Maker: Kay Ellison

Panel number: 530

Petition sheet number: Did not sign 1893 petition

Person honouring: Nancy Ellison

Relationship to maker: mother-in-law

Nancy Coates was born in Rotorua in 1914. She studied Classics and French at Auckland University in the early 1930s where she was an exceptional student. 

She took up a career in teaching at secondary schools, first in Palmerston North and then later in Rotorua. Her autobiography, The Whirinaki Valley, describes the challenges of growing up in a remote part of the country, undertaking university studies, teaching while her husband (Terry Ellison) was on active service during World War 2, and raising a family of seven children.

Panel materials: Heirloom linen as a tribute to the family’s flax-milling history and metallic cord from France. The word merci is a tribute to Nancy’s fluency in the French language. It is also a thank you from me to both the Suffragists and to Nancy for all their courage and sacrifices.