Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Prior was born in 1857 in Victoria, Australia – the daughter of Edwin Prior, a farmer, and Annabella Williams.
In the early 1870s she came to Otago with her family and they settled in Queenstown.
Elizabeth married James Thomas Bryant, a teacher, on 2 April 1877 at St Peter’s Church, Queenstown.
They had 12 children and when Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Owaka.
When James retired from teaching they farmed at nearby Hinahina where James died in 1933.
Elizabeth died on 7 July 1941 at Hinahina - she is buried, presumably with James, in the Owaka Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au