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A-I of biographies of local Franklin women who voted in the historic 1893 General Election in New Zealand.

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Published by NZ Society of Genealogists - Franklin Branch, 2018-09-18 17:10:32

NZSG Franklin: Suffrage 125 Vol1 2018 original

A-I of biographies of local Franklin women who voted in the historic 1893 General Election in New Zealand.

Keywords: suffrage franklin nz

Electoral Roll: Waipa 3084 Surname: CAIE
Given names: Jessie
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Bombay

Qualification: residential

Jessie CAIE nee PATERSON was born in 1837 at Newton Stuart, in the South of Scotland.

She married William Caie on 25 June 1863 in York. Two years later in 1865, along with her sister and
brother in law Helen and David Burnie ALLISON, the couple immigrated to NZ on the ship “Bombay”.
William and Jessie settled on 30 acres in Lowry Road, Bombay.

Jessie and William raised 5 children and their families were well known in the Bombay district. Their
eldest daughter Helen married Herbert FLAY, son John David married Catherine VERCOE, Jessie
married William EVANS, Catherine married James SHAW and Samuel married Agnes FRENCH.

They were a strong Presbyterian family who took part in the social activities of the area. William
gradually bought many acres of land over the years and his sons and grandsons remained involved in
farming for many years.

Today anyone in NZ with the Caie surname name is a descendant of this early pioneering family.
Jessie’s grandson, Norman, often referred to the pronunciation as being the same as the Maori word
for food, kai.

Jessie died on 9 December 1909.

William outlived Jessie by 18 years and both are
buried at the Bombay Presbyterian Church
cemetery.

Sources:
Caie Family History
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz
Headstone photo – Franklin Branch NZSG

Researcher: Nancy Hawks

Electoral Roll: Waipa 3085 Surname: CAIE
Given names: Jessie Jnr
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Bombay

Qualification: residential

Jessie CAIE Jnr was born in Bombay, New Zealand on 15 October 1870. She was
the daughter of William CAIE (1839-1927) and Jessie PATERSON (1837-1909)
who had come to New Zealand in 1865 with one daughter on the ship Bombay.

Jessie was the third child of five and had two brothers and two sisters. Her
parents had 30 acres on Lowry Road, Bombay and Jessie attended the Bombay
School with her siblings.

On 2 September 1903, Jessie married William (known as Will) EVANS who was a local farmer,
farming with his father. When Jessie’s father died they took over the Caie Farm.

Their were two children born to Jessie and Will

• 1904 Helen Violet (known as Nellie), married Roy Aubrey PARKER
• 1906 Rosalind Emma (known as Rosie), married George Eric ADAMSOM.

Jessie and Will lived in Bombay all their lives and are buried at the Bombay Presbyterian Church
cemetery. Will died in 1947 and Jessie who lived another 20 years, died in 1967.

The inscription on their headstone reads;

Sources:

BDM – www.dia.govt.nz
School records – NZ Society of
Genealogists
Family Tree – www.familysearch.org
Cemetery records Franklin Branch NZSG
Probate records: www.familysearch.org
Photo of Jessie: Nancy Hawks

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3367 Surname: CAIRNS
Given names: Louisa
Occupation: household duties Address: Rama Rama

Qualification: residential

Louisa was christened at St Dunstan, Stepney, London on 3 July 1844. She was the eldest child of
William Robert NIELD and his wife Eliza and had two brothers and a sister. On the 1871 UK census
she was 26, living at home with her parents and her father was listed as a shirtmaker employing 10
females. In the 1881 census she was living in Wales as a Lodging Housekeeper and must have
travelled to New Zealand after this date.

She married Dugald (sometimes Dougald) CAIRNS in 1887. Dugald was a widower with 5 children,
the youngest only 6 when they married. At the clearing sale of their farm on 11 July 1903,
advertised in the NZ Herald, the Cairns were selling cows, horses and 50 fowls among other items.

Louisa died on 26 August 1929, just 3 days after her husband and they are both buried at
Hillsborough cemetery in Auckland.

Auckland Star 28 Aug 1929

Sources:
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz
Old newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Records – www.familysearch.com

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Waipa 0332 Surname: CALLAGHAN
Given names: Annie
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Rama Rama

Qualification: residential

Anne McCABE, daughter of Henry McCabe and Catherine BRENNAN was born in 1843 at Cloncorick,
County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. She was the oldest child and had four brothers.

She sailed from Dublin to Auckland on the Dauntless, arriving on 15 May 1865. The voyage was filled
with drama with mutiny of the crew, bad weather and many deaths. A number of the crew and a
few passengers threatened to kill the Captain and take the ship into the Cape because of their
dissatisfaction with the accommodation and food and the condition of the ship. After a journey of
135 days they finally arrived in Auckland.

She married Lawrence Henry CALLAGHAN, who had also sailed on the Dauntless, in St Patricks
Cathedral, Auckland on 12 Feb 1866.

Lawrence (1846 – 1907) was a farmer, storekeeper and carrier, so Annie would have had a busy life,
also bringing up a family of 2 sons and 4 daughters. The Callaghans donated the land for the Maketu
Catholic School which opened in 1879 and were involved in community activities with Lawrence
serving on the school committee for a number of years. In 1895 the family moved to Okoroire
where Lawrence and Annie managed the Okoroire Hotel and Sanatorium. This popular health resort
was described in the Cyclopedia of 1902 ‘as being a commodious building containing 40 rooms
accommodating 70 people, a large hall and a store with the post and telegraph attached to it. There
were also four hot baths, proved to be beneficial to many human ailments.’ No doubt this gave
employment to the family and many others.

Ann (or Annie as she was known) died on 22 Jan 1920 and is buried in Rotorua.

Sources: Family tree and information – Dave Callaghan; BDM – www.dia.govt.nz
“The NZ Electronic Text Collection” – http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Waipa 0334 Surname: CALLAGHAN
Given names: Kate
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Rama Rama

Qualification: residential

(her signature from her will written in 1911)

Catherine Emily Josephine CALLAGHAN (known as Kate) was born on 27 Sept 1871 at Maketu, near
Drury. She was the third child of Lawrence Henry Callaghan and Ann McCABE who had both arrived
in NZ in 1865 on the Dauntless and married in 1866. They ran a store, farm and carrying business at
Maketu until they moved to Okoroire to run a hotel and spa resort in 1895.
Kate married William Henry CONSTANT (1873-1911) at Okoroire Hall on 24 October 1900. Both their
fathers were listed as Hotel Keepers on the marriage certificate.
Kate and William had four children – two daughters and two sons. William died early, leaving Kate
to raise her young children, all under 11, alone. It appears that she must have run a boarding house
in Rotorua, as on her probate that was the occupation given – boarding house proprietress.
She died on 14 Feb 1939 and is buried with her husband in Rotorua Cemetery, the inscription on
their headstone below.

Sources:
Family Tree & photo – Dave Callaghan
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz
Cemetery record – Rotorua District Council

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Waipa 0336 Surname: CALLAGHAN
Given names: Mary Ann
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Rama Rama

Qualification: residential

Mary Ann CALLAGHAN was born on 27 July 1869 at Maketu. She was the second child of Lawrence
Henry Callaghan and Ann McCABE who had a store, farm and carrying business at Maketu, a
settlement between Drury and Bombay, now called Ramarama.

She would have been educated at the Maketu Catholic School when it opened in 1879 and is
recorded in the newspaper as having sung at various community functions in the district. She no
doubt helped her mother with the younger children and may even have worked in the store.

She married Benjamin TAYLOR (1873-1952) on 21 April 1897 at the residence of her parents at
Okoroire. They had moved here in 1895 to run the hotel and health resort.

NZ Herald 11 June 1897

Sadly Mary died in childbirth on 22 February 1898. Her only child, daughter Mary Jane TAYLOR
(1873 – 1952) married Francis Maurice CLARKE in 1920.

Her headstone in the Rotorua cemetery reads
Mary Taylor, wife of Benjamin died 22/2/1898

Sources:
Family Tree and information: Dave Callaghan; Old newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz;
BDM www.dia.govt.nz; Google; Cemetery record & photo – Rotorua District Council

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0456 Surname: CAMPBELL
Given names: Mary
Occupation: household duties Address: Whangarata

Qualification: residential

On 30 December 1865 the immigrant ship Percy arrived
in Auckland, 123 days after it had sailed from Gravesend,
England. One of the steerage passengers was Mary
CARRICK, a 25 year old single woman from County
Galway, Ireland. Also, on board was 26 year old Hugh
William CAMPBELL from County Down, Ireland. Mary
and Hugh were married in St John the Baptist Catholic
Church in Parnell, Auckland on 26 July 1867. It is not
known if Mary and Hugh knew each other before they
boarded the Percy or whether they were married after a
shipboard romance. While living in Parnell, two children
were born, Hugh John Joseph in 1870 and William
Laurence in 1873.

By 1887 the family were living at Ewing Road,
Whangarata and William was attending Whangarata
School which had opened in 1886.

Mary was widowed on 15 January 1889 when Hugh died
at Whangarata. He was buried at the Tuakau Cemetery.
Eleven years later, on 17 January 1900, her son Hugh
John Joseph died, aged 29, at her home in Whangarata
and was buried in the family plot with his father.

On 12 June 1922 Father George Augustine KELLY, priest at the Tuakau Catholic Church, visited Mary
at Whangarata and wrote her last will and testament according to her instructions. After Father KELLY
read it out to her, Mary executed her will by making her mark (X) in two places, witnessed by her
daughter-in-law Catharine CAMPBELL and Catherine KERRIGAN whose husband Michael was the
railway porter in charge of the Whangarata Railway Station. Two days later, on 14 June 1922, Mary
died and was laid to rest with her husband and son at Tuakau Cemetery.

Sources:
Passenger list – Daily Southern Cross 1 January 1866: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Photo of Mary CAMPBELL: Watson/Wilson Family Collection – Sandra Brasell, custodian of collection
Campbell family notes by Robert Campbell (Mary’s great grandson): Copy at Tuakau and District Museum
Whangarata and Parnell School records: Archives New Zealand https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz
Probate documents for Mary CAMPBELL: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1865481
Death notice published in New Zealand Tablet 29 June 1922: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

Researcher: Sandra Brasell

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0459 Surname: CANT
Given names: Marian Pannell
Occupation: storekeeper Address: Awitu

Qualification: residential

Marian Pannell CANT was born in Colompton, Devon, England to James PULLIN and Anne Trump
Pannell Pullin, in 1837 (approx). She came from quite a wealthy Devonshire family and was related
to the pirate family of HAWKINs, cousins of Sir Francis DRAKE.

She was married at Exeter on 20 September1855 to William Cant (1828-1917) a commercial traveller
for Bostock Shoes. Marian and her husband came to New Zealand about 1862 on the ship William
Miles. At that time they had three children, two daughters and a baby boy. Later another daughter
was born.

