Elizabeth Guard

Elizabeth Guard (; 3 December 1814 – 16 July 1870) was an Australian settler of New Zealand. She is thought to have been the first woman of European descent to settle in the South Island. In 1834 she and her two children were kidnapped by local Māori people and held in captivity for four months. Her early life and these events are the subject of the 2005 novel The Captive Wife by Fiona Kidman.

Early life and family Elizabeth Parker, known as Betty, was born in Parramatta, New South Wales on 3 December 1814. Her father was a former convict, At the age of 16, she travelled to New Zealand on 7 November 1830, to settle at his whale hunting station at Te Awaiti on Arapaoa Island in the Tory Channel.

In later life, John Guard Jr recalled confrontations between his father and Te Rauparaha, but that they ended up becoming good friends. All the passengers survived, creating tents from the ship's sails. After two weeks, however, they were attacked by local Māori of the Taranaki and Ngāti Ruanui iwi, who had been supplied with gunpowder by two deserting sailors and who may have been seeking revenge for past grievances. Twelve crew members were killed, including Betty's brother, while the Guards were kidnapped. She lost consciousness and awoke to an actively bleeding wound on her head. The tortoiseshell comb that saved Guard's life in the attack is in the collections at Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum.