Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Laura Matilda Jane Dickson was born in 1871 in Westminster, London – the daughter of James Dickson, a baker and Laura Susannah Beere.
Laura arrived in Otago with her parents in 1873 on the Allahabad. Another seven children were born in New Zealand.
In 1896 Laura married George Chooquee, the son of a Chinese fruit shop owner, a daughter was born in 1911. George worked as a carpenter and labourer but the marriage was troubled. George was, in January of 1929, charged with the disobedience of two maintenance orders and sentenced to one month’s imprisionment on each charge. In September of the same year Laura died, she is buried in the Southern Cemetery with her sister.
George married again in 1929, he died in 1940 and is also buried in the Southern Cemetery.
Sources
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.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