Eliza's father Henry was a hugely successful entrepreneur who amassed a large fortune — he was said to be the richest person in Victoria Colony when he died in 1888 with an estate of slightly over £1.6 million gross — and so earned the sobriquet "Money Miller".⁵

He was also politically active for about 15 years or so as a member of the Victoria's first Legislative Council and later the new Council that followed the Colony's revised Constitution in 1856. He is remembered as a brilliant investor and the founder of the Victoria Fire and Marine Insurance, the Victorian Life and General Insurance Company. Also, in conjunction with others, he said to have been the originator of the Building Society movement in Victoria and been a founder member of the Bank of Victoria. At his death, some lamented that he had not done more with his wealth for the community by setting up some charitable institution or erecting some important public building. His own view was that the probate duty due on his estate in Victoria — it turned out to be c. £73,000 (a huge sum in those days) — was his contribution to society.⁶
   
Eliza's father's Will specified that his estate should be split equally between his eight children with any marriage settlements made to his daughters being taken into account in determining their share.⁷ Eliza's share would have been c. £192,000 before taking account of any marriage settlement she may have received in 1860, a sum that equates to upwards of £22.75m today (2022).

When Eliza, herself died seven years later, she left a personal estate of c. £5,800 in England and c. £5,000 in Victoria Colony but there would have been duty to pay on both those amounts.⁸ So where did it all go? The Knellwood property, which belonged to her, was probably worth around £15,000 (it was "bought in" for £12,000 when it was auctioned in 1884 ⁹). Unless Eliza owned other property, and none was mentioned in her Will, her total assets on her death, real and personal, would not have amounted to much more than c. £25,000, that leaves about £165,000 unaccounted for. It is quite possible that all of that figure was distributed as settlements to Edith, Blanche and Alice and, certainly, the value of Edith's estate when she died would not have been as sizeable as it was (even allowing for inflation), if Edith had only inherited a third of her mother's and father's estates, i.e. a third of c. £25,000 and c. £7,000.

Eliza's provision for William in the event of her predeceasing him, was the income from a sum of £5,000 which was to be obtained by a mortgage on her Knellwood property. That sum would have not produced much more than say £150 pa invested in 3% Consols but, of course, it would have been in addition to any private income William might have had and his Army pension. Very generously, Eliza specified that on William's death, the £5,000 should be split between those of his sister Augusta's daughters (William's and her nieces) who were unmarried at his death. In the event, no one qualified so the £5000 remained in her estate but the kind gesture suggests that Eliza might also have been the source of the monetary help that William is said to have given to Augusta after Peter Espeut died.¹⁰
 
Despite her not inconsiderable wealth, particularly in later years, Eliza seems to have kept a very low profile socially. The great majority of newspaper reports of her are as a consort to William attending some army social event and, even when the family was at Knellwood, there are none of her arranging a fête or a philanthropic occasion there. Perhaps, like her father, she shunned public attention, preferring to keep herself and her daughters out of the limelight. As a result, she remains a shadowy figure remembered only for her father's fortune.

Eliza married Lt. General William Charles Bancroft, son of Dr Edward Nathaniel Bancroft, M.D., F.R.C.P. and Ursula Hill Hoseason, on 18 Jul 1860 in St Peter's Church, Melbourne, Australia.¹ (Lt. General William Charles Bancroft was born on 22 Jun 1826 in Kingston, Jamaica ¹¹, baptised on 14 Dec 1833 in Kingston Parish Church, Jamaica,¹² died on 30 Jan 1903 in Knellwood, Farnborough, Hampshire ¹³ and was buried on 3 Feb 1903 in Farnborough Cemetery, Farnborough, Hampshire ⁴.)