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Research in Other Countries => New Zealand => New Zealand Completed Requests => Topic started by: taonga1 on Wednesday 03 August 11 10:31 BST (UK)
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I've found five newspaper mentions on PapersPast relating to the elopement of Mrs Robinson and William Wakefield in Dec 1882.
The eloped couple are supposed to have had a child together - George William Wakefield, b. appr. 1884. I'm hunting for evidence of his birth, and I'd love to know what became of Mrs Robinson.
The couple ran away together from Fielding to Nelson.
I can't find a birth record for the child on BDM under either surname.
His father married someone else in 1885, and the son's marriage printout lists that wife as his mother.
I believe he was brought up by his father and the new wife - he appears on school rolls in Foxton with two younger sisters.
I believe Mrs Robinson to be Ellen Winifred GREEKS, b. appr. 1863, who I believe is the Helen GREEKS who married Richard Robinson in 1878.
They seem to have had three children:
1879 - William George Robinson, to Helen Winifred and Richard Robinson
1881 - Mary Anne Louisa Robinson, to Ellen Winifred and Richard Robinson
1882 - Ernest Robinson, to Ellen and Richard Robinson.
One of the newspaper reports says there were only two children. Another report says she took one child with her and left the other with Mr Robinson.
I'd be delighted with any further information that anybody can find!
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Note: in the newspaper attachment, the wronged husband is named as William Robinson, but that is the newspaper's error. The other four pieces I've found all name him as Richard Robinson.
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Looks like her third child Ernest died aged one month old, just two months before she ran off with William Wakefield.
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Hi taonga
All very interesting. ;)
First question ... is there a date of birth for George William shown on those school records ?
~ Lu
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I've found five newspaper mentions on PapersPast relating to the elopement of Mrs Robinson and William Wakefield in Dec 1882.
The eloped couple are supposed to have had a child together - George William Wakefield, b. appr. 1884. I'm hunting for evidence of his birth ...
Hi again
Could you post the references to the newspaper articles (mentions), please. :)
I'm finding it hard to understand why this (supposed) child
would bear a similar name to the ROBINSON son born 1879. ???
[Can only see one death between 1879 - 1886, that of a George William ROBINSON - 1879 - aged 11 weeks (who was possibly the son of a Hannah and Robert ROBINSON) ?]
Cheers
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His father married someone else in 1885, and the son's marriage printout lists that wife as his mother.
I believe he was brought up by his father and the new wife - he appears on school rolls in Foxton with two younger sisters.
William WAKEFIELD - Amelia Mary SCHWASS -- 1885
It's still possible though, that this lady was his birth mother.
A pre-nuptial birth that went un-registered ?
(Not unusual in those times.)
Amelia's unusual surname seems ripe for mis-transcription too (and not easy to search for on the online indexes without the "wildcard" facility.) Have you tried looking at the birth records on microfiche ?
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Ah ... and Richard ROBINSON (the father of Mary Ann Louisa ROBINSON b. 1881) ... also re-married in 1885. ;)
Richard ROBINSON - Elizabeth Sarah FOWLES -- 1885
Did you see these articles re: Mary Ann Louisa ?
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
"Feilding Star" - 16 & 17 September 1896 - Police Court
~ Lu
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What's probably interesting about the evidence given in the Mary Ann Louisa case, is that it mentions a brother who deputised for the father (Richard), in "driving the coach".
Was this brother then, William George ROBINSON (b. 1879) ?
Surely it must have been a brother who was slightly older than Mary Ann L. - who was only 15 years old at this time. ?
[There were two sons born of Richard's 2nd marriage, but they'd be too young ?]
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Richard ROBINSON and Elizabeth Sarah, divorced in 1900.
"Feilding Star" - 21 April 1900 - A Feilding Divorce Case
[ ::) He wed a third time in 1901. Is buried with this wife at Feilding Cemetery.]
Question now is ...
* Did Richard ROBINSON obtain a divorce from Ellen Winifred ... or did she die between 1882 and 1885. ?
~ Lu
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Thank you! Lots of interesting snippets to follow.
Foxton School: I haven't looked at school records, but found mentions of him with his two younger (half?) sisters at the school inspections:
- Manawatu Herald, 12 May 1896 - George Wakefield and Clara Wakefield
- Manawatu Herald, 11 May 1897 - George, Clara and Edith Wakefield
I'll be back after work to post the links to the elopement information.
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So hard to concentrate at work when I just want to dive into the genealogy!
I agree, I raised my eyebrows at the recycling of names William George/George William - if she IS the mother of both of them. Perhaps she was missing the older one, since it seems the children may have ended up staying with their father.
