Originally transcribed as C C Undrill
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Caroline Ellen/Helen Undrill was born in 1870 in Essex, England – the daughter of Thomas Undrill, a fireman on a locomotive, and Sarah Bass. (See 341 S Undrill)
She emigrated to Canterbury in 1874 on the Apelles with her family and when Caroline signed the suffrage petition she was living in Invercargill.
Caroline married William Blay, a railway shunter, in April 1896, 'the formal ceremony over, the wedding party adjourned to the home of the bride’s parents, and were most hospitably entertained.'
By 1900 they had two daughters - their youngest daughter died in August, aged six months.
In November that year, when Caroline was expecting their third child, William died in an accident at work when he was knocked in front of a moving carriage.
In 1904 Caroline was running a drapery and dressmaking business in Avenal, Invercargill.
She died on 16 September 1951 and is buried with William in the family grave in the Invercargill Eastern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Invercargill City Council https://icc.govt.nz