Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Jane/Jean McLennan was born about 1842 and she arrived in Otago on the 'Nelson' in 1862.
She married Roderick Finlayson in 1865. They had six children and ran a shop at Blueskin near Dunedin, and also a shop at Waitati. Their daughter, Annie, signed sheet 212 of the petition.
Roderick drowned in December 1877 while bathing in Blueskin Bay. Jean carried on running the shops. One month later she was charged at the Police Court of “having in her possession seven avoirdupois weights which were not stamped by the Inspector of Weights & Measures." Jean pleaded ignorance as her late husband had used the weights. She was fined 10 shillings and the weights were forfeited.
In 1881 Jean held a sale of the contents of the Waitati shop. In 1886 she advertised for lease – as a going concern – the house and shop at Blueskin.
By 1890 Jean was living in Walker St, Dunedin and was advertising for “a good dressmaker”.
She died on 11 May 1919 at Roslyn, Dunedin, and is buried with her husband in the Waitati Cemetery.
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
