Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Margaret Riddell was born in 1866 in New Zealand – the daughter of Robert Riddell, a carpenter, and Alison Edgar.
She married Joseph William Butler, a miner, in 1888 and they had six children, one who died in infancy.
When Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Orepuki, Southland where Joseph died in 1908.
Two of their sons died during the First World War, one at Gallipoli and the other in France in 1916 - her fourth son also died in 1916 in Orepuki.
Elizabeth died at her daughter’s home in Orepuki on 26 1945, she is buried in the family grave in the Orepuki Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Southland District Council https://www.southlanddc.govt.nz/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/