Ellen Campbell

Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley

Ellen Byrne was born about 1836 in Bangor, near Belfast in Ireland.

She emigrated to New Zealand in the mid-1860s and she married William Campbell in 1867 in Christchurch.

'From Christchurch they travelled to Dunedin by steamer and then by waggon to Kingston...After staying at Eichardt’s Hotel, Queenstown for a couple of weeks they went up to the Twenty-five Mile, where Mr Campbell was engaged in gold mining for nearly three years. Here their two eldest children were born. They moved up to the Head of the Lake then and were there for ten years.'

Ellen then moved to Queenstown with their, then six children, while William continued mining at Bucklerburn Creek near Glenorchy.

One of their sons died in 1882, aged nine years, in Queenstown where Ellen signed both the 1892 and 1893 suffrage petitons.

William died in 1904 while mining with their two sons at Bucklerburn Creek, he is buried in the Glenorchy Cemetery.

Ellen continued to live in Queenstown until 1924 when she went for a visit to her daughter in Dunedin where she died on 23 March 1925. She is buried in the Andersons Bay Cemetery.

Her obituary said she 'was a remarkably vigorous woman and exceedingly independent...Her mind was particularly clear, and she could converse most interestingly on the events of the early days. She possessed a keen sense of humour and this, combined with well-developed powers of observation and a good memory, made her an excellent raconteur.' She 'was of a kindly disposition, and she was not slow to lend a helping hand when an appeal was made to her for aid'.

Sources

BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/

DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search

Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz

Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

Queenstown Lakes District Council http://cemeteries.qldc.govt.nz/