Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Alma/Bessie Bourke was born in 1854 in Cumberland, England – the daughter of Edward Bourke, a soldier, and Susanna Izzard.
Her mother died in the 1870s & her father re-married.
The family emigrated to Otago in 1874 on the Jessie Readman and they settled in Dunedin.
Elizabeth married Samuel Brown, a bootmaker, on 7 January 1876 in Dunedin and they had, at least, seven children.
When Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition they were living in Russell St, South Dunedin.
Samuel died at Russell St in 1906 and Elizabeth died on 29 September 1925, they are buried in the family grave in the Southern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Free BDM https://www.freebmd.org.uk
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz