Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Watson Bell was born on 12 December 1867 in Lanarkshire, Scotland – the daughter of Dugald Bell, a saddler, and Elizabeth Watson. She emigrated to New Zealand with her family about 1873 and they settled in Dunedin.
Elizabeth married James Henry Wrenn, a bank manager, on 4 April 1889 in Dunedin. They had a son before James died suddenly in 1891. Five months later another son was born.
Elizabeth returned to Dunedin where her widowed mother was living and when she signed the suffrage petition she was living in Cargill Road, South Dunedin. Elizabeth married Percy Paget White, a postmaster, on 9 May 1894 at St Peter’s Church, Caversham, Dunedin. They had four children and moved around the country due to Percy’s job.
Elizabeth died in Hamilton on 21 November 1936 and Percy died in 1944. They are buried together in the Hamilton East 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
Hamilton City Council https://www.hamilton.govt.nz