They lived in central Auckland and Onehunga where William had a boot-making business and Marian
ran a store. From there they moved to Awhitu . Life in New Zealand did not seem to suit Marian
well because about 1873, when her mother sent money for the fare, she returned to England with
her daughters.

Marian kept a shop at Newton St Cynes? in Devon. They probably stayed there about 5 years,
returning to NZ in 1878 on the ship Lock Fleet. They returned to Awhitu and lived at ‘The Poplars,’
Cant’s Bridge. Marian and William kept a store at Awhitu landing on the Awhitu stream and bought
kauri gum from the gum diggers who worked throughout the Peninsula. The marriage does not
appear to have been an easy one because records show Marian working at the NZ Herald office in
1884 and living in Grafton Rd.

In 1895, however, their youngest daughter Julia was married from ‘The Poplars’ with her parents
acting as the genial hosts.

Sometime later the house burnt down and Marian and William went
to live (separately} with each of their three daughters, in North
Auckland, Paeroa and Whiri Whiri.

They are both buried in the cemetery at Paeroa.

Marian died in 1911 aged 74.

Sources:
Family records
Researcher: Julie Harper

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0469 Surname: CAROLAN
Given names: Eliza
Occupation: household duties Address: Pukekohe

Qualification: residential

Eliza was the fifth child of Smollett Henderson REID (1829-1901) and Jane DAVIES (1833-1914). She
was born in 1868 and had three sisters and two brothers, all born in New Zealand. Her parents were
very early settlers in New Zealand, having been married in Drury in 1860.

In 1892 Eliza became the second wife of Dr James Frederick CAROLAN, a colourful character who
was involved with volunteer units, most likely as their medical officer. He was an honorary member
of the South Franklin Mounted Infantry, then Surgeon-Captain to the Waiuku Cavalry.

He, and after his marriage, Eliza, moved around the country, appearing at a diffent location in almost
every electoral roll. In 1890 he was at Bombay and 1893 at Pukekohe, then moved around up north.

Three sons were born to the couple and all served overseas in WW1.

A longer period was spent at Matamata from about 1912. Here, according to a book by Joan
Stanley, Matamata: Growth of a Town (1985), they settled in Matamata before the First World War,
James being the third of early doctors serving the community. Eliza opened a private maternity
hospital called ‘Kapai Whare’, and both husband and wife worked hard during the 1918 influenza
epidemic, in one case bringing bowls of hot soup to one family with nine sick children. Dr James
became ill but still worked on while Eliza nursed many patients.

James died in 1930, aged 79 and after his death Eliza lived with her son Robert at Te Kuiti, Rodney,
Roskill and Mt Eden until her death on 17 December 1959 aged 90.

She is buried at the Christ Church cemetery at Alfriston, Auckland near her parents and her brother
David.

Sources:

Book – Matamata: Growth of a Town
by Joan Stanley
NZ electoral rolls: ancestry.co.uk
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz
Headstone photo – billiongraves.com

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3369 Surname: CASTLE
Given names: Esther
Occupation: household duties Address: Waipipi

Esther was born Esther McDONALD in Ireland Qualification: residential
c1836. She married Thomas CASTLE
(Tommy/Tom, a Widower), on 27 September Thomas’s first wife, Catherine (Kate), died 6
1890 in New Zealand and lived in Waipipi on June 1888, aged 43, and is buried in the
Crotty Road, just down from the Waipipi Waipipi Cemetery.
School as it stands today.
Thomas died 7 June 1933, aged 94 years old,
Thomas, worked as a “farm servant” at St and is also buried in the Waipipi Cemetery
Michael’s – a large farm in the Waipipi area –
according to Electoral Rolls, from 1880-1900. Esther died 30 December 1924 at the Little
On the 1905-06 Roll he is listed as a Farmer. Sisters of the Poor, aged 88 years old, but a
This may be when they started farming their burial plot for her is not known.
own 30 acres on Crotty Road, with a little
home nestled among pine trees. The Parakau Sources:
Stream was near their home and it is believed
that one of several “failed” flax mills which NZ Cemetery Records
were established in the “wider district” may Papers Past – Death Details
have been on their property. Papers Past – Participation in local school
Papers Past – Officiating at Waipipi funeral
The couple, like many in the district, were services
poor but hardworking, and always very active Quote from “A Family Successfully Raided” by Judi
in the Catholic Church with Thomas a willing Altinka (Jones Family) in article in Waipipi 150
and active lay preacher. Although they had years Celebration – whereabouts of Flax Mill
no children they also, as a householder of the (south of Waipipi School).
district, participated in ensuring the
establishment and continued fulfilment of Researcher: Lois Hopping
education requirements at the local Catholic
school.

Their home, still nestled among the trees, was
a reminder of the couple for many years after
their deaths.

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0486 Surname: CATHCART
Given names: Eliza Jane
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Pukekohe

Qualification: residential

Eliza Jane was the eldest daughter of John CATHCART and Margaret TROTTER and was born on 1
May 1867, probably in Pukekohe.

Her parents had arrived in Auckland on 14 February 1865 on the ill-fated Ganges, a voyage that saw
54 children die, including James Cathcart, their infant son.

Eliza would have lived with her parents and siblings on a small farm near the corner of Kitchener
Road and Queen Street and attended Pukekohe West School from 1873 - 1880.

On 23 October 195 Eliza married Hugh HAMILTON, who had arrived as an 11 year old with his family
on the Ganges. In his obituary it said that he had lived at Mauku, then went farming in the Papakura
Valley before shifting to be one of the first settlers in Onewhero.

It seems that there were no children to this marriage.

Eliza died on 28 August and Hugh remarried in 1929. He died on 24 July 1938 and is buried near Eliza
in Pukekohe Cemetery. Her headstone has this curious inscription, below;

Sources:

Cemetery records & headstone photo – Franklin Branch NZSG;
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz;
Old newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
School records – NZ Society of Genealogists

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0487 Surname: CATHCART
Given names: Margaret
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Pukekohe

Qualification: residential

Margaret TROTTER was born about 1845 in County Fermanagh. On 24 September 1862 she married
John CATHCART. John was born about 1841 also in Fermanagh. They, like many others, decided to
immigrate to New Zealand and in 1864 they left Queenstown in Cork on board the Ganges.
Accompanying them was their 8 month old son James and Margaret was pregnant with their second
child. Sadly son James died from anaemia on 8 January at 3.45pm. The ship was in open sea between
South Africa and Australia.

Second child Alexander was born on 2 April 1865 in a tent at Drury. John’s occupation was recorded
as labourer and their crown grant details were
listed as Lot 42 (9ac, 0r, 32p, Lot 241 (10ac) and Lot
242 (7ac, 0r, 16p) in Suburban Section 2 Pukekohe.
His land totalled 26 acres, 1 rood & 8 perches. Their
son Alexander recalled that his parents first went
to the Onehunga Barracks, were then sent to Drury
and finally onto Pukekohe where John was allotted
a small block which was later known as Shepherd’s
corner which is the corner of Queen Street and
Kitchener Road.

During the early years John was a member of the
Forest Rangers but they did not see active service.
He was also a member of the Pukekohe West Road
Board and served on the Pukekohe School
Committee. John passed away on 21 December
1915 aged 84 which puts birthdate back to 1831
but his age on the passenger list was recorded as
23.

His widow Margaret lived for another 10 years
before she passed away on 7 April 1925 and her
death notice is from the New Zealand Herald dated 9 April 1925.

Sources:
Papers Past- paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Onewhero Special Settlement1886-1986 by Joyce & Eddie Fox, p.41

Researcher: Ross Miller

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3370 Surname: CATHCART
Given names: Margaret Jnr
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Pukekohe

Qualification: residential

Margaret was the daughter of John CATHCART and Margaret TROTTER and was born on 19 July
1968, probably in Pukekohe.

Her parents had come to New Zealand on the ill-fated Ganges that saw the death of 54 children
during the voyage, including Margaret’s brother James who was one year old. The next child was
born soon after the Cathcarts’ arrival, in their tent accommodation at Drury.

Margaret would have lived with her parents and siblings on their small block of land near the corner
of Kitchener Road and Queen Street and attended the Pukekohe School.

In 1906 she married Charles PRICE a farmer – in the 1905/06 electoral roll he was living at Otaika,
Northland but in 1911 Margaret and Charles were farming at Manurewa. By 1919 they had moved
to a farm in Lake Road, Ohaupo where they would live until Margaret’s death.

Family history has a son who only lived a short time being born to the Price’s but there were no
other children.

After Margaret’s death it seems that Charles returned to Tuakau and was on the 1954 electoral roll
at 20 Harrisville Road. In Charles’ will dated 1951 he left this property to a niece of Margaret’s and
the farm at Lake Road, Ohaupo to his nephew, Joseph.

Margaret and Charles are buried at Te Awamutu cemetery and their headstone reads;

Sources:

NZ electoral rolls – ancestry.co.uk
Probate records – www.familysearch.org
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz
Cemetery records – NZ Society of Genealogists

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 4000 Surname: CHALMERS
Given names: Blanch Elizabeth Address: Waiuku
Occupation: household duties Qualification: residential

Blanche (Blanch on Electoral Roll) Elizabeth GYDE was born in Auckland in 1867 and as a young
woman travelled to Australia where she met and married James Deerness CHALMERS in 1888 in
Melbourne. Their first two children were born in Melbourne, Flor Myrtle in 1889 and Percy George
in 1891. Soon afterwards they returned to New Zealand where James took up land at Glenbrook,
starting a building business with his brother. The remaining four children: William Herbert, Christina
Catherine, Elizabeth May (May) and Alice Lillian were born in New Zealand.

As far as we know, Blanche didn't take up any positions in her own right but would have been very
busy looking after her family and supporting her husband. She would have gained considerable
social status in later life through her husband's public profile as president of the Waiuku Bowling
Club, as a member of the Roads Board and finally, as the Franklin Ward member on the Auckland
Hospital Board.

Blanche and James came to live in Waiuku in 1916, in a house on Kitchener Road near the corner of
View Road. James died there in 1929 and Blanche died on 19 November 1931. Their daughter
Elizabeth May (known as May) married my uncle Harrie Martyn BARRIBALL, and after her parents
died, they lived in this house, one of many that James Chalmers' firm had built in Waiuku. This
house was quite distinctive, with a rotunda look out on the roof, and I believe it still exists. I
remember staying there as a child when visiting Waiuku on holiday.

Blanche is buried in Waiuku Cemetery with her husband and other family members.

Sources: PapersPast, Family History
Researcher: Margaret Barriball

Electoral Roll: Waipa 0390 Surname: CHAPMAN
Given names: Annie
Occupation: housekeeper Address: Pokeno

Qualification: residential

Annie was a 50 year old married woman with two teenage daughters and a seven year old when she
enrolled for the 1893 election but she chose her occupation as housekeeper rather than the usual
household duties. Her husband David CHAPMAN was a farmer at Pokeno but on the 1880/81
electoral roll he was described as a settler, Remuera, with Lots 91, 92 & 96 being 30 acres at Pokeno.

