Elsie Smith

Biogrraphy contributed by Katherine Blakeley

Elspet/Elsie Smith was born about 1830 in Dyce, Aberdeenshire, Scotland – the daughter of James Smith, a farmer, and Ann Greig.

Elsie did not marry and, in later years, she lived with her sister Ann Cowie and her family.

Her sister died in 1860 and Elsie stayed with the family to help care for her five nephews and her niece Christina. (See 139 Christina Cowie)

In 1864 Elsie gave birth to a daughter, Jane – her brother-in-law John Cowie died in 1873 and her daughter Jane died in 1873.

In 1875 Elsie, along with four of her nephews and her niece emigrated to Otago on the Auckland, Elsie apparently acted as Matron for the single women on board.

They settled at Milburn, south of Dunedin where 'her kindly nature and matronly help soon won her many friends, among whom she came to be known as “Auntie”...Her superior qualities as a nurse were soon known throughout the countryside. And then she was always ready with a joke and a smile.'

When Elsie signed the suffrage petition she was still living in Milburn.

She died there, at her nephew’s home, on 13 June 1903 and is buried in the Fairfax, Milton Cemetery.

'To the end she maintained a cheerful heart, and finally passed peacefully away to her long home.'

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

Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk