Lilian Edith (Elliott) Gillespie (1900 - 1978)

Born 14 Jun 1900 in Barlow, Durham, England

Ancestors

Wife of Richard Gillespie — married 1922 in Oxford, North Canterbury, New Zealand

Died Nov 1978 at age 78 in Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand

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Lilian Edith (Elliott) Gillespie 1906 - 1978

Lilian was born at Barlow, Durham in 1900. ^[1] She was the daughter of John Elliott and Alice Roscoe.

In 1906 her family emigrated to New Zealand aboard the steamer Rimutaka, leaving England on the 12th July 1906 and sailing via via Plymouth, Teneriffe, Capetown & Hobart to arrive in Wellington, New Zealand on the 29th August 1906. ^{[2] [3]}

Her young life was spent in Runanga on the West Coast.

She went to the Convent School in Greymouth, and passed her Trinity College Music exams there.^[4]

About 1917 or 1918 she went to Australia to become a nun, but found that she was unsuited. Lily returned to New Zealand and worked in Oxford, North Canterbury. There she met her husband, Richard Gillespie and they were married in 1922. ^[5]

Richard and Lily farmed in the Lees Valley near Oxford and seven of her eight children were born whilst there.

They moved to Christchurch when their older children were needing high school education. ^[6]

The next move was to a dairy farm in Cust. ^[7]

About 1959 they moved to a sheep farm up in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough. ^[8]

Dick and Lily finally retired to Blenheim. ^[9]

She passed away in November 1978. ^[10]

Lilian Edith Gillespie was buried with her husband Richard, in Omaka Cemetery, Blenheim on the 8th November 1978; in Division No. 2 Lawn Block: 4 Row: 0 Plot: 24 ^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 vol: 10A page: 1072 line: 64
2. ↑ Ships to New Zealand 1900-1910 Port of Wellington
3. ↑ LATE SHIPPING., Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 51, 29 August 1906 http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19060829.2.71
4. ↑ TRINITY COLLEGE, Grey River Argus, 12 October 1915 http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA19151012.2.9
5. ↑ Dept. of Internal Affairs, New Zealand www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz MARRIAGES - 1922/7346 - Lilian Editha Elliott & Richard Gillespie
6. ↑ New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981
7. ↑ New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981
8. ↑ New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981
9. ↑ New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981
10. ↑ Dept. of Internal Affairs, New Zealand www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz DEATHS - 1978/41442 - Gillespie Lilian Edith
11. ↑ Marlborough District Council Cemetery Records

• Family information.
• England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915. "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2FCX-NQZ : 1 October 2014), Lilian Edith Elliott, 1900; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Gateshead, Durham, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
• England Census, 1901.
• N.Z. BIRTHS, DEATHS & MARRIAGES ONLINE New Zealand Marriage Index, 1840-1934 - 1922/7346 - Lilian Editha Elliott & Richard Gillespie
• N.Z. BIRTHS, DEATHS & MARRIAGES ONLINE N.Z. DEATHS - 1978/41442 - Gillespie Lilian Edith - birth date: 8 June 1900
• New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981.