Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth/Bessie Bradford was born in 1839 in Marylebone, London – the daughter of Alfred Bradford, a licenced victualler, and Elizabeth Elliott.
She emigrated to Australia with her family in the 1850s and she married John Chantrey Harris, a newspaper reporter, on 17 May 1866 in Sydney.
They had a son in 1867 before they sailed for New Zealand.
Their son died in 1868 and they had a further three children, one who died in childhood.
They lived, at first, in Hokitika then in Auckland before moving to Dunedin in 1873.
In 1877 they moved to Invercargill where John worked as editor of the Southland Times, two years later the family were in Wellington staying until 1890.
In 1892 the Bruce Herald in Milton was advertised for sale and John bought the business and moved the family to Milton where Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition, giving her name as Elise. John died in Milton in 1895, after which Elizabeth went to live in Wellington.
She died on 4 July 1906 and is buried with John in the family grave in the Bolton Street Cemetery, Wellington.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au
NSW Government https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/
Bolton St Cemetery https://boltoncemetery.org.nz/