Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Jessy/Janet McLeod was born about 1849 in Abbey, Renfrewshire, Scotland – the daughter of William McLeod, a soap and candle manufacturer, and Margaret Shearer. (See 85 Margarat McLeod)
She sailed from Glasgow in December 1863 on the Grasmere with her family. The ship hit a rock shortly after sailing and the passengers were rescued by coastguard boats, losing most of their belongings. They were re-shipped on the Paria in January 1864 and they settled in Invercargill.
Jessy married Frank Robins on 20 January 1869 at Knox Church in Dunedin. They had eight children, two who died in infancy or childhood and they lived, at first, in Dunedin.
Frank was a partner with two of Jessy’s brothers in the McLeod Brothers Soap factory until 1881 when the family moved to Kaiapoi.
Frank ran an ironmongery and timber business – he was declared bankrupt in 1889.
When Jessy signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Kaiapoi, soon after they moved to St Albans in Christchurch.
In about 1912 the family sailed for England and settled in Wimbledon Park, London.
Frank died there in 1914 and Jessy died on 11 March 1936 – their burial place is unknown.
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
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