Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth/Bessie Cunningham was born on 3 September 1866 in Whitburn, Linthgowshire, Scotland – the daughter of George Cunningham, a farm labourer and miner, and Ann Sommerville. Her mother died when she was young and her father re-married in 1872. (See 128 Eliza Cunningham)
She emigrated to Otago with her family in 1875 on the Auckland and they settled in South Otago.
When Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition she was living with her family at Port Molyneux.
She married John Carter, a miner, on 1 January 1897 in the Clinton Parish and they had, at least, five children.
In later years they lived in Kaitangata.
John died at Balclutha Hospital in 1931 and Elizabeth died at Kaitangata on 27 March 1939, they are buried in the Kaitangata Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/