Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Ann Bawden was born in 1840 in Cornwall – the daughter of John Bawden, a copper miner, and Christina Thomas.
She married miner John Knight on 25 May 1862 in Lanner, Cornwall and shortly after their marriage they emigrated to New Zealand.
John worked on the Lyttelton tunnel and their first son was born in 1863.
After the tunnel was completed the family moved to South Australia where John worked at mining and they had six children, three who died in infancy.
They returned to New Zealand in 1875 where their last three children were born and when Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition they were living at Black’s Point near Reefton.
John died in 1918 – he is buried in the Reefton Cemetery.
Elizabeth died on 30 December 1920 in Nelson – she is buried in the Wakapuaka 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
Buller District Council https://bullerdc.govt.nz/do-it-online/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
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