Elizabeth Vigne, born Elizabeth Belshaw, was the wife of Herbert Vigne, who founded Greyton [IC]. She came from a Greyton family of British descent [MS]. She married Vigne in the 1860s, when she was 27 years younger than him [IC]. They lived on their town farm, De Bos, and had three sons and a daughter [TBV]. Greyton’s histories tell the village’s founding as Herbert’s story. Elizabeth lived in Greyton through its first decades, and her family’s house still stands there [MS].
What the letters in square brackets mean
Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.
- [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by at least two sources that do not depend on each other, or by an official record.
- [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from one community’s or organisation’s own sources. For Greyton figures, much of what is told comes from local histories and tourism sources that repeat each other, so they often share one origin.
- [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it yet.
At a glance
| Born | About 1847. A genealogy site gives 1847 [TBV]. |
| Died | A genealogy site gives 1895, the year her husband died [TBV]. |
| Known for | Being the wife of Greyton’s founder, and mother of his four children [TBV] |
| Link to the valley | One of Greyton’s early residents. Her family’s home still stands in the village [MS]. |
Her life
Elizabeth was born into the Belshaw family, who lived in Greyton [MS]. Their family home is now a guesthouse in the village, the Lord Pickleby [MS]. Greyton’s histories describe her as “a young girl of British stock” [MS].
She married Herbert Vigne in the 1860s [IC]. He had founded the village a few years before, and was 27 years older than her [IC]. They settled on De Bos, their farm in the village [TBV]. They had three sons and a daughter [TBV].
A genealogy site gives her dates as 1847 to 1895, which would mean she died in the same year as her husband [TBV]. This has not been checked against a death notice or church record.
After Herbert’s death in 1895, their heirs divided De Bos, and Greyton went through hard years [TBV]. The gravestones of Herbert and Elizabeth Vigne were later moved to the grounds of St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Greyton [MS].
Links to other figures
- Herbert Vigne was her husband.
What is still open
- Her dates of birth and death, and where she is buried.
- The names of her children, and whether descendants still live in the valley.
- When the Belshaw family came to Greyton, and what they did there.
- What part she played in the life of the village, beyond what is told about her husband.
- Why, and when, the Vigne gravestones were moved to St Andrew’s.
Related
References
- Wikipedia. Greyton. Her marriage to Vigne in the 1860s, and the age difference.
- Greyton Tourism. Greyton’s History. Her marriage, described as to “a young girl of British stock”.
- Xplorio Greyton. Herbert Vigne: The Father of Greyton. The four children and the division of De Bos.
- GoGreyton. Greyton Village Walk. The Belshaw family home, and the Vigne gravestones at St Andrew’s.
- Geni. Elizabeth Vigne (Belshaw). Genealogy record giving her dates as 1847 to 1895.