Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Isabel Miranda Birley was born in 1872 in Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu – the daughter of Joseph Birley, a hotel keeper, and Sarah Ann Hartley.
When Isabel signed the suffrage petition she was living in Glenorchy working as a telephonist.
She married James Dunery, a farmer, in 1899 – they had no children and they farmed at Glenorchy before living at Invercargill, Burwood Station near Lumsden and Rocklands Station.
In later life they retired to The Grange, East Taieri.
James died in 1953 and Isabel died on 31 March 1957, they are buried together in the East Taieri Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
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