Catherine was born in Scotland in 1841 and travelled from Nova Scotia on the wooden sailing ship ‘Ellen Lewis’ with her parents to New Zealand in 1859. Peter Migan (Catherine’s future husband) had sailed from Ireland via England to Sydney on a convict transport ship with the British Army’s 58th regiment (Rutlandshire) and was later sent to New Zealand to fight in the ‘Maori Land wars’. After his discharge from the army Peter decided to stay in New Zealand. He married Catherine Fraser and they farmed land on Waiheke island which is in the Hauraki Gulf, east of Auckland. They produced 13 children. 5 of Catherine’s sons enlisted to fight with the New Zealand army in the first world war and one did not return. When Peter died in 1886, Catherine moved to Auckland, surviving him by 30 years. She died of 'general senile decay' according to her death certificate. The same certificate incorrectly cites her mother's maiden name as "Kent" (rather than ‘Kempt’). Her father John Fraser' was a 'schoolmaster' on Waiheke island. Catherine Migan’s eldest son, Alexander, is my maternal great grandfather.
Catherine, her father John, her husband Peter and daughter Kate are all interred at the Pioneer Cemetery, Te Matuku Bay, Waiheke Island.