Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ellen Mary Ann Lepper was born in 1870 in Ryarsh, Kent, England. She was the daughter of Peter Lepper and Ellen Fry.
The family arrived in Otago in 1874 on the James Nicol Fleming.
Ellen married William George Atford and they had seven children. The family moved from Dunedin to Auckland where William died in 1933.
The family featured in the newspapers in 1942 when Ellen’s daughter Edith, who suffered from epileptic fits, struck her mother on the head with a poker and set fire to the house. The house was gutted and Edith was found in the harbour, she died while being rescued.
Ellen died on 24 November 1957 and is buried in the Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland with her husband William.
Sources
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.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