Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Helen/Ellen Anderson Ramsay was born on 6 April 1835 in Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland — the daughter of George Ramsay, a labourer, and Marion Tod.
She emigrated to Otago in 1862 on the Ben Lomond.
Ellen married Andrew Melville, a farmer, on 22 January 1863 in Dunedin. They had ten children and lived at 'Riverside' near Port Molyneux in South Otago.
In January 1913 Ellen and Andrew celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.
Two months later they were returning from a holiday and driving from the railway station in a buggy when the horse took fright and bolted. The buggy overturned and crashed into a wire fence. Andrew died instantly while Ellen suffered a broken leg and severe injuries to her face.
Ellen never fully recovered from the accident and she died on 28 January 1914. They are both buried in the Port Molyneux Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.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