Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Lucy Fairbairn was born in New Zealand in 1865 – the daughter of Thomas Fairbairn, a bootmaker, and Elizabeth Simpson.
Elizabeth married John Thompson, a boot manufacturer, in 1887. They had nine children and, when she signed the suffrage petition, Elizabeth’s family were living in Maryhill Tce, Mornington, Dunedin. Her sister Jane also signed the petition.
Their son Herbert was killed in action at Passchendaele in 1917.
John died in 1929 and Elizabeth died on 1 December 1945. 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
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
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