Annie and David had three daughters:

• Sara Margaret Florence, born 1877
• Ellen Nora Isabella Mary, born 1879
• Frances (Fanny) Jane , born 1886.

David Chapman died as a result of a farm accident on 9 April 1912, age 77. In his obituary he was
descibed as ‘a splendid type of sturdy pioneer’. His death notice said he died at his property Daisy
Hill, Pokeno.

Annie died on 21 February 1913 and they are both buried at Pokeno cemetery.

Sources:

BDM – www.dia.govt.nz;
Old newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Headstone photo – Waikato District Council

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times 28 Feb 1913

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0507 Surname: CHIPLIN
Given names: Margaret
Occupation: household duties Address: Whangarata

Qualification: residential

Margaret BOGGS was born in Northern Ireland in 1842, the daughter of Joseph Boggs and his wife
Eliza WILKIE. Margaret and her parents and siblings came to New Zealand on the Ann in 1848. Joseph
Boggs was a member of the 31st Foot Regiment and was one of the Otahuhu Fencibles.
On 28 April 1858 Margaret married Robert BARCLAY at Drury. Two children were born, Jacob in 1859
and Margaret (known as Maggie) in 1861. Robert Barclay died of pneumonia and Margaret then
married Joseph CHIPLIN in Otahuhu on 1 January 1863. Joseph adopted Margaret’s two children.
Margaret was to give birth to twelve more children between November 1863 and February 1887. In
1873 Margaret and Joseph’s daughter Ellen Matilda died aged 4 months.
In 1882 Margaret appeared at the Papakura Resident Magistrate Court in front of Thomas JACKSON
Esq. R.M. She was charged with throwing stones at another Whangarata resident.

Joseph Chiplin died on 1 May 1897 “from a long and painful
illness” according to his death notice. He was buried at the
Tuakau Cemetery. Margaret’s son John was buried with his
father after he died from an epileptic fit in 1906 when he was
39. Margaret continued to live at Whangarata until her death on
Christmas Eve 1911. She is buried at Tuakau Cemetery alongside
Joseph and John.

HEADSTONE INSCRIPTION
In Loving Memory of Joseph Chiplin
who died 1st May 1897 aged 68 years
also John Chiplin beloved son of the
above who died 14th August 1906
aged 39 years. Thy will be done. Also
Margaret loved wife of Joseph Chiplin
died 24th Dec 1911 in her 70th year.

Sources:
Family notes from Marie Collins (descendant of Margaret CHIPLIN): Copy held at Tuakau & District Museum
Newspaper articles: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Headstone image: https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/services-facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-
database/allotment/22033
Researcher: Sandra Brasell

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3380 Surname: CLARK
Given names: Elizabeth
Occupation: household duties Address: Karaka

Qualification: residential

Elizabeth CLARK (nee FINDLAY) was born on 5
May 1849. She arrived in New Zealand with her
family at the age of 19. Her father James Finlay
was a farmer at Mauku.

She married James Clark, who had a flax mill at
Karaka on 22 January 1873 - they had both joined
the Baptist Church in 1871. They had 9 children –
5 daughters and 4 sons.

Their family life was described in a letter from
one of their grandchildren – “their father was a
kindly man, very good tempered, there was never
any arguing in the family and they had scripture
reading and prayer every morning and evening. “

The flax mill was later sold to Joseph Clark and
George BRYANT Jnr.

The family moved to Buckland where they had a
small farm. Her husband James died aged 52 of
tetanus.

Elizabeth died on 19 June 1916 aged 67, at Esplanade Rd, Mt Eden, the home of her son-in-law
William GILL and is buried at Mauku Cemetery.

Sources:
“Clark 1842-1982” compiled by Janet Clark of Palmerston North.
Lorraine King, 77 Kingseat Road, R D 4, Pukekohe.
Papers Past - Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 145, 19 June, 1916

Researcher: Carol Eggleton

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3384 Surname: CLARK
Given names: Maria
Occupation: household duties Address: Karaka

Qualification: residential

Maria CLARK (nee REYNOLDS) was born on 26
September 1852.

She married John Clark on 24 January 1872. They
lived at “Glenfield, “Karaka. They had 13 children, 9
survived into adulthood – 4 girls and 5 boys.

One of her granddaughters remembered her
grandmother in the Clark family history.

“Grandma Maria was cheerful and petite and had
the ability to produce marvellous dishes from the
huge black stove which dominated the living room –
stuffed curlew, rabbit pie, tasty Christmas puddings.
Little did I know then of the heartache this brave
little woman had to bear. Her Bible records that she
had 13 children, 9 of whom survived and four died
either at birth or at an early age and were buried on
a little hill a hundred yards from the homestead. In
1914 her husband died – 1915 her son Leslie
was killed on Gallipoli, and she received from
the army his Testament with the bullet hole
through the centre. 1916 an elder son Joseph
died of wounds in France and 1917 her
youngest son Colin was wounded in France.
Her Christian faith sustained her through
these and other financial crises and she died
at Te Aroha on 28 September 1930, her well-
worn Bible her daily companion to the end.”

Sources:
“Clark 1842-1982 “ compiled by Janet Clark of
Palmerston North.
Lorraine King, 77 Kingseat Road, R D $,
Pukekohe.
Papers Past - New Zealand Herald, Volume
LXVII, Issue 20702, 23 October 1930.

Researcher: Carol Eggleton

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3383 Surname: CLARK
Given names: Marion
Occupation: household duties Address: Pollok

Qualification: residential

Marion Cochrane CLARK was born on 4 September 1851 at Eastwood, Renfrew, Stirling, Scotland,
the daughter of Thomas and Agnes BROWNLEE.

She married James McLean CLARK on 11 October 1876 at the Dwelling house of Thomas Brownlee,
Pollok, Awhitu, and they had a family of eleven children; 6 girls and 5 boys. The youngest girl was
Mary Mauchlan Clark, mother of Peggy Mauchlan MUIR and Barbara Mary BOLTON (nee Muir).

Marion and James lived at 155 Nelson Street, Auckland after moving from Pollok.

James then ran a gentlewoman’s registry placing young women in suitable domestic positions and
was known as a land and labour agent. Margaret was known for making hats.

James died on 3 April 1922.

Marion lived for some years until her death at the Ngaio Street home of her daughter Mary (known
as Molly).

Marion loved blackball sweets and shared a bedroom with granddaughter Peggy who remembered
them being crunched in the dark.

Marion died on 26 May 1933 at Ngaio Street, Otahuhu, Auckland and was buried on 28 May 1933 at
Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland.

Sources: Family Knowledge
Archives New Zealand, Probate Records, 1843-1998
Researcher: Barbara Bolton

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3385 Surname: CLARK
Given names: Sarah Matilda
Occupation: household duties Address: Patumahoe

Qualification: residential

Sarah was born Sarah Matilda KEITH, the daughter of James
Hodgson Keith (1819-1891) and Ann WARTERS (1823-1892)
in Staxton, Yorkshire, England on 29 March 1858.

She was six years old when she arrived In New Zealand with
the family on the Ulcoats on 22 January 1864. She lived at
Remuera, where her father was a roading contractor and at
St John’s College farm before the family moved to Mauku.
It was there that she met Joseph CLARK whom she married,
at the age of 17, on 22 October 1878.

Joseph was one of the five sons of Joseph and Emily Clark
who had come from Scotland and settled at Western
Springs, Auckland in 1845-46. They later bought a property
“Seagrove” at Waiau Pa in July 1858.
In the early days transport over the bridle tracks was
difficult and it was common for settlers to walk from
Auckland to Onehunga and on to Waiau Pa by boat.
Sarah and Joseph had seven children – four daughters and three
sons. Joseph and his brothers Robert and Isaac each had a farm
of their own before the turn of the century. Sarah and Joseph’s
home on Puriri Farm was at the end of Seagrove Point, near the
original homestead.
After Joseph died in March 1918 Sarah moved to Weymouth to
live. She died in December 1939 – obit below, NZ Herald 3 Jan 1940

Sources:

Keith Family in NZ – 1864-1993 – Family history book
Old newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz; Headstone photo –
Franklin Branch NZSG

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0544 Surname: CLOTWORTHY
Given names: Catherine
Occupation: domestic Address: Pukekohe East

Catherine CLOTWORTHY was born on 8 Qualification: residential
February 1862 at ‘Abbey Farm’, Whareora,
Whangarei. She is the only Clotworthy listed in An obituary appeared in the Northern
the 1893 Franklin Electoral District and gave Advocate on 25 August 1936:
her occupation as domestic. She is also the
only Catherine Clotworthy listed for 1893 in all Miss Catherine Clotworthy
of New Zealand. In July 1894 Catherine, or
Kate as she was known, was a witness to the Still another link in the chain of pioneers
will of Sarah Riley DEERNESS at Pukekohe East: settlers of the North was broken on Saturday
evening, when Miss Catherine Clotworthy, of
Catherine would have been 31 years old at the Whareora, passed away at the District Hospital
time and perhaps housekeeping for someone at the aged of 75 years.
in the district, maybe even Mrs Deerness. In The deceased was a daughter of the late
subsequent years she is recorded in the Mr and Mrs Nathaniel Clotworthy, who were
electoral rolls of her home district of among the earliest settlers in the Abbey Caves
Whareora. Catherine (Kate) was the second district at Whareora, and she was born on “The
eldest of 12 children, all of whom were born in Abbey” farm. Throughout her whole lifetime
New Zealand except the eldest, George. Her Miss Clotworthy was greatly loved by all who
parents were Nathaniel Clotworthy (1830- knew her. She was a sincere Christian in every
1913) and Amelia Moore WILSON (1836-1919). sense of the word, and lived a life marked by
They married at Crumlin, County Antrim, kindliness towards everybody.
Ireland on 20 May 1857 and came to New The Rev W Elliott, speaking from the pulpit on
Zealand with their son George around 1862. Sunday, made very feeling reference to the
deceased, and paid warm tribute to her sterling
Catherine and her siblings: character and the help she had always given
• George (1856-1942 the Presbyterian Church, of which she had been
• Catherine (1862-1936) a staunch supporter.
• Sarah (1863-1941) The funeral took place yesterday. A service was
• Emily (1865) held in the Whangarei Presbyterian Church, the
• Thomas Wilson (1867-1942) casket occupying a position in front of the
• John Wilson (1869-1939) communion table. The Interment took place at
• Eleanor (1871) the Whareora cemetery, where there was a
• Nathaniel (1873-1929) large attendance, including many old settlers
• Eliza (1875-1929) from all parts of the district.
• Charles (1877-1859) The services at the church and at the graveside
• Alice (1879-1959) were conducted by the Rev W Elliott, MA.
• Louis (1882-1884).
Sources: Historic NZ BMD; Whareora Cemetery records;
Catherine died on 22 August 1936 at the age of Family Search; Papers Past; NZ historical BDM’s.
75 and is buried at Whareora Cemetery, Researched by Christine Madsen & Lynda Muir
Northland, about 15 minutes from Whangarei,
in the same cemetery as other members of her
family.

