Christina Gordon nee Gilchrist

From Sutherlandshire to the suffrage petition

Born: c1815, Sutherlandshire, Scotland. Died: 4 February 1899, Waimate
Migration and settlement
Women’s suffrage

Christina Gilchrist was born about 1815 in Sutherlandshire, Scotland. On 6 December 1835, she married George Gordon, a shepherd, at Kildonan. Christina and George had seven children before emigrating to New Zealand.

The Gordon family travelled aboard the Strathallan, arriving in January 1859. They lived first at Pareora Station before moving to Waimate in the mid-1860s.

The Strathallan ship carried 110 passengers from the United Kingdom to Timaru, and is noted as the first european immigrant ship to arrive in Timaru.  

George Gordon died in 1890. Christina remained in Waimate and signed the 1893 women’s suffrage petition. The petition database records her as “Mrs Gordon” of Waimate on sheet 230 and notes that she also signed as “Christine Gordon” on sheet 234.

The main suffrage petition was presented to Parliament in 1893. Its surviving sheets contain the names and addresses of about 24,000 women who supported women’s right to vote.

Christina died on 4 February 1899. She was buried with George in Waimate Old Cemetery.

Christina’s surviving record is brief, but it traces a life that extended from Sutherlandshire to South Canterbury. It records her marriage, the birth of seven children, the family’s migration aboard the Strathallan, their years at Pareora and Waimate, and her name on New Zealand’s women’s suffrage petition.

 

Timeline

About 1815 Christina Gilchrist is born in Sutherlandshire, Scotland.

6 December 1835 She marries shepherd George Gordon at Kildonan.

Before 1859 Christina and George have seven children.

January 1859 The family arrives in New Zealand aboard the Strathallan.

Mid-1860s The Gordons move from Pareora Station to Waimate.

1890 George Gordon dies.

1893 Christina signs the women’s suffrage petition at Waimate.

4 February 1899 Christina dies. She is buried with George in Waimate Old Cemetery.

 

 

Source

NZHistory: “Mrs Gordon” suffrage-petition biography
This is the source for Christina’s approximate birth year and birthplace, marriage to George Gordon, seven children, migration aboard the Strathallan, residence at Pareora and Waimate, George’s death, Christina’s suffrage signatures, death date and burial place. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/suffragist/mrs-gordon-0 (Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.)

NZHistory: 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition database 

This explains the petition database and links signatory entries to images of the original petition sheets. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/petition

NZHistory: About the Suffrage Petition
Background on the main petition, its approximately 24,000 names and the way the database was created. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/about-suffrage-petition

Sources named in the contributed NZHistory biography

These were listed by Katherine Blakeley as the basis of her research, but we have not yet independently opened and checked the individual records:

Waimate