Biography contributed by Wendy Napier-Walker
Eliza Goldsmith was born Ann Eliza Day on 4 December 1825, Canterbury, Kent, England to William Day and his wife Ann Millgate.
On 3 July 1852 Ann Eliza Day married Samuel William Goldsmith, a candle maker.
Ann and Samuel William Goldsmith migrated to New Zealand on the ship Strathallan in 1858–1859 arriving in Timaru. They later made their way to Waimate. Also on the ship were brothers, John and George Manchester.
Samuel Goldsmith and John and George Manchester started a store in 1863 in Germantown near Mill Road, moving to High Street about 18 months later; and then in 1868 to the corner of High and Queen streets.
Samuel was on the first school committee in 1865, an original Trustee of the Wesleyan Church from 1865 to 1895 and Sunday School Superintendent from 1865 to 1894.
He was a Borough Councillor 1879–1882 and Mayor of Waimate from 1882 to 1884.
In the 1893 and 1896 electoral rolls, Ann is recorded as living in Waimate. The 1917 electoral roll records her as a Widow, living in Princess street, Waimate.
Samuel William Goldsmith died on 17 February 1895, age 67 years and is buried in the Waimate Old cemetery, Methodist section, Plot 000405.
Ann Eliza Goldsmith died on 11 July 1913, age 86 years and is buried next to Samuel in the Waimate Old cemetery, Methodist section, Plot 000406.
In 1929 memorial windows in memory of pioneers were unveiled in St Paul’s Church, Waimate, one commemorates the Goldsmiths:
Samuel W and Eliza Goldsmith
Zealous of Good Works.
Ann’s sisters also signed the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition; Elizabeth Manchester formerly Bowles – Sheet 234; Caroline Archer, formerly Flanders – Sheet 232 and Ellen Mayfield – Sheet 232.
Sources
Ancestry Public Member Family Trees
Free UK BMD Marriage Index 1852 Sept Quarter, Lambeth, 1d, 412
Greenwood, William, Te Waimatemate – History of Waimate County and Borough, pg 44, 45, 140, 160, 342, 343
NZ DIA Death Index 1895/350 Samuel William Goldsmith
The Collections NZ Archives Ann Eliza Goldsmith Probate 1913
NZ DIA Death Index 1913/7421 Ann Eliza Goldsmith
The Wilson Collection