Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Eliza Ann Jones was born in New Zealand about 1842 – the daughter of George Jones, a bootmaker, and Ann Eliza Adams. (See 43 Ann Eliza Jones)
She moved to Australia with her family in the mid 1840s before returning about 20 years later.
They settled in Christchurch where Eliza married John Bannister Bent on 12 May 1866.
They had three children before John died in Dunedin in 1884 – he is buried in the Northern Cemetery.
When Eliza signed the suffrage petition she was living with the children in Exe St, Oamaru.
She died on 13 January 1907 at her son’s home in Oamaru and is buried in the Old Oamaru Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
Waitaki District Council https://www.waitaki.govt.nz/our-services