Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ellen/Helen Gouch was born about 1827 in Suffolk, England – the daughter of Thomas Caesar Gooch, a farmer, and Charlotte Bloomfield.
She emigrated to Tasmania with her family in the early 1850s and she appears to have married James Browne while she lived there.
What happened to James is unclear – Ellen married Peter McGill, a miller and widower with three children, on 20 February 1865 at Tokomairiro.
Ellen and Peter had six children and when she signed the suffrage petition they were living in Milton.
Peter died in 1894 and Ellen died at her home on 30 July 1899, they are buried in the Fairfax Cemetery, Milton.
Ellen’s obituary said she was 'of a very cheerful, humorous, and brave disposition – a colonist of a type which helped to make the colonies the success they are; and she has left many people indebted to her for the example of a well-spent and useful life.'
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Libraries Tasmania https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au
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