E. Bastion

Diana Bastion Posted: 19 Sep 2017

Emily’s mother and father were from Birmingham – Arthur, an ironmonger, and Lissy arrived in New Zealand on the ‘Lancashire Witch’ in October 1863. They settled in Canterbury where they began a family.

When Emily Louisa Price was born on April 22, 1866, her father, Arthur, was 27, and her mother, Elizabeth, was 24. The eldest daughter, Emily was one of 12 children. From her five sisters she was the only one of age, able to sign the Petition.

Emily married Charles Shepherd Bastion in 1891. They had one child, Ernest who was born in 1892, a year before the Petition was signed.

When Emily died in 1951 (Christchurch) , she was 84.

The journey from the UK was quite perilous as described by Arthur in his shipboard diary, now in the Canterbury Museum. It describes the many deaths, and sea burials as scarlet fever swept the boat – 23 children and three adults died on the voyage. I think about how their new family must have been instilled with their grit, determination and idealism for their new beginnings, and the role they could each take in shaping their futures.

Permalink

What do you know?

Can you tell us more about the information on this page? Perhaps you have a related experience you would like to share?

Your name

Email The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Comments will be reviewed prior to posting. Not all comments posted. Tell me more...

What do you know?

Comment HTML

Culture & Society

Politics & Government

War & Society

Te Akomanga

Hands On History

Media Library

General