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0551 Surname: CLYDE
Given names: Anne
Occupation: household duties Address: Whangarata

Qualification: residential

In September 1883 Annie KENNEDY, 14, and Sources:
her older brother Thomas, 17, arrived in New Marriage registration Robert CLYDE & Annie
Zealand on board the Doric. KENNEDY 1887/974: Copy held at Tuakau and
Four years later, in July 1887, Annie appeared District Museum
in court charged with stealing a brown velvet Newspaper articles:
dress. Her co-accused was Robert CLYDE. It https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
appears that the original owner of the dress Clyde Family Tree, Lowe Family Tree & Nadine’s
was Annie’s sister, Jane, who had died in Family Tree: https://www.ancestry.com.au
January 1886. Jane was married to Robert NZ Cemetery Records, 1800-2007 and NZ Electoral
Clyde at the time of her death. Rolls: https://www.ancestry.com.au
The court case was dismissed due to Headstone at Waikumete Cemetery:
insufficient evidence and later that year Annie https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/69353894
was married to Robert Clyde. Researcher: Sandra Brasell
According to the marriage registration Annie
Kennedy was born in Donegal and was 21 years
of age when she married Robert Clyde on 1
December 1887 at the Office of the Registrar
of Marriages in Auckland. The marriage
registration states that she was the daughter
of Charles Kennedy and his wife Catherine
BIGLEY. Records show the birth of an Anne
Kennedy to Charles Kennedy and Catherine
Bigley on 1 May 1869, therefore Annie was
only 18 in 1887. The Marriage Act 1880 stated
that parental consent must be given for the
marriage of anyone under the age of 21.
Robert was a widower and was 42 years old at
the time of their marriage.
Annie and Robert had two children, Robert jnr
who was born in 1889 at Auckland and
Elizabeth (Lizzie) who was born in 1894 at
Whangarata. Robert and Lizzie’s names
appear in the Whangarata School records until
1903.
Robert died on 1 November 1918 at West
Coast Road, Waikumete and is buried in the
Waikumete Cemetery. When Annie died 19
years later on 12 June 1937 she was buried
alongside Robert.

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3388 Surname: COBOURNE
Given names: Helen Constance
Occupation: household duties Address: Maioro

Qualification: residential

Helen Constance Marie TAYLOR was born c1866 and married Alfred COBOURNE on 25 April 1889.
Alfred was born in New Zealand on 5 December 1865 to William and Mary Ann who had come on
the “Reihersteig”, with his older brother William, in December 1865. Helen’s sister, Mary, married
William in 1890.

Many of the passengers from the “Reihersteig” were granted land at Maioro and Alfred’s family
settled there. When Alfred’s father died (1878) he helped his mother and siblings run their little
farm. By 1900 Alfred appeared on the Electoral Roll as a farmer in Maioro, possibly in his own right,
but by 1905 the family of five had moved to Port Waikato, again in a farming capacity.

Helen and Alfred had three children – Alfred Clarence Taylor b. 1891, Florence Mary Janet b. 1892
and Alice Daphne Ellen b.1895.

In a “Recollection” article Alfred was reported as being influential in the development of the farming
properties of the 80,000-acre (approx.) Te Akau Station that stretched from Port Waikato to the
Raglan Harbour. Alfred, with his gangs of Maori workers, was overseer, contractor, manager, and
generally responsible for much of the rapid improvement work that was done. “If the work was a
Cobourne job it was well and faithfully done with absolutely no need of supervision.”

In the early stages of this huge commitment, Alfred with his brother William, and brother-in-law
Edward SPARGO (and their families) were the only white people living in the area. The behind the
scenes work that would have been involved for both Alfred and Helen, especially organisation and
working out a way of easy communication and working styles, must have been immense.

Helen passed away at the Mater Misericordia Hospital, Auckland, after a long and painful illness on
30 May 1913, aged 47. She was highly respected as being of a kindly nature and a good friend and
neighbour. She was buried in Waikaraka Cemetery.

Alfred received the news all parents dreaded during World War I, that Clarence Taylor his only son
had died on 1 October 1918. “He had won a Military Cross at Passchendaele and about the same
time had been promoted to Captain. He was quiet and reserved by nature yet popular with all
ranks.”

Alfred continued his farm work and active participation in local politics after Helen passed away but
gradually William led a more retired lifestyle and Edward began to extend into other business areas.

Alfred passed away on 15 August 1948, aged 82 and was buried in Tuakau Public Cemetery.

Sources:

NZ BDM Historical Records
Cemetery Records
“Recollections” Article from Mellsop Family New Zealand - Harry Oswald (HO, Ossie)
PapersPast – WAIUKU Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 2, Issue 98, 3 June 1913
PapersPast – LOCAL AND GENERAL Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 7, Issue 420, 22 Oct 1918

Researcher: Lois Hopping

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3389 Surname: COBOURNE
Given names: Mary Ann
Occupation: household duties Address: Maioro

Qualification: residential

Mary Ann came to New Zealand with her husband, William, and four-year-old son, William on 25
December 1864 on the “Reihersteig”. The ship carried the fourth batch of Government emigrants
from Table Bay and left Cape of Good Hope on 26 October.

For the first month in New Zealand the passengers were housed in tents at Onehunga. On 23
January they were taken to Maioro, across the Waikato River from Port Waikato, where some of the
men were able to find employment in a naval depot. The rest were again in tents until April before
they were allotted their section. This whole settlement was virtually abandoned because of the
drifting sand dunes.

Some hardships were not unexpected, and William may have been used to tents but Mary had a
young child. William had been a member of the 96th Regiment of Foot Soldiers, enlisting 1839 at 18,
and being discharged 1857 at 39 – Regimental No. 1080. William’s military index states he was born

in Armagh, Armagh, Northern Ireland.

The 1870-71 Electoral Roll confirms William and Mary took up a freehold allotment of Lot 6, 8 kms
up Maioro Road, Waiuku West and they were still farming the 20 acres in 1875 during which time
Mary Ann had given birth to three more children, Alfred (1865), Charlotte (1869) and Walter (1872).
The children were among the first settlers’ children to go to Maioro School.

Tragically for the young family William passed away 18 February 1878 and was buried in Waiuku
Cemetery.

In William’s will the property, land and all his other effects were left for the sole use of Mary and her
children while under age and unmarried. Mary and the children were cared for, a roof and a farm to
work.

William, the eldest child, took a major role in helping his mother during these difficult times. He
married on 23 December 1890 to Mary Crawford Paul TAYLOR, and continued farming his father’s
land, then their own farm 3 kms down the road. Later they joined Alf and his wife Helen at Port
Waikato.

Alfred had married Helen Constance Marie TAYLOR on 25 April 1889. He too farmed in the Maioro
area before moving to Port Waikato.

Charlotte married in Port Moresby, British New Guinea on 16 April 1896, to Captain John Deschild
GODET of the L.M.S. schooner “Olive Branch” (London Missionary Society).

Walter married Clara Maud HILL on 26 December 1903, and he too made a lifestyle of farming.

Eventually Mary moved into Waiuku and had her own small home. She passed away 3 December
1917 at the age of 89 and was buried with William in Waiuku Cemetery.

Sources:
PapersPast
Ancestry
NZ BDM Historical Records
Waipipi District 150 Booklet – Article “The Ships of the Aided Migration Schemes”
Researcher: Lois Hopping

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3390 Surname: COBOURNE
Given names: Mary Crawford
Occupation: household duties Address: Maioro

Qualification: residential

Mary Crawford Paul TAYLOR was born c1856 and was a qualified teacher. She married William
COBOURNE on 23 December 1890. William (Bill or Willie) was born c1860 in South Africa and came
to New Zealand with his parents on 25 December 1864 on the “Reihersteig” at the age of four.

William’s parents took up an allotment at Maioro and on the death of his father 1878, William and
his siblings helped his mother with the farm. After his marriage to Mary, William farmed (3 Km)
down the road.

Mary and William did not have children of their own. A neighbour, Mary Ann JOHNSON (nee
BAILEY), was kicked by a horse, while pregnant, and died (1896) through complications of the
miscarriage that resulted. Her husband was left with a big, but young family. Mary and William took
on the responsibility of the two eldest children, Bill (9) and George (8), and brought them up as their
own.

There are indications that Mary helped out, or may have taught, at Maioro School. Like most
mothers, involvement in “your children’s lives” is time-consuming but well worth the effort.

By the early 1900s William’s brother Alf, and Mary’s sister Helen, had moved to Port Waikato and
established themselves in a farming venture. However, William and Mary remained farming the
family 20 acres in Maioro (on the left about 5kms up Maioro Road), now with two young teenagers
to help. Eventually William and Mary joined Alfred and Helen. George bought the farm and Bill
went to work for Uncle Charlie Bailey who lived a short distance down the road at Maioro.

William became involved with Alfred’s farming venture, as
did Mary’s brother-in-law Edward SPARGO, although
during this early involvement William also considered
himself a builder (Electoral Rolls). Because of the size of
the farming venture Mary was also involved, plus having
her family commitments.

Gradually William backed away from the farming towards
a more retired life for both him and Mary.

Mary passed away on 4 July 1930, aged 74. William passed
away on 2 April 1939, aged 78. They were buried in
Tuakau Public Cemetery.

Part of the farm is now the Cobourne Reserve at Port
Waikato. Johnson descendants continue to farm on the
Maioro land today (2018).

Sources:
Family Knowledge – George Johnson
Electoral Rolls
PapersPast – Obituary New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23316, 8 April 1939

Researcher: Lois Hopping

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3392 Surname: COCHRANE
Given names: Elizabeth
Occupation: household duties Address: Pollok

Qualification: residential

Elizabeth Hayter was born in 1860 in Hindon, Wiltshire, England the daughter of James Hayter and
Jane White. Elizabeth was baptised 6 January 1861 in the Parish of Hindon, Wiltshire. Elizabeth died
on 29 April 1900 leaving her husband with a young family to care for.

Elizabeth along with her parents and siblings emigrated from England
aboard the “Mataoka” arriving in Auckland on 3 January 1865. The
family settled in Papakura, Auckland.

According to 'Intentions to Marry', Elizabeth was 17 years when she
married Thomas Cochrane on 6 December 1877 and Thomas was 34
years of age.

Thomas and Elizabeth settled into married life on the farm Thomas
owned at Cochranes Gap on the west coast near Pollok. Thomas and
Elizabeth had 10 children, 3 sons and 7 daughters.

During their married life Thomas and Elizabeth were a very hospitable couple. The following article is
just one example of how they liked to entertain.

Mr and Mrs Cochrane of Grange Farm, Pollok, gave an invitation to a large
party, I may say the whole of the people in the neighbourhood, and many
others and from distant parts of the country, to dinner at one o’clock, and
tea at seven in the evening, for the purpose of celebrating the opening of
their new house. The time came and with it a large party assembled. A
banner with a suitable device floated over the door of the entrance hall, and
at the eatery end of the house, the British ensign. An excellent dinner was
partaken of, and the interim filled up with games and other enjoyments till
tea-time arrived.
Soon after tea, the sound of stringed instruments (in preparation) might
be heard, and young men and young women might be seen bracing themselves up for the dance.
The hall floor being polished, the music struck up and, as if by magic, a circle of joyful dancers were
promenading round the room. The fun had now fairly set in and was maintained with right good will
till broad daylight in the morning. Dances, songs, recitations were given at brief intervals, together
with tea, fruit, confections, and other refreshments. On the whole, it was a most enjoyable evening.
In fact, it was a home warming in the grand old style.

Sources: Auckland Public Library. New Zealand Herald

Compiled by Daphne Friis (nee Cochrane) – great granddaughter

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0556 Surname: COCKER
Given names: Annie
Occupation: dressmaker Address: Buckland

Qualification: residential

Annie COCKER was born in Pilsworth, Lancashire, England in 1869. She was the second child and
oldest daughter of Joshua Cocker and Margaret LEIGH. She had 3 brothers and 4 sisters and as her
parents had a farm of 107 acres, employing 3 labourers and a servant (in the 1871 UK census) she
would have enjoyed a better than average life.

In 1886 the Cocker family moved to New Zealand where Joshua purchased a farm at Buckland, near
Pukekohe.

On the 1893 Electoral Roll Annie has the occupation of dressmaker but is described on subsequent
rolls as spinster. Annie moved around the Auckland area and had eight different addresses from
1906 to the last electoral roll she appears on in 1957. The house she lived in last was at 10 Belmont
Tce, Remuera.

House at 10 Belmont Tce, Remuera (google maps 2016)

Annie lived with her sisters Elizabeth and Mary Ellen, also both spinsters, for many years. She died
on 29 Jan 1960, aged 90 and is buried at Waikaraka Cemetery, Auckland, beside those two sisters.

Sources:
NZ Electoral rolls – ancestry.co.uk
UK census – ancestry.co.uk
Cemetery headstone transcriptions – NZSG cemetery records
Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0557 Surname: COCKER
Given names: Margaret
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Buckland

Qualification: residential

Margaret was born Margaret LEIGH in 1840, at Tockholes, Lancashire, the daughter of a farmer, John
Leigh (1798 – 1860) and Ann (Nanny) COCKER (1799 – 1882).

She married Joshua Cocker in 1864 in Blackburn, Lancashire and they had 8 children – 3 sons and 5
daughters Two of their daughters Annie Cocker and Edith GRAHAM were also on the 1893 Franklin
Electoral Roll, the other daughters were too young to enrol.

The 1871 and 1881 UK census records showed Margaret and Joshua had a farm of 107 acres and
employed 4 servants – 3 outside and 1 indoors. Margaret must have found a great difference to
arrive in New Zealand and settle in a small district in a very young country. The family arrived in
New Zealand sometime between the birth of Daniel, the youngest child in 1884 in England and the
death of their son James in NZ in 1887. This advertisement in the Auckland Star would indicate that
it was 1886.

Auckland Star 3 July 1886

Only daughter Edith married before Margaret’s early death. In fact, six of Margaret’s eight children
did not marry.

Margaret died on 15 August 1904, aged 63 and is
buried with her husband Joshua who died in 1905 and
their young son James, in the Tuakau Cemetery.

Sources:

UK census – Ancestry.com
Old newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Probates: www.familysearch.org.
Cemetery records – Waikato District Council

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Waipa 0437 Surname: COE
Given names: Bridget Annie
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Rama Rama

Qualification: residential

Bridget was born in Capetown, South Africa in 1856. She was the eldest child of James DONNELLY
(1834-1874) and Ann McNAMARA (1834-1874) and had a sister and 4 brothers.

The Donnelly family arrived in Auckland on 22 January 1865 on the “Eveline”, one of the 13 Waikato
Immigration Scheme ships. James and Ann arrived with three young children Bridget aged 9, Honora
aged 4 and James aged 5. The rest of the children were born at Ramarama.

Eveline – arrived in NZ 22 Jan 1865, from Cape Town, carrying 225 passengers
Bridget married Arthur COE, a Master Mariner, on 31st Oct 1885 at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Auckland.
They had no children and were living in Waihi at the time of her death.

Sources:
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz
Newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
NZSG School records
Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0567 Surname: COLE
Given names: Florence Rosamond
Occupation: household duties Address: Tuakau

Qualification: residential

Florence Rosamond COLE was born in Lincolnshire, England, 1866. Her parents were William Ernest
Benjerman and Mary Ann Cole.

In the 1871 census of England William’s occupation is given as ironmonger’s assistant. He was living
in Aswell Lane, Louth, Lincolnshire with Mary Ann and their four children: Edith Lelia 7 yrs, Florence
5 yrs, Gertrude 3 yrs and Ernest 4 months.

The family made the long journey out to New Zealand on the Durham arriving on 4 April 1873 where
William continued his business as an ironmonger.

Florence married James MILLER in 1895. J ames was born in Ireland and farmed firstly at Dairy Flat
before coming to Pukekohe.

Florence’s signature appears on the
Letters of Administration for her
father’s will in 1920.

Florence died on 26 September 1930 aged 62 yrs,
and James died nine years later in 1939. They are
buried together in the Pukekohe Cemetery.

Sources.

1871 Census of England
Familysearch
NZBDM

Researcher, Mary Mercer

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0568 Surname: COLEMAN
Given names: Sarah
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Puni

Qualification: residential

Sarah COLEMAN was the first NZ born child of James and Mary Coleman. Her parents and 3 older

siblings (Mary, Edward and John) arrived in NZ on 22 January 1865 on the Eveline, having left the

Cape of Good Hope on 2 December 1864 as part of the Waikato Immigration Scheme.

Extract from TeAra
Military settlers
As well as land, a second stimulus for organised migration in Auckland was the constant threat of
military conflict with Māori. In 1864 and 1865 over 4,000 settlers arrived under the Waikato
immigration scheme. A joint project of the Auckland and central governments, its aim was to place
military settlers on land confiscated from Māori in the hope of consolidating territorial gains and
increasing security. Largely a family migration, it attracted a considerable number of Protestant Irish,
who settled around Pukekohe in particular.

There is no evidence to suggest the Colemans were of a military disposition though. There is also no
evidence of Sarah’s birth being recorded, but it is estimated to be in 1866/67, and how the Colemans
got to South Africa remains a mystery.

Sarah was soon joined by a sister, Margaret in 1868, and later another sister, Elizabeth in 1874.

James Coleman died in 1887, leaving his land to his sons Edward and John, his cattle to his daughters
Sarah, Elizabeth and Margaret, and special mention of a sewing machine bequeathed to Sarah. The
2 sons were also entrusted to provide a home and maintenance for their mother. Sarah’s sister,
Mary, had already married by this time and as such is not provided for in their father’s will.

By 1893, Sarah, Edward and John were all living on the farm at Mauku, and enrolled for voting in the
upcoming historical election.

In 1900, Sarah married Alfred Robert McKAIN, a local farmer. The couple soon set about the
business of starting a family: Frederick James Dunmore in 1901, Mary Mabel in 1903, Margaret
Elizabeth in 1904, Louisa in 1906, and lastly Robert Harold in 1908.

Sarah outlived her husband Alfred Robert McKain who died in 1931, aged 64. She also outlived her
youngest child Robert Harold who died in 1947, aged 39.

Sarah lived to be 82 years old, and was buried with her son Robert in 1949, in Mangere Cemetery.

Sources:
NZ Births, Death, and Marriages
Ancestry
PapersPast
Te Ara : The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Researcher: Judith Batt
Compiled: Sheryn Hull
New Zealand Society of Genealogists #27060

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0583 Surname: COLLINS
Given names: Emily
Occupation: household duties Address: Tuakau

Qualification: residential

Emily COLLINS was born on 19 September 1871 at Tuakau. She
was the sixth and youngest child of John Collins and Marianne
[nee LATHAM]. John and Marianne had sailed to New Zealand
from London on the Lancashire Witch as part of the Waikato
Immigration Scheme arriving in Auckland in mid-1865 and
settling in Tuakau shortly thereafter. Although the family name
in England was COLIN, in New Zealand this became Collins.
Shortly before Emily’s fifth birthday, her mother died of general
debility after ailing for some time. Emily started school at this
same time at the old Tuakau School which was located in River
Road near the Collins’ family homestead. Emily’s attendance at
school was somewhat irregular (probably because like a lot of
children at that time she was expected to help out at home when
required), but she always seemed to pass her reading, and
spelling and dictation examinations.

Following her mother’s death, her father re-married a widow, Margaret McGIBBON [nee MUNRO], in
early 1877 at the residence of Arthur BROWN in Tuakau. Emily left school in late 1884 after achieving
Standard 3 level to help out at home. By this time she had five new half-siblings and her help was no
doubt required by her step mother to assist with their care. Emily’s step mother died in late 1894 at
Tuakau leaving behind seven children under 16. The responsibility for caring for this young family for
a number of years would then have fallen very much on Emily and her oldest half-sister Barbara (who
was 16) as their father did not marry again.

Emily married John [Jack] LAPWOOD son of Alfred Octavius Lapwood and Ellen [nee HOLLAND] on 9
September 1903 at St. John's Anglican Church, Tuakau. In the early 1910s Jack purchased a 2.5 hectare
property in River Road, Tuakau that was to become the family home and there they raised a family of
three girls and two boys the names and birthdates of whom Emily carefully recorded in her Bible.
Emily enjoyed a relatively simple life. Her home lacked electricity and running water inside. She is
remembered for her gentle kindness and sincerity, and the warm welcome so freely given to all who
knew her. Of an evening she would sit in her armchair and read the newspaper by candlelight with
the candleholder on her lap and the newspaper pages held out behind it. Emily did have an artistic
flair and won many certificates and prizes at the local Franklin Agricultural Shows for her floristry work;
these were all proudly displayed on her sitting room wall.

Emily died at her home in Tuakau on the evening of 27 June 1939 as the result of a stroke; and Jack
died at the Mater Hospital in Auckland on 30 October 1956. Both are buried in the Alexandra Redoubt
Cemetery, Tuakau near the grave of Emily’s parents.

Sources:
NZ birth, marriage and death dates: http://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
Photo of Emily COLLINS: https://www.ancestry.com
“Collins Family Reunion” Lorna & Russell Kerse, 1994
“The Lapwoods of Tuakau – The Family of Alfred Octavius Lapwood (1844-1923)” Christine Headford, 1998
Researcher: Christine Headford

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0585 Surname: COLLINS
Given names: Margaret
Occupation: household duties Address: Tuakau

Qualification: residential

Margaret MUNRO was born on 26 April 1850 in Thurso, Caithness
in the very north of Scotland. She was one of the younger
children of William Munro and Isabella [nee BRIMS] who had
married in Thurso on 4 July 1834. Margaret grew up with her
family in Thurso - her father generally being described as a
labourer. Sometime after the 1871 census in early April of that
year, Margaret left Scotland and travelled to New Zealand.

She married Archibald McGIBBON on 4 November 1874 at the
dwelling house of John Munro in Great North Road, Auckland.
The signatory witnesses were John Munro (blacksmith) possibly
Margaret’s older brother, and Alexander McGibbon (grocer)
probably Archibald’s younger brother. Archibald was a fellow
Scot and had been born on 12 May 1838 in Kincardine,
Perthshire. The marriage proved to be a very short one as
Archibald was suffering from phthisis and he died intestate at the
Glasgow Store, Great North Road – his place of business - on 14
March 1875. He was buried in the Symonds Street Cemetery,
Auckland. Just a week after his death the whole stock of groceries and shop fixtures etc. of the
Glasgow Store were put up for auction and it is hoped that this provided some financial benefit for
the newly widowed Margaret.

On 15 January 1877 Margaret married John COLLINS a widower and pioneer settler of Tuakau at the
residence of Arthur BROWN in Tuakau. It is not known how Margaret and John met. John had five
surviving children under 15 from his first marriage, and Margaret was soon adding to this, although
later in 1877 their first child (a daughter called Isabella) tragically died unbaptised when only 33 days
old. Margaret and John went on to have another eight known children – six boys and two girls – all of
whom survived to adulthood. Being the mother of a large family undoubtedly meant a life of hard
work with seldom a day of rest – sickness would have been the only reason for staying in bed.
Margaret’s daily routine invariably revolved around typical housework chores such as cooking, baking,
washing, scrubbing, ironing, sewing and mending as well as attending to the children.

Sadly Margaret died at Tuakau on 14 November 1894 when she was only 44 years old from phthisis
pulmonalis (tuberculosis) from which she had been suffering for two years. Her passing left behind
seven children under 16. For a number of years the responsibility for caring for this young family
would have fallen very much on her eldest daughter Barbara (who was 16) and her older step daughter
Emily as John did not marry again. John died at Tuakau on 9 August 1922 from a fibrotic heart caused
by old age. Margaret and John are both buried in the Alexandra Redoubt Cemetery, Tuakau.

Sources:
NZ birth, marriage and death dates: http://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
Papers Past website: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
“Collins Family Reunion” Lorna & Russell Kerse, 1994
Baptismal Register for the Free Church Congregation, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland

Researcher: Christine Headford

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0581 Surname: COLLINS
Given names: Sarah
Occupation: household duties Address: Tuakau

Qualification: residential

Sarah LISK was born on 8 July 1868 to Edward LISK, a Tuakau farmer,
and his wife Jane [nee HAWTHORNE]. She was the eldest of seven
children born to Edward and Jane and attended both Harrisville and
Tuakau Schools. Like many children at that time, she would have
been expected to help out at home when required and this would
have adversely impacted on her early education - her attendance was
usually recorded as irregular or only fair.

Sarah married John COLLINS on 28 April 1892 at the residence of her
father Edward Lisk. John was the third son of John Collins and
Marianne [nee LATHAM] - another of the pioneering families of the
Tuakau district. Sarah and John had five children – all boys – all of
whom survived to adulthood. Sarah and John began their married
life in Tuakau and their first three children were born there. Just over
18 months into her marriage Sarah had to endure the passing of her
mother in late December 1893 at just 50 years of age. It would have
made for a very sombre family Christmas that year with the funeral
taking place on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.
Sarah and John moved to Takapuna in October 1896 when their third child was still a babe in arms.
Their first home in Takapuna was a two-storeyed house at the bottom of Brett Avenue. They then
moved to Hurstmere Road; and in 1908 John purchased just under a hectare of land covered in gorse
and ti-tree on the corner of Auburn and Anzac Streets in Takapuna. After this site was cleared, a family
home was built along with nurseries and glasshouses. A small parcel of land was also leased in the
early days to graze a dozen or so cows. Sarah had the job of milking the cows – long skirts rolled up
and secured with big safety pins and recollected by her oldest son as singing as she milked: “This is my
story, this is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long”.
At one time Sarah had a tuckshop in Auburn Street opposite Takapuna Primary School, where
delicacies such as penny honeycombs and penny bags of acid or raspberry drops were quick sellers,
especially with the school children. She apparently gave a lot away free as well.
World War I was a testing time for Sarah as she had two of her sons serving on the frontline in Europe
with the NZ Expeditionary Force. Letters from them were always anxiously awaited. But in the midst
of this, the family were able celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of Sarah and John in April 1917.
Sarah died at 30 Anzac Street in Takapuna, Auckland on 27 July 1937 when she was 69 years old.
John died at a private hospital in Auckland on 20 August 1940. Sarah and John are both buried in the
O'Neill’s Point Cemetery, Bayswater, Auckland.

Sources:
NZ birth, marriage and death dates: http://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
Papers Past website: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
School records on Archives New Zealand website: https://www.archway.archives.govt.nz/
“Collins Family Reunion” Lorna & Russell Kerse, 1994

Researcher: Christine Headford

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0589 Surname: COMRIE
Given names: Mary Ann
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Pukekohe East

Qualification: residential

Mary Ann COLLINS was born in Lurgan, County Mary Ann Collins with husband James Comrie on their
Armagh, Ireland in 1862. She arrived in New wedding day
Zealand with her parents Thomas and Mary
Collins and two sisters, Sarah and Elizabeth, on The NZ Herald of 13 January 1941 paid tribute
the ill fated voyage of the Ganges in February to Mary Ann after her death on 10 January:
1865. This was part of the Waikato
Immigration Scheme. The Ganges had left
Queenstown, Cork in November 1864 and
arrived in Auckland on 14 February 1865.

The 1893 Electoral Roll includes Thomas
Collins, a farmer, freehold on Lot 16 Pukekohe.
This may have been Mary Ann’s father.

Before her marriage Mary was an assistant
school teacher at Pukekohe East School from
1878 to 1884. She also taught at the school at
Pokeno.

James Young McLachlane COMRIE was the
youngest son of James and Helen YOUNG who
had met and married in Scotland and arrived in
New Zealand in 1857. The Comrie family had
settled in Pukekohe East in 1861.

In 1887 Mary Ann Collins married James Young
McLachlane Comrie. They had eight children in
13 years, five sons and three daughters.
• James Comrie born 1888

• Thomas Collins Comrie born 1889

• Mary Helen Comrie born 1890

• William Franklin Comrie born 1895

• Evelyn Grace Comrie born 1896

• Albert John Comrie born 1898

• Ernest Young Comrie born 1900

• Minnie Collins Comrie born 1901.

Mary Ann and her husband are buried at Kamo
Cemetery, Whangarei.

Sources: 1893 Electoral Roll, Cemetery Records, NZ
Historical bdm, A History of Pukekohe East 1863 to 1963
by Nona Morris

Collated by Lynda Muir

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0597 Surname: CONNING
Given names: Maria
Occupation: household duties Address: Pukekohe

Qualification: residential

Dorothy Maria Jacquelina ADOLPH (always known as
Maria) was born in Cape Town, South Africa, of Prussian
parents Wilhelm Gustav Adolph and Johanne MEINTZ, on
28 August 1861.

She is recorded as aged two on the passenger list of the
‘Eveline’. Together with her parents and siblings she
arrived in Auckland on 22 January 1865 and settled on
land at Patumahoe. She had two half brothers from her
mother’s first marriage, three sisters and two brothers.

On 30 May 1881 she married John CONNING Jnr, only son
of John Conning snr (1827-1892) and Mary Ann
CUDDIFORD (1820 – 1905) and they had a family of nine children born between 1882 and 1902 – six
sons and three daughters.

NZ Herald 7 June 1881

The New Zealand directories for the years 1893 to 1897 show John as a farmer at Pukekohe and in
1903 and 1904 he is listed as a milk vendor in Waihi and by 1911 as a farmer at Waihou, near Te
Aroha. Maria is listed in the electoral rolls living on at Waihou after the death of her husband John
on 26 May 1914, until the 1946 roll when she is at 36 Prosford Ave, Ponsonby, Auckland with her
youngest son Albert.

Maria died on 12 March 1946 and is buried at Te Aroha cemetery

Sources:

Conning Family History – Dianne Glenn & Brian Conning
Conning photo – Karen Mason
Headstone photo – www.billiongraves.com
Old newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
NZ electoral rolls – ancestry.co.uk

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0596 Surname: CONNING
Given names: Mary Ann
Occupation: household duties Address: Pukekohe

Qualification: residential

Mary Ann (sometimes written as MaryAnn/Marianne) CUDDIFORD was born in Exeter, Devon,
England c1820. A likely birth and baptism in the Exeter Presbyterian register is of a Marianne
Cuddiford, daughter of Edward Cuddiford and Sussanah HICKS, born on 15 October 1823. If this is
her, she had four brothers and two sisters. (Her date of birth appears to change on every source).

On 10 January 1847, at Exeter, England, she married John CONNING (1827-1892), the son of Richard
Conning, a carpenter and Mary Ann, nee CANN.

It appears that Mary Ann and John had a family of only one son, also John, who was 14 in the 1861
UK census, an apprentice carpenter. He was to marry and have a family of nine children.

They came to New Zealand on the Lancashire Witch arriving in Auckland in June 1865, after a voyage
of 112 days with 490 passengers. According to a report in the NZ Herald, there were 38 ships in port
when they arrived.

On their arrival in New Zealand John and Mary Ann were granted ten acres, Lot 181 Pukekohe and
their son John Jnr ten acres, Lot 182 Pukekohe. They kept mortgaging the original land until they
had 60 acres and continued to farm it until John senior died in 1892. The land is bordered on one
side by the Pukekohe – Waiuku Road and by Stuart Road on the other side.

After his death the property was sold and Mary Ann and her son John went to live in the Waihi area
and then moved to Te Aroha.

John is believed to be buried in Pukekohe Cemetery
although no record of this exists.

Mary Ann died on 19 April 1905, age 85 and is buried
in Te Aroha Cemetery.

Sources:

Conning Family history – Dianne Glenn
Conning Family photo: Karen Mason
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz
Old newspapers – paperspast.nat.lib.govt.nz

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Conning Family – date unknown

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3394 Surname: CONROY
Given names: Charlotte
Occupation: household duties Address: Waiuku East

Qualification: residential

Charlotte Mary CONROY was born in 1855 in Dorchester, England to
George and Mary COLLINS from Colchester, Essex, England. As a
young girl she took up nursing which proved very useful to her later
in life.

