Mrs William James Titchener (née Elizabeth Finch)

Despite being elderly in her portrait, Elizabeth Finch first arrived in Otago as a baby. Born in Derbyshire, England in 1847, she travelled to New Zealand on board the John Wickliffe with her three siblings and her parents, John and Elizabeth Finch. They arrived in Port Chalmers in March 1848 after 166 long and turbulent days at sea. As some of the first colonial settlers in Dunedin, the Finches initially lived in temporary shelters or barracks on the beach. These barracks were constructed from local materials such as flax and grasses. The family subsequently moved further into the city in 1849, living in the Stafford-Princes Street area.

After nearly a decade of living in Dunedin, Elizabeth next moved to Milton when her father purchased a farm on the Tokomairiro plain. She lived there until she married William James Titchener at St John’s Church Milton in 1874. William had immigrated to New Zealand from Melbourne as a child in 1862. His father worked as a police officer and moved the Titchener family to Otago during the gold rush. William was a blacksmith. Together the couple had seven children. After moving around Otago, they eventually settled in Caversham. William died in there in 1922. In his will he bequeathed all his real estate and personal property to Elizabeth.

Following his death Elizabeth moved to Invercargill to live with her son John. Remembered as a ‘fierce’ grandmother by her grandchildren, Elizabeth died in Invercargill in 1927. At the time of her death she was one of the few passengers left from the John Wickliffe and her obituary noted that she took ‘an active part in the Otago Early Settlers Association’. She is buried in Andersons Bay Cemetery with her husband, William.