes married William Gillies, a mariner, on 18 August 1891. They had four children. When she signed the suffrage petition, the family were living in Clarendon St, Dunedin.
They later moved to North East Valley in Dunedin where William, now the master of the steamer Invercargill, died in 1916.
Agnes died on 11 April 1935. Agnes and William are buried in the family grave in the Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin.
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
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
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