I will try to track down the researcher who told me there was another woman and see what proof she may have found for the birth. I can't find any evidence of his birth either way. Of course, he himself may never have known about his father's escapades with Mrs Robinson. I would imagine it might have been a family secret. And if he is Amelia's child instead, being born before the wedding would not be unusual in this line!
I'll attach two of the newspaper sections - the others only repeat what's in these two.
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I'm still looking for what became of Ellen Winifred Greeks/Robinson, if anybody has any clues!
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Ah ... and Richard ROBINSON (the father of Mary Ann Louisa ROBINSON b. 1881) ... also re-married in 1885. ;)
Richard ROBINSON - Elizabeth Sarah FOWLES -- 1885
Richard ROBINSON and Elizabeth Sarah, divorced in 1900.
"Feilding Star" - 21 April 1900 - A Feilding Divorce Case
Question now is ...
* Did Richard ROBINSON obtain a divorce from Ellen Winifred ... or did she die between 1882 and 1885. ?
~ Lu
Can't see a death registration for Ellen (or var.) - GREEKS / ROBINSON / WAKEFIELD ... possibly she adopted yet another surname ??
* Have you checked for a divorce record (Ellen & Richard)?
[If there was a divorce, then it's likely to have been processed through the Wellington area Court system and many of these cases are not displayed on the Archway website. You'd need to check with Archives NZ (Wellington) - they have an in-house database of same.]
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Hi
Would recommend you get a copy of the Intention to Marry notice (ITM), for the second marriage of Richard ROBINSON to Elizabeth Sarah FOWLES - 1885.
This will tell you if Richard re-married as a widower (and if that was the case, then the date of death may be included. I say "may be", because a date is not always stated.)
~ Lu
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For an ITM request, (as these are only indexed to 1881), you'll need to supply >>
* date of marriage -- 25 June 1885 / Folio No. 1207
* place of marriage -- likely Manawatu area (not stated in info from divorce hearing 1900, just says the couple lived in Feilding after their marriage.)
~ Lu
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Thanks Lu! I'll go hunting that ITM.
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Hi Taonga1,
Here is the ITM:
Intention to Marry Notice. Archives NZ Ref: BDM 20/30 1885 Fielding p.1038/183.
Dated 22 June: Richard ROBINSON, widower, a farmer aged 30 years living at Makino Road, length of residence 3 years, intends to marry Elizabeth Sarah FOWLES, a spinster aged 24 years living at Makino Road, length of residence 1 year, at the Registrar’s Office, Fielding. James (?) BEATTIE, Registrar.
The writing for thie entry was hard to interpret.
Spades
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Ooooooh, so she did die. Thank you! That narrows things down rather a lot. She goes off the radar in January 1883 after she eloped, aged about 19. Somewhere between then and June 1885, she may or may not have had another child, and then died somehow.
I know she fled to Nelson and was introduced to William Wakefield's sister(s) as his wife, then he was arrested and taken back to Feilding charged with theft, which was dismissed.
I know there'll be a piece of the puzzle just waiting to be discovered somewhere :-)
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Hi. I am the grand daughter of William George Robinson, born 1879, son of Richard Robinson and a mother he never knew! I've wanted to find out about her for a long time - we didn't even know her name. Sounds like we may have found her - very exciting indeed! We knew that Richard Robinson was a 'colourful' character - there were several marriages and many court cases! Poppa Robinson died in 1964 and we remember him as a very sweet natured, but slightly simple character who had had a very hard life - he drove the coach for his father from an early age, and endured great hardship at the hands of his stepmother. He married Helen Victoria Cowdrey (Nell) in 1910 and they had 3 sons George, Sidney (my father) and Edwin (Ned) So excited to read your posts....
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Also, just re-reading your chats - I've seen the articles on Papers Past too. Lucy it was my grandfather who drove the coach for this father - he began doing this at the age of 12 I believe!
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I've just found Ellen Winifred Greeks, spinster, on the electoral rolls for Wellington in the early 1900's!
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Viola! This is wonderful - I love it when discoveries happen :-)
There are three Ellen Winifred Greeks - 'our' one was born in 1863. She has a niece with the same name, and there's a third later Ellen too - can't remember where she fits in. I've been in touch with a Greeks family researcher who is descended from Ellen's brother. I think the 1900s one would be the niece.
I'll go through my files and pull all the Greeks information together for you.
How exciting :-)
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Do you have Excel, Viola? It would be easiest if I keep this info in an excel spreadsheet format. I'll turn the rest of the information into a PDF document.
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Yes I have excel - thanks so much for doing this. This genealogy stuff is incredibly absorbing isn't it?
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We now have DNA proof that our George William Wakefield was the child of Ellen Winifred Greeks :-)