Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Charlotte Rebecca Starling was born in 1841 in Royston, Essex – the daughter of Dinah Starling nee Clark and possibly William Dellow.
She married James Greenhill/Elsom in 1859 – James also appears to have come from a blended family taking his stepfather’s name of Elsom later in life.
Charlotte and James had four children, one who died in infancy, before they emigrated to Otago in 1874 on the “Gareloch”.
They settled in Palmerston, north of Dunedin, where James worked for the railway department as a surfaceman later moving to Warrington where they were living when Charlotte signed the suffrage petiton.
They returned to Palmerston where Charlotte died at her home on 6 November 1919 and James died in 1921 – they are buried in the family grave in the Palmerston 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
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