Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert
Elizabeth West Doust was born in 1844 Greenwich, Kent, England to to John William Doust, a pier master and his wife Jane Catherine. Elizabeth’s mother died when she was five, just weeks after her youngest sister was born and died. Elizabeth travelled alone to New Zealand on board the Blue Jacket, arriving in Lyttelton on 13 November 1865, aged 21 years and described as a domestic servant.
In 1868, she married George Leggett in St Paul’s Wellington. George was born in 1837 in London, England to William and Anne. He was a storeman and lived in Wellington. They had six children:
- Elizabeth Ann (1868–1948)
- William George (1870–1926)
- Jane Catherine Harriet (1872–1946)
- George Ernest Thomas (1875–1958)
- Alice Emily (1877–1926)
- Charles Sidney (1881–1962)
For many years they lived in Marjoribanks Street, Mt Victoria area of Wellington. George was a storeman. 'An interesting ceremony took place at the warehouse of Messrs Boss and Glendining, when Mr George Leggett, the head storeman, was the recipient of two silver-mounted pipes, one of a very fancy design, from the employees, as a token of esteem and regard, and also congratulations on his shaving attained his fifty-eighth birthday. … who was considerably affected, suitably responded, thanking one and all for their kindly wishes and tokens.'
By the time they were in their seventies, George and Elizabeth had moved to Ellerslie, Auckland, where George described himself as a settler. Elizabeth died at her home in 1924 aged 79. She was, 'late of Marjoribanks street Wellington'. Her probate left everything to her unmarried daughter Alice Emily, valued at 50 pounds. Eighteen months later, George died in 1925 aged 88 years. They are both buried at Waikaraka Cemetery, Auckland.
Daughter Alice Emily died six months after her father, after a short illness and is buried with her parents. Her estate was worth 400 pounds and she left it equally to her sisters, who had both married McKinney brothers from Mahurangi.
Sources
Archway probate
Electoral Rolls (ancestry)
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Mail, Issue 1218, 5 July 1895, Page 18
PAPERS PAST Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 97, 19 January 1924, Page 1
PAPERS PAST Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 13, 15 July 1925, Page 1
PAPERS PAST Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 40, 16 February 1926, Page 1
Historical BDMs