Charlotte married Timothy Conroy at St James Catholic Chapel,
Colchester, Essex on 13 May 1874. As a young man Timothy served
in an Irish regiment, the 88th Connaught Rangers. He served with
his unit in India and when his regiment returned to England and
disbanded he received an honourable discharge.

Shortly afterwards on 11 June 1874 Charlotte and Timothy sailed on
the “Oxford” for New Zealand. They arrived in Auckland on 8
September 1874 and travelled to Onehunga where they completed
their journey by scow to the old Mauku landing below the bridge that now crosses the Mauku creek.
They settled at Glenbrook (then called Packington) in what is known today as Conroy Road named in
honour of the family being one of the earliest settlers in the district.

Their first problem was to find somewhere to build a hut or whare. They had no land of their own so
like other settlers they squatted on any suitable place close to a good supply of spring water. There
were no sawmills so they cut and used ti-tree poles for rafters and side rails for the hut framework.
The walls were bundles of raupo tied on with flax; the roof was thatched with rushes cut from the
swamps. When the hut was completed it was warm and waterproof. The floor was yellow clay
tamped down with a rammer to keep it solid with a sack or two on top.

Charlotte and Timothy had all their children there:
Edward 18 March 1875 – 16 October 1885
John (who never married) 3 October1884–25 October1968
George (who married Florence Isabella McNAMARA) 19 April 1887–24 January 1961
Catherine (who married Edward FLANAGAN) 15 April 1889–6 October 1949
Alice Mary (who married William John ROBINSON) 14 November 1891–19 February 1976
Timothy (who married Olive Emily DENNY) 8 January 1897–14 August 1992.

During these years Charlotte acted as midwife and nurse to the local women and her services were
sought after from as far afield as Waiuku. There were no maternity hospitals and seldom a doctor
available or even called to a maternity case. The midwife had to do the complete confinement
usually in the patient’s own home.

With the gum digging becoming less profitable the family had to look for other ways of making a
living while at the same time bringing the farm land into production. They cut flax and supplied it to
Mr Peter DROMGOOL’s mill at Stoney Creek about one mile out of Waiuku. They reared cows and
pigs as they were able to develop more land. The milk was set in big tin dishes to let the cream set
and Charlotte would skim it off to make into butter which was sold to the local grocery store.

Charlotte died 5 July 1929 and Timothy died 10 August 1937. They were buried in the Catholic
Cemetery in Pukekohe alongside their first-born son Edward who died during his childhood.

Source:
Family knowledge
Researcher: Anne Walters (great granddaughter)

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0600 Surname: COOK
Given names: Ann
Occupation: household duties Address: Pukekohe

Qualification: residential

Ann EDGCOMBE appears to have been born c 1854 and was probably the daughter of William and
Ann Edgcombe of Auckland. In 1884 she married Robert COOK in New Zealand.

In 1896 Ann appears in a Court case regarding a disputed will. It appeared that an uncle, William
Edgcombe, omitted several nieces and nephews from his will and the case was taken to court to
ascertain whether the uncle was of sound mind when he signed the will. (NZ Herald, 6 July 1896).

In 1896 Ann and her husband, a farmer, were living in Pukekohe. (Land Transfer 5667 Robert Cook
part of Allotment 63 of suburban section 1, Parish of Pukekohe containing 3 roods occupied by the
applicant. Plan 8762 Pukekohe and Waiuku Times, 9 June 1914.)

Robert and Ann had no children.

Ann's will and codicil dated 3 December 1924 leaves her home in Victoria Street, Pukekohe to her
niece, Mabel Jones of Gisborne. She left numerous bequests to various orphanages, friends, Nurse
BLAIR, the Church of England in Pukekohe, Ann Laura Edgcombe (a niece) of Stratford and a fund for
her executors to construct a sand pile for the children of Pukekohe, the location to be decided by her
executors. She signed with a mark.

Robert died in 1924 in Seddon St and Ann
died in Victoria St in 1926. They are buried in
Pukekohe Cemetery and the headstone reads:

In loving memory of Robert COOK died 22nd
July 1924 aged 72 years - Also his wife Ann
COOK died 10th February 1926 aged 72 years.
Now the labourers task is o'er ….

Sources:
Newspapers -paperspast.natlib.govt.nz;
Probate: www.familysearch.org; BDM –
www.dia.govt.nz; Headstone photo – Franklin
Branch NZSG.

Researcher: Rosemary Lewis

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0603 Surname: COONEY
Given names: Margaret
Occupation: farmer Address: Whangarata

Qualification: residential

On 8 February 1864 Margaret McSHANE and Patrick COONEY were married in Bailieborough, Cavan
Ireland. In November of that same year Margaret and Patrick were among the 422 passengers that
boarded the immigrant ship Ganges and sailed to New Zealand. During the voyage there were 56
deaths from bronchitis and whooping-cough, all but two being children.
Margaret and Patrick settled in Ewing Road, Whangarata and raised a large family on their 50-acre
farm. Sadly, on 19 January 1877 their daughter Susannah died aged 11. In 1881 Margaret named her
newborn daughter Susannah Julia, in memory of the first Susannah.

In April 1885 the New Zealand Herald
reported that a fire destroyed their
house. Fortunately, none of the
family was injured in the fire. On 13
December 1886 Margaret’s 17-year-
old daughter Elizabeth died. Eight
days later Margaret became a widow
when Patrick died on 21 December
1886, aged 42. Less than two years
after Patrick’s death 44-year-old
Margaret applied to the Auckland
Hospital and Charitable Aid Board for
assistance.
1905 was to be another difficult year for Margaret as her 23-year-old daughter, Susannah Julia, died
on 27 January at Whangarata after “a lingering illness”.

On 9 August 1907 the Auckland Star reported that Margaret Cooney was one of nine farmers who
appeared at the Pukekohe Court charged with a breach of the Noxious Weeds Act. She was fined 10/-
and 35/- costs. In 1912 Margaret, who was now 68, leased her farm for a term of five years and went
to live with her daughter Johanna Cooney at Ellerslie.

On 20 February 1915 Margaret signed her last will
and testament. Margaret died at the home of her
daughter, Helen Teresa O’NEILL, in Ellerslie on 21
March 1915.

Sources:
COONEY family information - Hindmarsh/Upfold Family Tree: https://www.ancestry.com.au
Register of Applications for Relief – YCAB 15245/1/1: Archives New Zealand
Birth and death records: https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
Margaret COONEY Probate 1915 Auckland – BBAE/A48/1569/R21443973/330/Record#10035: Archives NZ
Newspaper articles: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Researcher: Sandra Brasell

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0614 Surname: COPELAND
Given names: Eliza Ann
Occupation: household duties Address: Tuakau

Qualification: residential

Eliza Ann COPELAND was born in Bolton, Lancashire and arrived in New Zealand in the sailing ship
Paeroa in 1877 with her husband John and three small children: Joseph born 1871, John born 1876
and Arthur born 1877.

For several years Eliza and John lived in Auckland, where John managed the matting and twine
department of the Stanley Street Rope Works. He then became interested in the flax industry and
farming and moved to Tuakau.

Three more children were born in New Zealand: Minnie born 1879, Amy born 1881 and Ivy born
1883.

Eliza died on 25 September 1927 aged 81.

Eliza died at the home of her daughter Ivy
Margaret Copeland. Ivy was a noted artist and
art teacher who at the aged of 10 yrs took
lessons from C.F.GOLDIE at the Ladies College
in Remuera. When Ivy died she left her
paintings to the Auckland Society of Arts to
raise funds to establish the Ivy Copeland award
for Portraiture.

Sources:

1871 Census England
Paperspast
Familysearch
Findmypast

Researcher Mary Mercer

Electoral Roll: Waipa 0477 Surname: CORNTHWAITE
Given names: Alice Maria
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Bombay

Qualification: residential

Alice Maria WORDEN was born on 5 November 1844 at Newcastle on Tyne, England. She was the
daughter of Richard Worden (1818-1902) and Elizabeth STOREY (1820-1907) and in the 1861 UK
census she was living at home but working as a house servant in Seaham, County Durham.

Alice was 19 when she came to New Zealand with her family on the Bombay, arriving in Auckland on
18 March 1865. The Wordens brought six of their seven children with them. Newly wed George
remained in England. After a short time in Auckland the family settled on their grant land in
Bombay.

The same year on 5 September 1865, Alice married William Knowles CORNTHWAITE (1842-1922),
who had also come on the Bombay – as William was travelling alone did they know each other
before the voyage or was it a shipboard romance? William was recorded on early electoral rolls as
having Lot 14 Maungatawhiri of 108 acres. William also opened and managed the first hotel in
Mercer and their eldest son was the first European child born there on 31 March 1867 and named
William Joseph Mercer Cornthwaite.

Alice and William had 14 children born between 1867 and 1889 – 9 sons and five daughters. The
children attended Bombay School where William was on the school committee for almost 50 years.

Alice died on 15 June 1915 and William in 1922. They are buried together at St Peters in the Forest
Church cemetery at Bombay, where the headstone reads;

In loving memory of William Knowles CORNTHWAITE died
Dec 11 1922 aged 80 years also Alice Maria beloved wife
of the above died June 15 1915 aged 70 years Peace
perfect peace

Sources:

Family History – Christine Wargent, (Alice is her great Aunt)
UK census – ancestry.co.uk; Headstone photo – Franklin
Branch NZSG; old newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Waipa 0479 Surname: CORNTHWAITE
Given names: Margaret Elizabeth
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Bombay

Qualification: residential

Margaret Elizabeth (known as Maggie) was born in Bombay, New Zealand on 8 December 1868. She
was the second child but eldest daughter of the 14 children of William CORNTHWAITE (1842-1922)
and Alice Maria WORDEN (1844-1915) and as such would have needed to help around the house
and look after the younger siblings. The youngest sibling was born when Maggie was 21.

In 1895 she married John CUMMINS, the son of John and Elizabeth CUMMINS, who had arrived on
the ill-fated Ganges in 1865. Although John Jnr was a farmer at Maketu (later called Ramarama) on
the 1893 electoral roll, at his death he was referred to as ex-constable Cummins.

Maggie and John had two children, William John born 1896 and Alice Margaret born 1898. John
died very young on 29 September 1902.

Margaret was in Bombay in 1905 but moved to
Waihi before 1911, where she was to live for the
rest of her life. On the 1928 electoral roll her son
and his wife were living with her but on all later
rolls she was living by herself.

She lived 48 years after her husband’s death but
never remarried and is buried in Waihi cemetery.

Info from Hauraki District Council website
Sources:
Family history – Christine Wargent, (Margaret is her Aunt); Old newspapers – paperspast.natlib.govt.nz;
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz; Headstone photo – billiongraves.com

Researcher: Heather Maloney

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0626 Surname: COTTER
Given names: Emma
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Mauku

Qualification: residential

Emma COTTER nee WRIGHT was born about 1843 in Northampton. She had two sisters. She
married Richard Cotter on 26 January 1871 at St Matthews, Auckland, NZ.

