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Research in Other Countries => New Zealand => New Zealand Completed Requests => Topic started by: cmclayton on Wednesday 05 December 07 03:08 GMT (UK)
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Hi everyone, hoping that someone has the following people in their family tree and can help me with family members.
My great grandmother Emma Amelia Hester arrived in New Zealand in 1875 aboard the Dallam Tower, and married James Henry Clayton later that same year. I have recently found that Emma had an aunt Maria Elizabeth Hester and an uncle Thomas Hester already in New Zealand.
Maria Elizabeth Hester married John Louis Balestice have found one child Emily Maria Balestice born England married Charles Coombs 1868 Lyttelton (there is a Charles Coombs also on the passenger list of the Dallam Tower could be the same man). Have found a death notice of a child to these two also Charles 4th son of Charles and Emily. So are looking for more children.
Thomas Hester married Mary Ann Speechley have found six children
1/ Thomas Robert Samuel Hester married Kate Monk 1878 Napier - two children Thomas Hester married Alice Popple and Audrey Clayton Hester married William Friend Robson
2/ Elizabeth Ann Maria Hester married James Dale Watson 1881 - child Ida Hester Watson married Frederick Charles Menzies
3/ Lucy Emily Hester married Rowland Lindsay 1878 Lyttelton
4/ Sarah Balestice Hester died aged three years
5/ John Louis Hester married Mary Anne Dunn 1895 Kaitaia - child Gordon Lisle Hester married Ruby Mary Wilmott Hansen (Please Note that I have found a very kind sole who has helped me with Gordon Lisle Hesters descendants)
6/ Sarah Speechley Hester married Emanual Julius Holst 1904 Lyttelton - two children Thelma Elizabeth Holst married Harvey Francis Page and Norman Holst married Irene Mary Wells
So here's hoping that someone can relate to the above names.
Thanks heaps Christine M Clayton
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One day someone will read this post and be able to connect to my Hester family, in the meantime the jigsaw puzzle is fitting together.
Regards Christine
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Hi Christine,
From the Christchurch parish records at the Christchurch Library I found the following:
Marriage: Charles Coombs and Maria Emily Balestice, 12 Mar 1868, Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton. Witness John Lewis Balestice, painter, Lyttelton.
Children:
1. Charles Coombs, baptised 21 Dec 1868. Father's occupation: leather seller. Sponsor JL Balestice.
Charles died aged 2 months and was buried 19 Feb 1869.
2. John Henry Coombs, baptised 12 Jan 1870
3. Ernest William Coombs, baptised 12 Dec 1871.
Ernest died aged 7 weeks and was buried 2 Feb 1872
4. Charles Coombs, babtised 23 May 1873.
Charles died aged 7 1/2 months, buried 7 Jan 1874.
Charles snr's wife Emily Maria died aged 27 and was buried 17 July 1876.
Charles remarried Marian Emma Morton 19 Jan 1877.
Child of Charles and Marian Emma:
Marian Henrietta Coombs baptised 5 April 1878
Cheers,
Stephanie
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Thank you Kea, you are an angel,
Going to the Christchurch Library is on my wish list, just happen
to be born, work and married in the wrong island for my family tree.
Thanks heaps Christine
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Hi everyone
Have found some new names for my Hester tree, that might fit with someone's family
5/ John Louis Hester married Mary Anne Dunn 1895 Kaitaia - child Gordon Lisle Hester married Ruby Mary Wilmott Hansen (Please Note that I have found a very kind sole who has helped me with Gordon Lisle Hesters descendants).
New - John Louis Hester and Mary Anne Dunn also had the following children
Marjory Enid Hester born 1897 New Zealand.
Olga Winifred Hester born 1899 New Zealand married William James Palmer
Gordon Lisle Hester as mentioned above and
Dorothy Mary Hester born 1901 New Zealand married Eric Lister Dryer
Thanks heaps Christine
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John Louis Hester, who lived in Kaitaia was my Great Grandfather. I have a family tree here and it will include his line. He built quite a fine house in Kaitaia. It's still standing today in what was the site of the old Kaitaia mission house where the Treaty of Waitangi had it's second signing as it travelled around the country.
Regarding Thomas Hester, he seems to have been a storekeeper and undertaker in Oxford Street, Lyttelton in 1866 until at least 1875. He died at that location August 10, 1878. Two services were held, one at the Forrester's Hall where he was a member and one at the Wesleyan schoolroom, (see Paperspast).
Among his children was Alfred Munt Hester who married Annie Elizabeth Ayers on 6 August, 1896 at the house of George Ayers, another Lyttelton lodge member. Thomas Hester and Mary Anne Hester nee Speechley were shown as the parents.
I know my grandmother wanted to call her daughter Mary Anne too, after Mary Anne Dunn, her mother. But her surname was Dyer so that would have spelled M.A.D. She knew her mother was teased at school and she thought her daughter Mary, my aunt, would be too so she found another middle name for her.
I can't find any reference to the ship Thomas Hester arrived on, but a "Mr Hester" arrived on the "Viscount Canning" at Auckland on 21 June, 1865.
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Just another note, Marjory Enid Hester married William (Bill) Dyer and Dorothy Hester married Eric Dyer. So the 2 brothers married the 2 sisters. Bill Dyer was working for John Louis Hester on his farm and that's how he met Enid.
The Hester family must have originally lived somewhere near London and John Louis and Alf, who stayed in Christchurch, used to get legal letters from there about property.
