suffrage_petition
Surname: 
McAra
Given names: 
Mrs
Given address: 
York Place
Sheet No: 97
Town/Suburb: 
Central Dunedin
City/Region: 
Dunedin
Notes: 

Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley

Helen Forsyth was born on 28 December 1846 in Laurencekirk, Kincardineshire, Scotland. She was the daughter of Robert Forsyth, a linen hand loom weaver, and Jean Bain.

Helen emigrated to New Zealand with her family about 1863. They settled in Inch Clutha in South Otago where her father bought a farm.

Helen married Rev John McAra on 19 December 1872 at the family farm 'Kaou Bank'.

Helen and John had 5 children and lived, at first, in Balclutha, before moving to Gisborne in 1879.

Their two-year-old daughter Kate died in Gisborne in 1884.

In 1890 John died when his buggy overturned and his skull was fractured. the newspapers reported that his funeral was the largest seen in Gisborne with 70 carriages and nearly 100 horsemen. He was buried in the Makaraka Cemetery, Gisborne with his daughter.

After John’s death Helen settled in Dunedin with her four remaining children. When she signed the suffrage petition the family were living in York Place.

Tragedy continued for the family. Of Helen's children, 15-year-old Florence died in 1896, 20-year-old Isabel in 1899, and 23-year-old Edmund in 1900.

Helen died at her remaining son’s house in Roslyn on 23 April 1929. She is buried with her children in the Southern Cemetery, Dunedin.

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
Gisborne District Council &nbsp:https://cemeterysearch.gdc.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.

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