Also signed as 119 Mrs Ellis
Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ellen/Helen Paton was born on 1 March 1838 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland – the daughter of David Paton, an agricultural labourer, and Catherine Diey.
Ellen married John Ellis, a blacksmith and widower with five daughters in 1858 in Dundermline - they had two daughters before the family emigrated to Otago on the Silistria arriving in October 1860.
One month later their youngest daughter Margaret died – they had a further 11 children which included triplets, 'two boys and a girl – one boy still-born.'
One more of their children was stillborn and two died in infancy.
John died at their home in Duke St, Dunedin in 1893 and shortly after Ellen signed the suffrage petition.
Ellen remained in Duke St and she died there on 25 May 1919, she is buried with John in the family grave in the Northern 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
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
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