suffrage_petition
Surname: 
Dawson
Given names: 
Mrs
Given address: 
Leith Street
Sheet No: 161
Town/Suburb: 
Central Dunedin
City/Region: 
Dunedin
Notes: 

Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley

Catherine Jamieson Strachan was born about 1827 in Kincardineshire, Scotland.

She married Thomas Mitchell Dawson, a mariner, on 3 December 1852 in Marykirk, Kincardineshire.

They had six children, one who died in infancy, before they emigrated to Otago about 1869.

In April 1881 Thomas was charged with unlawfully trespassing on the premises of 'Catherine Dawson, Leith St, and refusing to leave when ordered to do so. Complainant stated that she had a protection order from her husband. Last night, while under the influence of drink, he got into the house by breaking a window, and refused to leave...He also threatened to take her life.'

He was jailed for three months but released soon after when he managed to raise a £5 surety to keep the peace.

When Catherine signed the suffrage petition she was still living in Leith St.

Thomas died in Dunedin in 1896 and Catherine died on 7 November 1923 at her daughter’s home in Musselburgh, Dunedin.

They are buried together 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

Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.

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