Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Elizabeth Sarah Johnston was born about 1851 in Ireland.
She emigrated to Tasmania, Australia with her parents when she was young.
She married Lawrence Clements, a labourer, in Launceston on March 16th 1869. They had 3 daughters in Tasmania before they left for New Zealand. They had a further 4 children after their arrival.
When Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition the family were living in Palmerston in North Otago and Lawrence was working for the railways.
In 1915 they moved to the Bay of Plenty where their son was farming at Paengaroa.
Their son died in 1916 while fighting in the First World War, and Lawrence died in 1917.
Elizabeth died on March 11th 1939. She is buried with Lawrence in the family grave in the Old Te Puke Cemetery.
Her obituary said “during her 24 years residence in Paengaroa, Mrs Clements took an active part in all social affairs, and her kindliness and courtesy, with a readiness to assist at all times, made her numerous close friends. The oldest member of the Paengaroa Women’s Institute, and perhaps the oldest member of any Women’s Institiute in New Zealand, deceased took a keen interest in the work of the Institute.”
Sources
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