Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Elizabeth/Bessie Shields was born in 1858 in Puerua, South Otago – the daughter of John Sheils, a farmer, and Elizabeth Miller. (See 106 Mrs John Shields)
She married Thomas Fitzgerald, a farm servant, on 13 October 1885 at Knox Church, Dunedin and they had two children.
When Elizabeth signed the suffrage petition the family were living at Purekireki in the Owaka Valley.
Thomas died at their home in 1910 and Elizabeth died at Owaka on 23 January 1944, they are buried in the Owaka Cemetery.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
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