Elizabeth Rainton was sister to G. F. Hastie who signed the same petition sheet (see community contribution below).
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Emma Rainton was born in New Zealand in 1868 – the daughter of Joseph Rainton, a baker, and Jane Bruton.
When she signed the suffrage petition she was living with her family in Castle St, Dunedin.
She married George Ivory, a widower with two children, in 1900 – they had a daughter the following year and lived in Auckland.
Shortly after George went to Australia with his two children and did not return.
Elizabeth divorced him in 1909 and married Walter Innes Readford, a waterside worker, in 1910.
They had a daughter in 1911 – Walter died in 1919 when he fell into the hold of a ship, he is buried in the Waikumete Cemetery.
Elizabeth sued for damages – she was awarded £1200 and her daughter was awarded £600.
Elizabeth died on 4 October 1945, she was cremated and her ashes interred in the Waikumete Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Auckland Council https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/cemeteries
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions