Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Willis was born about 1834 in Dover, Kent, England, the daughter of Thomas Willis and Elizabeth Hicks.
She married Timothy Keates, a mason, on 12 August 1852 in Dover. They had two children (one dying in infancy) before they emigrated to Victoria, Australia in 1855 on the Samarang.
A further four children were born in Victoria before the family came to New Zealand about 1864. They then had nine more children, three of whom died in infancy. One daughter, Lizzie, also signed the petition.
The family settled in Dunedin where Timothy worked as a nightman. Elizabeth ran a dressmaking shop – the Wholesale Shirt Company - first in Castle St, then later in Hanover St at 'Kent House'.
Timothy died in 1899 and Elizabeth died on 19 September 1910. They are buried in the family grave in the Northern Cemetery, Dunedin.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
BDM Victoria https://online.justice.vic.gov.au
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
PRO Victoria https://www.prov.vic.gov.au/