Originally transcribed as E E Dumbleton
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Emily Dumbleton was born in 1865 in Oxfordshire, England – the daughter of Samuel Dumbleton, an inn keeper and butcher, and Eliza Higgins.
She emigrated to Otago with her family about 1867 and they settled near Waitahuna in Central Otago where they farmed.
Samuel died in 1881 and when Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition the family had moved to Gore.
Elizabeth managed a cheese factory at Mataura from the late 1890’s until her marriage in 1903 to Evan Williams.
They had on son and lived at Carterton, then at Woodville, where they were part owners of a dairy factory.
In 1917 the business failed and a complicated court case resulted ending in bankruptcy.
Elizabeth was living in Masterton at the time of the 1925 electoral roll – she died on 17 June 1945 and is buried in the Taita Old Cemetery.
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