Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Betsy Boyd was born about 1841 in Dundee, Scotland. She married James Leighton on 6 April 1860 in Dundee, and on 25 April they boarded the Pladda to emigrate to New Zealand. The Pladda arrived in Port Chalmers in August 1860.
Their first child was born in December of that year and another eight followed. The family, at first, rented a small one-roomed house in Forth St, Pelichet Bay. In 1865 the neighbouring house caught fire and spread to their house, only Betsy was home and barely managed to escape. They lost all their possessions.
The Leighton family then settled at the corner of Castle and Dundas Streets where James ran a shop.
James died in 1917 and Betsey on 7 December 1924. They are buried with members of their family in the Northern Cemetery, Dunedin.
Sources
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
