Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Emma Lilliman was born about 1853 in Lincolnshire, England. She married Thomas Dacre, a joiner, in 1870 and they had two daughters before they boarded the Adamant bound for Canterbury - their youngest daughter Annie died on the voyage.
They settled in Christchurch where they had a further 13 children, five who died in infancy.
Thomas was declared bankrupt in 1881.
When Emma signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Buffon St, Sydenham and Thomas was working as a mechanic.
Emma died on 18 January 1927 and Thomas died in 1929 – they are buried together in the Bromley Cemetery.
Sources:
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/