Emma and Richard had 4 children:

William Thomas born 1871 (in 1924 William was living in Suva)

Emma Jane born 1873

Kate Maude Hildretta born 1877

Norman Albert born 1879 (in 1924 Norman was living in Te Kowhai).

From 1894 to 1914 Emma and Richard were farming in Mauku.

Richard died on 6 January 1919 aged 74 and is buried at Mauku cemetery.

Emma died at a private hospital on 26 April 1924, aged 80, and is also buried at Mauku cemetery.
Her obituary notes that she was held in high esteem by the community and had been a Sunday
School teacher and an active and enthusiastic worker for her church, St Bride’s.

Sources: Google
NZ Passenger Lists NZ Electoral Rolls
BDM-www.dia.govt.nz Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Archives NZ

Researcher: Barbara Raven

Electoral Roll: Waipa 0507 Surname: COWAN
Given names: Janet
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Razorback

Qualification: residential

Janet (sometimes spelled Jannett or Janett was born in New Zealand) in 1869, to Isabella nee
DEWAR and Joseph GOVAN. Janet was the eldest of three children.

Janet’s parents Isabella and Joseph married in New Zealand in 1865. Joseph had arrived in New
Zealand as a single man aboard the Helenslee in 1864. His occupation was given as Miner. It is
possible that Joseph and Isabella farmed at Maungatawhiri in the early 1880’s but by the 1890’s he
and Isabella are living in Thames where Isabella ran a store in Pollen Street and Joseph had returned
to his mining roots.

Janet married James COWAN in 1893 and in the same year appeared on the Franklin Electoral Roll
giving Razorback as her address.

James and Janet had only one child, a daughter Iolene born in 1894. Little more can be found of
Janet’s life until her father died in 1914. He died intestate, but Janet is named along with his two
other children as being the natural and lawful children of Joseph.

Janet’s Signature.

Janet was buried 30 May 1931 at
Hillsborough Cemetery, Area 10,
Block A, Plot 317.

Sources:

www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Probate records: www.familysearch.org
Paperspast: www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
Auckland Cemeteries. www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/cemeteries
Researcher: Mary Mercer.

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0643 Surname: COX
Given names: Mary
Occupation: household duties Address: Mauku

Qualification: residential

Mary COX, nee FULLERTON was born in Belfast c1852. She arrived in New Zealand on 2 June 1865
aboard the Dauntless, when she was 13 years old, with her parents David and Mary Fullerton and
siblings Margaret 11, David 7 and Samuel 5.

In 1872 she married George William COX of Mauku.

Mary and George had eight children two sons and six daughters.

1873 David George, 1875 Mary Eliza Lilly, 1878 Sarah Ellen, 1879 Samuel Robert, 1881 Lynda
Madonna Jonston, 1884 Edith Bessie, 1888 Ruby Jane, and 1891 Hilda May.

Tragedy was to strike in 1887 when their eldest son was
drowned with his friend in the Mauku Creek (the news
covered in detail in the NZ Herald of 24 March 1887).

Mary was involved in the life of St Bride’s church while in
Mauku as evidenced by the report of the funeral of her
young son.

By 1900 Mary and George had left Mauku and farmed in Te
Kowai and Ohaupo before retiring to Hamilton by 1911.

Goerge died 21 November 1913 and Mary died 20 August
1929. They are buried together in the Hamilton West
cemetery.

A case of not always believing what is in the paper as Mary was 13 on
the passenger list of the Dauntless in 1865.

Sources: BDM – www.dia.govt.nz; paperspast.natlib.govt.nz; NZ electoral rolls; Family information - Margaret
Nash

Researcher: Barbara Raven

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3404 Surname: CRAIG
Given names: Ann
Occupation: household duties Address: Waiuku

Qualification: residential

Ann, known as Annie, was born in Edergale, Monaghan, Ireland in 1840. Her parents were William
ELIOT and Jane HEANEY.

Annie was married in the Parish of Ematus, County Monaghan, on 15 December 1864 in Ireland to
John CRAIG. They then sailed on the Dauntless on their honeymoon to New Zealand and settled in
Waipipi where John successfully followed farming pursuits on the 30 acres on the corner of Awhitu
and McGowan Roads. A large family of twelve children were born.

Annie’s husband John (born 17 Mar 1838 in Cootehill, County Cavan, Ireland) died on 22 November
1914. Annie, having been in delicate health for some time, died just a few weeks after her husband
on 15 December 1914 at the home of her daughter in Greenlane, Auckland where she had been
staying. Her funeral was at Trinity Church Waiuku. Both are buried at Waiuku Cemetery.

Both Annie and John were highly respected throughout the district.

Sources:
• Family Knowledge
• AUCKLAND STAR, VOLUME XLV, ISSUE 299, 16
DECEMBER 1914
• NEW ZEALAND HERALD, VOLUME LL, ISSUE
15775, 25 NOVEMBER 1914
• PUKEKOHE & WAIUKU TIMES, VOLUME 3, ISSUE
257, 18 DECEMBER 1914

Researchers:
Rosemary De Latour
Penny Prescott

Electoral Roll: Waipa 0527 Surname: CRAIG
Given names: Isabella
Occupation: domestic duties Address: Razorback

Qualification: residential

Isabella CRAIG nee WILSON was born in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland on the 14th
November 1832.

On the 22nd January 1851 she married Alexander Craig in Banbridge, County Down.

Alexander and Isabella arrived in New Zealand aboard the Helenslee in 1864.
Leaving Clyde, Glasgow on the 10th September 1864 they arrived in time for a
New Zealand Christmas on 22nd December 1864. Their first three children
John, Samuel and Alexander accompanied them, and three more children
were born in Pokeno.

Alexander and Isabella farmed at Razorback for 38 years before retiring to
Thames in 1902

Isabella died at her son-in-law’s residence 63
Dominion Rd, Auckland on the 4th September
1918 and is buried in the Shortland Cemetery,
Thames with Alexander.

Sources:

Ireland Marriages 1845-1958
Helenslee passenger list
NZBDM. bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
Familysearch.org
Paperspast -Pukekohe-Waiuku Times 24 Sept 1918
Researcher: Mary Mercer

Electoral Roll: Franklin 3407 Surname: CRAIG
Given names: Jane
Occupation: household duties Address: Waipipi

Jane WALLACE was the youngest daughter of Qualification: residential
a successful maker of farm machinery at
Otahuhu and was born about 1845. She will Robert and Jane married on 20 March 1866
have been raised in that district and attended and a house was built for them that remained
whatever school was available as well as as the homestead until 1955. Children were
learning the normal householding arts and the soon part of the daily life of Jane:
riding and care of horses. The Waikato Land Robert Clark (1867) Archibald Wallace (1869)
Wars erupted in 1863 and she was probably Jessie Muir (1872) William John (1874)
among the women to be housed within the Jemima Clark (1876) Agnes Jane (1878) Walter
Otahuhu Redoubt where they could be kept Riddell (1880) Margaret Elizabeth (1882)
safe from the military men of both sides in the Elizabeth Alexander (1885) Lillias Maria (1888)
conflict.
As the family steadily grew she found a part to
After the War was over something resembling play in the dairy section of the farm work.
a social life could begin and Jane was among The family was known among the smaller
the young ladies who were of the right age to settlers to have regular “Churning Days” when
enjoy the best of it, and within the right the accumulated milk of the previous few
distance to even consider attending. There days would be skimmed and churned into
are stories of the holding of Vice-Regal Balls butter, making the skimmed milk and butter-
when the assembly consisted of the Governor milk available for the gathered small-holders
and his assistants and their Ladies, together to take home for their porridge and other
with whatever young ladies were prepared to culinary purposes or when of no further use,
undertake the difficult journey to Government to feed to pigs. This was the early version of
house to attend. A few of them may have had community welfare work and of mutual
a carriage of a sort to help them care for their benefit to both those who gave and those
finery, but many will have had to resort to who received.
horseback. These functions are often
reported to have kept going until daybreak In their sheep farming Craigs were also known
and it was probably much safer to dance the for their purebred Lincoln sheep when that
night right away rather than have the young breed was considered to be the best type for
ladies out and about on their way home in the New Zealand conditions. In 1886 the rumbles
dark of the night. from the eruption of Mt Tarawera caused
questions to be asked but it did not throw any
By the time Jane was of ‘marriageable age’ it ash on to the Waipipi farms. By 1900 the
is said that she was renowned for her beauty farm was well established and Robert and
and general deportment. As such she caught Jane beginning to contemplate some
the attention of Robert CRAIG, recently a retirement.
farmer of Opaheke and in 1866 contemplating
how he would begin living on the recently- The hard, physical work of a seventy-year
bought farm in the Waipipi hills near Waiuku. lifetime had worn Robert down to the need
Some of the farm now in grass was carrying for a wheelchair by 1905. This will have
standing bush and this had to be removed to thrown some extra strain on to Jane at a time
enable the sowing of pasture. when she could have felt more like a life of
ease.

Robert passed away on 1 July 1911 and Jane
on 11 December 1913. They are buried
together in the Waipipi Cemetery.

Source: family records and information
Researcher: Clyde Hamilton

Electoral Roll: Franklin 0658 Surname: CRAIG
Given names: Margaret
Occupation: household duties Address: Mauku

Qualification: residential

Margaret born c 1836 in County Antrim, was the daughter of Alexander McIROY and Martha
GREENWOOD. From the Pioneer Register of Franklin she is said to have been born about 1825,
possibly in County Antrim, Ireland, and married James CRAIG on 7 February 1856 at Portglenone,

County Antrim, Ireland.

Margaret sailed from London on 26 July 1864,
arriving in Auckland on the Ida Zeigler on 29
October 1864 with their first five children who
were born in Ireland.

James Craig senior had sailed from Gravesend on
23 March 1863 on the Telegraph and arrived in
Auckland on 6 July 1863. Two of his sisters also
settled in New Zealand. The 1875/1876 Electoral
Roll for Waiuku area lists James having a flaxmill
at Waiuku East, on Waitangi River, leasehold
qualification.

Above: The Church where Margaret & Alexander married and the marriage record from the original register.

James and Margaret had at least nine children – five born in Ireland between 1856 and 1862, three
born in Mauku between 1865 and 1871 and the youngest born in Waiuku in 1873.

James Craig, died on 22 September 1880 in Auckland Hospital, aged 51 and Margaret Craig died on
25 January 1898, aged 73. They are buried in St Bride's Cemetery, Mauku but have no headstone.

Sources:

Information and photos are from Ancestry-Mavis Barrett, where further photos of James and Margaret Craig's
children are available.
BDM – www.dia.govt.nz

Researcher: Rosemary Lewis


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