Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Edith Deborah Humphries was born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England in 1849 – the daughter of John Humphries, a carpet manufacturer, and Mary Ann Giles.
She married Herbert Pardoe, a solicitor, on 1 June 1871 at Kidderminster and they had two children.
They separated sometime after this and Edith had a daughter with Walter George Phillips/Morris in 1879.
In 1883 they sailed for Tasmania and lived there until around 1892 when Walter was charged with “criminally assaulting” one of Edith’s daughters (See 112 Miss C Pardoe) – he was found not guilty due to insufficient evidence.
Edith and her children then came to New Zealand and were living in Caversham when she signed the suffrage petition.
Edith worked as a music teacher in Dunedin where she married Charles Albert Lister on 15 September 1894.
The family stayed in Dunedin until, at least, 1897 being mentioned in reports on musical entertainments given in the town.
Edith and Charles moved to London sometime after this – she died there in 1902.
Sources:
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
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