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Elizabeth Glandfield was the Mayoress of Adelaide from 1859-1862.

Elizabeth Ann née Hawkes married Edward Bootle Wilbraham Glandfield in Adelaide on 14 September 1848. They had both arrived from London just one month earlier as paying passengers aboard the Gratitude – with Edward accommodated in a cabin, and Elizabeth, together with her parents, Robert and Sarah, and five siblings, in shared ‘Intermediate accommodation’. The enterprising Edward set up a grocery store in Rundle Street.

By 1852, Edward was a Councillor, an Alderman in 1854, and in 1859 at the age of 35 he was elected Mayor of Adelaide, a position which he held until 1862. Elizabeth was active in the Baptist Church in Flinders Street. The couple had no children.

In 1880 Edward died at the couple’s residence in Grenfell Street, Adelaide, from blood poisoning after stepping on a nail. Elizabeth moved to Shannon Street at Glenelg, where she ran a boarding house. She later retired to a new home on Spencer Terrace, in nearby St Leonards. It was here that she died on 29 August 1923, aged 95. Announcing Elizabeth’s death, The Register newspaper described her as a ‘remarkable old lady’. She had no illness and died in her sleep.

By Cheryl Williss, HerStory Project

The HerStory project came about to recognise and celebrate the lives and the achievements of Women’s work in South Australia and was initiated in 2015 on the 175th anniversary of the City of Adelaide, by Genevieve Theseira-Haese, Lady Mayoress of Adelaide. The stories collected offer a unique perspective of Adelaide and South Australia that form a different history to what is often heard. This community built initiative is supported by the City of Adelaide and the History Trust of South Australia.

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