Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Isabel Mary Casson Rowntree was born on 29 June 1846 in Hobart, Tasmania – the daughter of Edward Casson Rowntree, a builder, and Hannah Nichols.
She married James Belson Plane, an attendant at the New Norfolk Asylum, on 28 September 1872 at her parents’ home in Hobart.
They had three daughters, all who died in infancy, before James died in 1876.
Isabel travelled to New Zealand where she married Alexander Barr on 19 June 1878 at the Papakaio Manse in North Otago.
They had three children, at least two who survived to adulthood.
When Isabel signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Opoho, Dunedin.
Alexander died at their home in 1910 and Isabel died at their daughter’s home in Edievale on 3 February 1918 – they are buried 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
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au
Libraries Tasmania https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au
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