Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley:
Eliza Annie Crust was born in 1856 in Victoria, Australia – the daughter of George Crust and Martha Giles.
Eliza’s father George ran the Old England Hotel in Keilor, Victoria, he was declared insolvent in 1860 and died in 1861. Eliza’s mother Martha carried on running the hotel, she was declared insolvent in 1862.
In about 1866 Eliza’s family travelled to Dunedin and she married William Blackford in 1872. They had five children. In 1902 their son Wilfred met with a fatal accident when he fell under a moving train at Waikouaiti and died of his injuries.
William worked as a doorkeeper at theatres and sports events, he died in 1920 and is buried in the Northern Cemetery with his parents.
Eliza died on 3 July 1929, she was cremated and interred in the family plot.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
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