Elizabeth (Dickson) Barr (1859 - 1942)

Born 7 Jun 1859 in Williamstown, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Wife of William Barr — married 12 Aug 1885 in Wanganui, Wellington, New Zealand

Died 27 Jul 1942 at age 83 in Wellington, New Zealand

Biography

Elizabeth (Dickson) Barr was born in the Colony of Victoria (1851-1900)

Elizabeth was born on Thursday 7 June 1859 at Hanmer Street, Williamstown, Colony of Victoria at 3 o'clock 39 minutes am^[1]and registered in 1859 at Williamstown^[2]. She was the second daughter of Peter Dickson and Hannah Lockhart, the first of their daughters to survive.

She worked as a dress maker in Collins Street, Melbourne^[3].

Elizabeth (Dickson) Barr migrated from Colony of Victoria to New Zealand.

She emigrated to New Zealand with her mother Hannah and sister Margaret on the SS Manapouri which left Melbourne on 22 November 1882^[4]. The ship sailed via Hobart, Bluff, Dunedin, Lyttelton and then Wellington, where they disembarked. From there they travelled to Wanganui. In 1883 she established a dressmaking business, initially in Campbell Street. Soon after that she moved her business to premises above W. Barr's shop in Taupo Quay and advertised for an apprentice^[5].

Elizabeth married William Barr on 12 August 1885^[6] at her mother's home in Guyton Street^[7]. William and Elizabeth had four children, two of whom died young.

1. Edith Maud (1887^[8] - 1887^[9])
2. John (1891^[10] - 1892^[11])
3. Frank Lockhart (1893^[12] - 1958^[13])
4. Ruby (1896^[14] - 1962^[15])

Elizabeth does not appear to have signed the Women's Suffrage Petition (although her mother-in-law did), but not all petition sheets survived^[16]. Her first appearance on an Electoral Roll was in 1894 on the Patea Electoral Roll, being registered with her husband William, a draper's assistant, as living at Patea^[17]. Her occupation was given as "married".

Her husband William died in 1924^[18]. In 1925 she was a widow living at Richmond Street, registered on the Patea General Electoral Roll^[19]. Her daughter Ruby was living with her, and her son Frank was a civil servant living at 11 Collins Street, Hawera.

She moved to Wellington, as in 1931 she and her daughter Ruby were living at 55 Majoribanks Street, Wellington, being registered on the Wellington Central General Electoral Roll^[20]. There was another Barr family living at 50 Majoribanks Street, Thomas and Alec, both clerks and Grace, a married woman.

In 1935 she was listed on the Wellington Suburbs Supplementary Electoral Roll No 1 as living at 160 Glenmore Street, Kelburn with her daughter Ruby^[21]. That was her home for the rest of her life.

Elizabeth died on 17 July 1942^[22] at Wellington^[23]. She was buried in the Heads Road Old Public Cemetery, Wanganui with her mother and husband^[24].

Research Notes

Elizabeth's name is badly transcribed in the Electoral Rolls to the extent that she does not appear in a search in the index for the 1941 Roll but can be viewed on the original.

In 2024, her two Dickson great nieces arranged for her gravestone to be cleaned and relettered. (Dickson-4413 01:46, 12 April 2024 (UTC))

Sources

1. ↑ Family New Testament dated 1805, held by family of Margaret Allison
2. ↑ Ancestry.com. Victoria, Australia, Birth Index, 1837-1917 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. Original data: Victoria, Australia, Birth Index, 1837-1917. The Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Accessed 13 Mar 2022
   • View Ancestry Record 61648 #728102
     