John Louis Hester went to Kaitaia. He brought the first sheep and the locals lined up on the streets to see these strange animals arrive. He settled near St. Saviour's Church, which is still standing, but his first home got burnt down, so he purchased the old mission site and built the new house around 1905-1910. The 4 children, Enid, Olga, Lisle and Dorothy each wanted their own rooms, so it's quite a big place.
Great Grandfather was a creak shot and he won an impressive shooting cup in 1899 and again in 1901 and he needed to win it 3 years in a row to keep it. But all agreed that no-one could come near him, so they let him keep it after 2 years. It dissappeared when I was young, unfortunately, but I'm pretty sure it was won in Kaitaia.
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Here's that family tree I mentioned:
Thomas Hester (age 25) and wife Mary Ann, (28) arrived at Lyttelton on the ship Sir Edward Paget, July 2, 1856, with Thomas Jr (2) and Elizabeth (infant). They were from Pimlico, London.
One of their sons John Louis Hester was born 2.8.1864 and d. 1941. In 1895 he married Mary Ann Dunn, (b. 1870, d. 1952).
John and Mary Hester's children were:
Enid Marjory Hester, b. 1.10.1897, d. 29.5.1984, (my grandmother; I was one of her pallbearers at St. Saviour's Anglican church, Kaitaia on that day). Their children were John Ellis Dyer, Allan Ross Dyer and Mary Florence Dyer.
Olga Winifred Hester, b. 1899, d. 19??. In 1918 she married William James Palmer, (b. 1896, d. 1937). Their children were Joan Winnifred Palmer, John Rex Palmer and Patricia Olga Palmer.
Gordon Lisle Hester, b. 1900, d. 1937. In 1929 he married Ruby Mary Wilmott Hansen. Their children were June Speechley Wilmott Lisle (who married Brian Carter) and Beryl Winsome Lisle
The following generations are also on this summary.
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And.... Dorothy Mary Hester, b. 5.8.1901 and d. 6.10.1968.
As Lisle had 2 daughters, June and Beryl, and no sons, that was the end of this Kaitaia line of Hester surnames.
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Hi Kiwibloke
Did you go to the reunion in Easter?
My connection is with George Hester (brother to Thomas Hester who arrived on the Sir Edward Paget) who married Emma Tyler, their daughter Emma born 1854 England is my second greatgrandmother.
Thanks heaps Christine.
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I guess the next step is to follow up the families English roots. Perhaps you already have. There's a Hester Road, by the Battersea Bridge (over the River Thames), in Pimlico, London, for instance. The Christchurch Museum is sending me some info on Thomas and Thomas Samuel that might touch on this pre-NZ history.
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Hi Kiwibloke, hope this helps
Robert Hester
born c.1730 Berkswell Warwickshire
married 21 Jun 1757 to Mary Price born c.1737 Berkswell
child Thomas Hester born 1763 Berkswell
married 29 Mar 1785 to Sarah Clarke born 1763 Berkswell
child Robert Hester born 14 April 1790 Shoreditch London
married 15 Oct 1807 to Anne Turner born 1793 Kent
child
my line - George Hester born 25 Nov 1820 Lambeth Surrey
married 24 Aug 1853 to Emma Tyler born 1826 Somerset
your line - Thomas Hester born 1831 Middlesex London
married to Mary Ann Speechley born 1828 Cambridgeshire.
Thanks heaps Christine
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Plus
George and Thomas Hester had an older sister Maria Elizabeth Hester born 4 Jun 1815 London who married 5 Nov 1834 to John Louis Balestice, This couple also came to New Zealand on the Sir Edward Paget with Thomas Hester and family.
Thanks heaps Christine
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The Canterbury Museum's GR MacDonald dictionary of Canterbury biographies refers to Thomas Hester (1830-78), and states that he was a carpenter and French polisher who, together with Mr Balestice, furnished the interior of the new Freemason's Hall in Lyttelton in May 1859 - the result being "highly praised". So that links in with the last posting saying that Thomas Hester and son-in-law John Balestice travelled to NZ together.
Thanks indeed for the UK info.
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I am a great great granddaughter of Thomas Hester and Mary Ann Hester née Speechly. My great grandmother was Amelia Rachel Hester, born about 1862, died 1928 in Christchurch. I have found reference to the following of her siblings: John Louis Hester, Frances Selina Mary Hester, Sarah Speechly Hester and Alfred Munt Hester so there were at least 8 of them. Amelia Rachel married Frederick Robert Corson c 1882 in Christchurch, NZ. Frederick was born 1859 in Chatham, Kent, England and came to NZ when he was about 21. He died in 1927 – there’s an obituary from the NZ Herald on Papers Past. They had 2 children in Christchurch, my grandmother Amelia Hilda Corson (known as May) (1883-1962) and Laurence Frederick Corson (1891-1917). My grandmother married James Doughty Sprosen (known as Jim (1880-1968) in Christchurch. Laurie married Minnie Ethel Smart in 1916 but had no children, dying tragically young. May and Jim had 2 children my father James Frederick Roy (known as Roy) 1908-1982) and Alan Henry Sprosen (1913-1989) who never married and had no children. I remember Thelma Page (Holst) and her husband Norman. I visited them a few times. I remember my father Roy talking about Great Aunt Balestice. I guess that was Maria Elizabeth? I think it was her that he said had a pet monkey that really intrigued him.
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Thanks for getting in touch, we will be fourth cousin's once removed. I also am intrigued by the monkey story, not sure it would have belonged to Maria Elizabeth Hester who married John Louis Balestice has she passed away in 1894. Do you have any other family stories or mention of my third great grandfather George Hester (brother to your Thomas Hester) or his daughter Emma Amelia Hester who came to New Zealand and married James Henry Clayton. Thanks Christine