Biography contributed by Wendy Napier-Walker
Elizabeth Edson was born Elizabeth Whitelam on 12 May 1833 at Nottingham, England to William Whitelam and his wife Ann Hardy.
Elizabeth Whitelam married William Edson on 23 May 1858, Nottingham, England.
Elizabeth and William had one daughter, Ann Mary born 1858 in Nottingham, England.
In the 1861 census William Edson, his wife Elizabeth and daughter Ann were living in Nottingham, England.
Shortly after, they left England and arrived in New Zealand.
William and Mary Edson lived at Alford, Canterbury. William was a Blacksmith at the station. They took up farming pursuits in the Mt Somers District in the 1870s.
Their only daughter Ann was one of the first pupils to attend Mt Somers school.
They left the Mt Somers district around 1893 and retired to Waimate.
It was in Waimate that Elizabeth Edson signed the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition.
The 1911 electoral roll records Elizabeth living at Rhodes street and in 1925 at Shearman Street, Waimate.
William Edson died on 30 June 1914 age 79 years. Elizabeth died on 18 May 1927 age 94 years. They are buried in the Waimate Old cemetery, Methodist section, Plot 000175 and 000176 respectively.
In Elizabeth’s obituary it states '...she won respect and admiration by her kind hospitality, cheerful disposition and neighbourly affections, so characteristic of the pioneers.'
Sources
1861 census Parish of St Mary, Nottingham, England
Waimate Daily Advertiser 1 July 1914, Pg 2
Waimate Daily Advertiser 19 May 1927, Pg 4
Waimate Daily Advertiser 28 May 1927, Pg 7
Waimate District Council online cemetery database
The Collections – Archives NZ – Probate Record of Elizabeth Edson