Maker: Robertina Downes

Panel number: 119

Petition Sheet Number: 127

Person honouring: Eliza Kerr

Relationship to makers: None

Eliza Anne Keir (nee Leadley) was born in Yorkshire in 1853. At the age of 10, she sailed to New Zealand with her family. After just fifteen days at sea, scarlet fever broke out, killing 28 passengers. Eliza’s youngest sister Clara, aged two, was the first to die. Another passenger wrote of the burial at sea: ‘The cry of the mother at the moment the body fell was dreadful’. The family settled in Canterbury and farmed. 

In 1874 Eliza married farmer John Keir at the Christchurch Free Methodist Church in Christchurch. They had eight children, five girls and three boys, between 1875 and 1893. During this time, they bought their own farm at Charlton, near Gore. Eliza’s 1935 obituary stated: ‘Mrs Keir was a fine type of woman, a hard worker and a genial neighbour, ever ready to do a good turn and give a helping hand. She was an ardent member of the Methodist church and a valuable member of the Ladies Guild. She was always to the fore when a cause needed assistance.’

Panel materials: Fabric from my stash fabric collection.