Ellen J. Eade

Biography contributed by Jacqui Beets

Ellen (known as Nellie or Nell) Jane Porthouse was born 13 June 1868 in Nelson, the youngest child of Joseph Porthouse, landlord of the Royal Hotel, and Elizabeth Jane Bray. When she was six months old her father took his own life, the coroner’s inquest returning a verdict of temporary insanity. Her mother remarried and when Ellen was five her family moved to the fledgling North Island settlement of Feilding, where she would live for the rest of her life. Ellen’s obituary described this trip as 'a long and adventurous journey … accomplished by dray over the difficult highway that had been cut through the bush … made in slow stages'.

When Ellen was nineteen she married Alfred Saranke Bunn Eade (1862–1946), a cabinetmaker and upholsterer who ran a furniture store in Feilding and was also the community’s undertaker. Ellen was a mother of four when she signed the Petition in 1893, and she went on to have fourteen children. A daughter, Alice Jane (1903–1904), died in infancy and two sons, Alfred Lamb (1896–1916) and Allen Victor (1897–1917), were killed in action in the First World War.

Church activities played an important role in Ellen’s life. She was the organist at Feilding’s Wesleyan Church and Sunday School and later a prominent member of its Baptist Church. Her sons Barnardo Nansen (1901–1989) and Malcolm John (1909–1989) became Baptist clergymen and missionaries in India. Ellen was known throughout her life for her charitable works, with her obituary noting: 'it is said of the late Mrs Eade that she was only too fond of helping others and did not worry enough about herself.'

Ellen Eade passed away on 2 March 1936, aged 67. She is buried at Feilding Cemetery.

Her sister-in-law Jessie Ford also signed the Petition.

Sources

Ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com.au

A Brief Outline of the Life and Family of Alfred Sarancke Bunn Eade. Compiled January 1962, by Malcolm John, (Paddy) Eade from notes originally supplied by Alfred Eade and also from diaries and letters of A. Eade, E. and C. E. Eade. Re-compiled by Tracie Margaret Rolfe-Collins. Thursday 28 April 2016.

“Extraordinary Suicides”. Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 459, 30 January 1869, p. 3

Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com

New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages online www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz.

Obituary of Mrs A. Eade, Feilding. Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 53, 4 March 1936, p. 3. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT19360304.2.7.9

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

“Suicide”. Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 18, 22 January 1869, p. 2.

“Suicide at Nelson”. Colonist, Volume XII, Issue 1188, 12 February 1869, p. 2. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC18690212.2.3.11

“Suicide: Coroner’s Inquest”. Colonist, Volume XII, Issue 1183, 26 January 1869, p. 3.