Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ellen/Helen Aird Russell was born in 1867 in New Zealand – the daughter of William Russell & Margaret.
She married Edward William Merry, a glazier, in 1890 and they had six children, one who died at an early age.
When Ellen signed the suffrage petition the family were living on the corner of Hanover St and Athol Place in Dunedin and Ellen was working as a shopkeeper.
Edward died in 1922 and Ellen died on 14 January 1949, they are buried together in the family grave in the Andersons Bay 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