Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Ellen Innes was born on 24 January 1860 in Marnoch, Banffshire, Scotland – the only child of Alexander Innes, a tailor, and Caroline Rankin. (See 163 C Innes)
She emigrated to Otago with her parents in 1872 on the Peter Denny and they settled in Dunedin.
Ellen married Charles Frederick Sundstrom, a ship’s captain, in 1882 and they had two children.
When Ellen signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Arthur Street.
Ellen died at her home on 22 December 1923 – her obituary said she “was a prominent church worker”.
Charles died in 1927 – they are buried in the family grave in the Northern Cemetery.
Sources:
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
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