Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth Caroline Gardner was born in 1859 in New Zealand – the daughter of Henry Gardner, a baker, and Caroline.
In the late 1870s the family settled in Sandietown, near Timaru, where Henry ran a bakery. Things do not appear to have gone well, as in October 1880 Henry put an advertisement in the paper stating: 'Any debts contracted by Mrs H Gardner and daughter, Elizabeth Gardner will not be acknowledged by Mr Henry Gardner, baker, Timaru.'
Elizabeth had two children with William Henry Lewis, a mechanical engineer, in 1881 and 1885. When she signed the suffrage petition Elizabeth was living in Steep St, off Maitland St in Dunedin. Her mother was also living there.
Elizabeth married Philip Henry Brady in 1908.
William Lewis died at their daughter’s house in 1911 and Elizabeth also died at their daughter’s residence on 28 September 1926. She is buried with William 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