Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Emily Rose Farmar was born in Erith, Kent, England in 1855, the daughter of George Thomas Farmar, a carpenter, and Eliza Owen.
Emily married Alfred Simmons, a gardener, in Kent in 1871. They had two children before they emigrated to Otago in 1875 on the Gareloch.
Another 11 children were born in New Zealand. In June 1876, the house they rented in Cumberland St, Dunedin caught fire and was completely destroyed. They were not insured.
Alfred was declared bankrupt in 1879.
When Emily signed the suffrage petition the family was living in Moreau St, St Kilda, and had 11 children.
Emily died on 29 November 1926. She is buried in the Andersons Bay Cemetery with two of her children.
Sources
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
