Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Isabella Dow was born about 1820 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
She married John Murdoch in 1847 and soon after they sailed for Australia.
In the 1860s they came to Otago and settled in Dunedin.
John worked 'up country' and Isabella was working as a housekeeper for Charles Abbott, a contractor with two sons in Scotland.
Isabella appears to have had two sons with Charles as, in 1868, John sued Charles for damages of £500 for the loss of the 'comfort, fellowship, aid, and assistance' of his wife.
The case was dismissed and Isabella continued to live with Charles as his wife until his death in 1886.
When Isabella signed the suffrage petition she was living in Dundas Street.
She died on 19 March 1908 at Nurse Tombe’s Hospital in Dunedin and is buried with Charles in the Northern 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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
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