Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley.
Emma Louisa Meyer was born in Lawrence in Central Otago in 1869 – the daughter of John Charles Frederick Meyer, a baker, and Ellen Mary Emmeny Barker.
In 1879 her father’s bakery was destroyed in a fire and he was declared bankrupt.
The following year the family moved to Dunedin and settled in Roslyn where Emma’s father started another bakery business.
In 1891 he took over the lease of the Dunedin Coffee Palace and private hotel.
Emma married salesman William Evans on 15 December 1891 at All Saints’ Church in Dunedin – when she signed the suffrage petition they were living at the Coffee Palace.
Emma and William had three children.
In 1904 Emma accompanied her widowed father and 2 sisters on a world trip visiting the United States, London and the Continent.
In 1905, the family moved to Christchurch where Emma died on 24 February 1951 and William died 1953 – they are buried together in the Waimairi Cemetery.
Sources:
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/
The 1893 electoral roll confirms Coffee Palace Moray Place Emma Louise
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
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