Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ellen/Nelly Bayliss was born about 1865 in England.
She married John Bench, a labourer, in Warwickshire in 1884 and they had two children, one who died in infancy.
The family emigrated to New Zealand in 1889 on the Tongariro and their last child was born in 1892.
When Nelly signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Bluff.
They moved to Christchurch in 1896 then to Wanganui in the 1920s.
John died in Wanganui in 1926, he is buried in the Aramoho Cemetery.
Nelly moved back to Christchurch where she died on 8 August 1945, she is buried in the Ruru Lawn Cemetery.
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
Christchurch City Council http://heritage.christchurchcitylibraries.com
Whanganui District Council https://wdc.whanganui.govt.nz/
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions