Also signed as 63 Bessie Davies and 151 Bessie Davies
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Ann/Bessie Pierce was born about 1835 in Kent, England – the daughter of Christopher Pierce.
She married Augustus Hitchens in Dublin, Ireland on 16 November 1851 and they had one daughter. Augustus died in 1854 in Liverpool.
Elizabeth then married Cyrus Davies, a wood turner, on 30 July 1854 in Birmingham, England. They had, at least, six children, two of who were born in Scotland, before they emigrated to New Zealand about 1873.
The family settled in Dunedin and Cyrus was declared insolvent in 1880.
When Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition they were living in Great King St. & Bessie appears to have been undertaking 'rescue work' for the Salvation Army.
Cyrus appears to have moved to Perth, Western Australia soon after this as he was there when Elizabeth died suddenly at their son’s home on 28 June 1896.
She is buried in the Northern Cemetery with her daughter and grandson - Cyrus died in Perth in 1906.
Sources
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au
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