Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Palmer was born about 1832 in Norfolk. She married timekeeper, John Arthur Whall in London in 1854 and sometime after this they emigrated to New Zealand.
By 1866 they were living in Greymouth where they ran the Royal Hotel.
John entered local government and served many years as town Clerk of Greymouth.
He died in 1891 and the following year Elizabeth advertised that 'she had sold her two shops on Richmond Quay'.
Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition in Greymouth and she died there on 7 June 1898. She is buried with John in the Karoro Cemetery.
At the next meeting of the Greymouth W.C.T.U. it was said that 'since last meeting on of our sisters has gone to the home of the faithful, though through constant sickness and suffering she was not able to be much with us in person, we believe she had our cause at heart'.
Sources
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
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/