   Name: Elizabeth Dickson; Birth Registration Date: 1859; Birth Registration Place: Victoria, Australia; Father: Peter Dickson; Mother Maiden Name: Lockhart; Reference Number: 12408.
3. ↑ Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa Accessed 4 Oct 2019
   Page 1 Advertisements Column 2 Wanganui Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5002, 1 March 1883
4. ↑ Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa Accessed 10 Mar 2022
   Shipping Intelligence. New Zealand Mail, Issue 565, 2 December 1882, Page 14
5. ↑ Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa Accessed 4 Oct 2019
   Page 3 Advertisements Column 8 Wanganui Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5027, 3 April 1883
6. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Marriage Registration. Accessed 18 Aug 2020
   1885/3733 Bride=Elizabeth Dickson Groom=William Barr DOM=12/08/1885
7. ↑ Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa Accessed 4 Oct 2019
   MARRIAGE. Wanganui Herald, Volume XX, Issue 5693, 12 August 1885
8. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Birth Registration. Accessed 30 Oct 2020
   1887/14630 Barr, Edith Maud Mother=Elizabeth Father=William DOB=25/03/1887
9. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Death Registration. Accessed 30 Oct 2020
   1887/2640 Barr, Edith Maud Age=1M DOD=25/04/1887
10. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Birth Registration. Accessed 30 Oct 2020
    1892/2312 Barr, John Mother=Elizabeth Father=William DOB=23/12/1891
11. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Death Registration. Accessed 30 Oct 2020
    1892/833 Barr, John Age=7W DOD=12/02/1892
12. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Birth Registration. Accessed 30 Oct 2020
    1894/4654 Barr, Frank Lockhart Mother=Elizabeth Father=William DOB=28/11/1893
13. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Death Registration. Accessed 30 Oct 2020
    1958/38794 Barr, Frank Lockhart age=64Y DOD=24/06/1958
14. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Birth Registration. Accessed 30 Oct 2020
    1897/1046 Barr, Ruby Mother=Elizabeth Father=William DOB=03/12/1896
15. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Death Registration. Accessed 30 Oct 2020
    1962/27529 Kennedy, Ruby Age=66Y DOD=20/04/1962
16. ↑ New Zealand History Ngā kōrero ā ipurangi o Aotearoa Women and the vote Page 6 – Women's suffrage petition
17. ↑ Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853–1981. Auckland, New Zealand: BAB microfilming. Microfiche publication, 4032 fiche. Accessed 13 Mar 2022
    • View free Ancestry Sharing Link
      
    Name: Elizabeth Barr; Electoral Year: 1894; Residence Place: Patea, New Zealand; District: Patea; Region or Province: Taranaki.
18. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Death Registration. Accessed 30 Oct 2020
    1924/9223 Barr, William Age=73Y DOD= 07/11/1924
19. ↑ Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853–1981. Auckland, New Zealand: BAB microfilming. Microfiche publication, 4032 fiche. Accessed 13 Mar 2022
    • View free Ancestry Sharing Link
      
    Name: Elizabeth Barr; Electoral Year: 1925; Residence Place: Patea, New Zealand; District: Patea; Region or Province: Taranaki.
20. ↑ Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data:New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853–1981. Auckland, New Zealand: BAB microfilming. Microfiche publication, 4032 fiche.District: Wellington Central. Year: 1928. Accessed 13 Mar 2022
    • View free Ancestry Sharing Link
      
    Name: Elizabeth Barr; Electoral Year: 1931; Residence Street Address: 55 Majoribanks Street; Residence Place: New Zealand; District: Wellington Central; Region or Province: Wellington.
21. ↑ Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data:New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853–1981. Auckland, New Zealand: BAB microfilming. Microfiche publication, 4032 fiche. District: Wellington Suburbs. Year: 1935. Accessed 13 Mar 2022.
    • View free Ancestry Sharing Link
      
    Name: Elizabeth Barr; Electoral Year: 1935; Residence Place: New Zealand; District: Wellington Suburbs; Region or Province: Wellington.
22. ↑ New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (Digital Database), Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua Death Registration. Accessed 18 Aug 2020
    1942/26336 Barr, Elizabeth Age=84Y DOD=27/07/1942
23. ↑ Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Notices of Deceased Estates, 1880-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Deceased Estates Placed Under the New Zealand Public Trust 1880 to 1928, 1931 to 1950. Ravensbourne, Dunedin, New Zealand: Colonial CD Books, n.d. Accessed 13 Mar 2022 Ancestry Sharing Link
    Name: Elizabeth Barr; Death Date: 27 Jul 1942; Residence: Wellington, New Zealand.
24. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/232002126/elizabeth-barr : accessed 13 March 2022), memorial page for Elizabeth Dickson Barr (7 Jun 1859–27 Jul 1942), Find A Grave: Memorial #232002126, citing Heads Road Cemetery, Whanganui, Whanganui District, Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand ; Maintained by pkg (contributor 46968786).

Acknowledgements

• Biography written by her great niece Margaret Bailey Allison