Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Florence Helena Ellis was born in Rodley, Yorkshire, England in 1865 – the daughter of Ephraim Ellis, the manager of a woollen mill, and Christiana Hustler. (See 98 C Ellis)
Florence emigrated to Otago on the Surat with her family and they settled in Dunedin.
She married George Duke Hansford, a boilermaker, in 1892. Shortly after their marriage George left the country for about a year failing to contribute to Florence’s support.
When Florence signed the suffrage petition she was living, possibly with her parents, in Kirkland Hill.
When George returned to New Zealand the couple lived in Dunedin and Alexandra where a son was born in 1897.
In 1900 George left again and went to live in Queensland, Australia – he bigamously married in 1906.
Florence and George divorced in 1907, George was accused of desertion and assaulting Florence.
She re-married in 1912 to Samuel James Luke, a dredgemaster, they had no children.
Samuel died at his home in Roslyn, Dunedin in 1930 and Florence died in Wellington in 1942.
They are buried together in the Ellis family grave in the Northern Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
GRO England https://www.gro.gov.uk
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz