Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley:
Elizabeth/Eliza Smith Campbell Stevenson was born on 5 December 1845 in Ayrshire, Scotland – daughter of Robert Stevenson, a farmer, and Elizabeth Smith.
Eliza married Donald Tolmie Pearson, a carpenter on 17 October 1872 in Dundonald, Ayrshire. In 1874 they emigrated to Canterbury on the Dunedin.
They had five children and settled in Dunedin. Eliza and Donald were members of the Hanover St Baptist Church and Eliza was active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, especially the Sailor’s Rest in Rattray St, which was run by the Union.
Donald died in 1917 and Eliza died on 26 June 1927. They are buried in the family grave in the Southern 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
Victoria University http://nzetc.victoria.ac.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