Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Margaret McNeill was born near Belfast in Ireland about 1859 – the daughter of Mary Jane and John McNeill.
When she signed the suffrage petition Margaret and her mother were living in MacLaggan St running a confectionery shop.
Margaret married Charles Daniel Sullivan in 1895, they had five children.
In December of 1907 a fire occurred in Mrs Sullivan’s drapery shop under the Crown Hotel, on the corner of MacLaggan and Rattray Streets. A boy reading the gas meter dropped a lit match among some inflammable goods which rapidly set fire to the shop and damaged the confectionery shop next door. An auction of the damaged goods was held a few days later. Charles Sullivan and Mary Jane McNeill took a case against the City Corporation for damages from the fire and finally received £600.
The shop re-opened in 1908 and continued trading until 1911 when it was put into receivership.
Margaret died on 2 September 1924 and Charles died in 1938. They are buried together in the Northern Cemetery.
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
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