Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Emily Eliza Foy was born in 1823 in London – the daughter of Walter Foy, a schoolmaster, and Eliza.
She married George Bignell, a coachmaker, on 22 April 1849 in Croydon, Surrey. They had eight children, one who died in infancy.
In the early 1880s the family emigrated to New Zealand and settled in Oamaru where George died in 1892 – he is buried in the Old Oamaru Cemetery.
Emily moved to Greymouth where several of her sons were living, this is where she signed the suffrage petition.
She later moved to Whanganui to live with another of her sons who was serving as Mayor.
She died there on 9 June 1904 and is buried in the Heads Road Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/