Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Helen/Ellen Jane Ogilvie Penny was born on 11 March 1866 in Dundee, Scotland – the daughter of James Scott Penny, a starcher, and Elizabeth Peters.
She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1876 on the Wellington and the family settled in Mataura.
When Ellen signed the suffrage petition she was living in Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu working as a dressmaker.
She appears to have continued her dressmaking business back in Mataura until her death on 21 July 1899.
Ellen is buried in the family grave in the Mataura Cemetery.
Sources
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Gore District Council https://www.goredc.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.
Community contributions