Edith Fenwick (née Robinson) was born in Clyde in 1865, the daughter of a district court judge. In 1889 she married George Aufrere Fenwick, a prominent Dunedin stockbroker and commercial agent. The pair settled in St Clair and had one daughter, Elsinora. Unfortunately, Elsinora died in 1906, aged just 15 years old. By the time war broke out in 1914, Edith was one of Dunedin’s well-to-do society matrons, dedicating her time to philanthropic causes and appearing regularly in the social pages of the newspapers.
She threw herself into patriotic activity, fund-raising at St Clair and for the Navy League, with which she had been associated for years. In 1915 she ran the cake stall at the St. Clair May Day Effort, a market designed to raise funds for Belgium, while her efforts on behalf of the Navy League helped provide supplies, comforts, and Christmas gifts which the League sent to New Zealand and British sailors overseas. In 1920, Edith was awarded the Médaille de la Reine Elisabeth (Queen Elisabeth Medal) for her involvement in fundraising events for Belgium.
Family information
Parents: Henry Wingman Robinson and Charlotte Robinson (née Darling)
Born: 1865
Died: 13 January 1935, aged 69
Buried: Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin, Block 3, Plot 26
Married: George Aufrere Fenwick, 1889
Children:
- Elsinora Helen Fenwick b. 1890, d. 1906
Active in: Dunedin
Obituary/death notice:
The death occurred yesterday of a well-known resident of St. Clair, Mrs Edith Louisa Elizabeth Fenwick, who was in her seventieth year, was a daughter of Mr H. W. Robinson, a former district judge, and a sister of Mrs A. D. Bell, of Shag Valley. Mrs Fenwick passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Otago Daily Times, 14 January 1935
Selected sources
'The Belgian Poor', Otago Daily Times, 1 May 1915, p. 13
'The War', Otago Daily Times, 14 July 1915, p. 8
'The Otago Patriotic Fund', Otago Daily Times, 10 January 1916, p. 3
'Navy League', Otago Daily Times, 24 April 1916, p. 5
Otago Witness, 13 November 1928, p. 28
'Mrs E. L. E. Fenwick', Otago Daily Times, 14 January 1935, p. 10
Community contributions