Hi John,
I came across your post by accident, so have just joined rootschat to give you some of the details I have. Benjamin Palmer was the step brother of Christina. He was a miner in Thames during the gold rush. The other witness listed at the marriage, Elizabeth Palmer, was Christina's step sister (there were two Benjamin Palmers in the Thames area at this time-hence some confusion-the other Benjamin was married to Mary (nee Picket) and they had a family in Thames. They are the ones buried in Shortland Cemetary, Thames).
The Benjamin and Christina and Elizabeth Palmers of this post are the children of James and (sometimes Janet) Christina Palmer (was Orr, nee Stewart), who came to NZ as a Fencible on the Berwick Castle in 1852. They were married in Holy Trinity Chapel, Paisley, Scotland on 5th January 1851, and were living at 9 Brick Lane, Paisley at the time of the 1851 UK census (you can check out the Lane on Google maps, street view). James’ occupation is listed as nightwatchman on the census form. James Palmer was born in Ireland, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, in about 1805, and served in the 1st of Foot Regiment, serving in the West Indies and Gibraltar. He was discharged in 1844, due to ill health. Christina Stewart was born in Glasgow in about 1823. On arrival in NZ they settled in Howick, living in Gibraltar St for a while on James’ allotted land. They had 15 children between them, 13 of them together. They are buried in the small churchyard of St Johns Theological College, Auckland.
Christina (the daughter) was born in Paisley, Scotland on 1st May 1852, shortly before their departure to NZ. Benjamin was born in 1940 in Gibraltar, while James was stationed there in the army (obviously born to another woman). Elizabeth Palmer, the other witness to the marriage to James Harvey, was born in Edinburgh in about 1847, while Christina (the mother) was married to Orr.
Christina married James Harvey on 11 April 1873 in Thames. He was born in Birmingham on 6th Oct 1843. They had 3 children, James Charles, Elizabeth Alice and Ruth. Husband James died 19 Sept 1878 in Fielding. Christina remarried Richard Organ (son of another Fencible, Richard Organ) on 9 August, 1883. She had another 4 children from this marriage. She died 27 May 1929 and is buried at Purewa cemetery, Auckland. I have details of all her children.
I can find no sensible dates for Benjamin Palmer’s marriage or death in NZ. There is a Benjamin Palmer listed as a passenger on the vessel “Rotorua”, headed from Auckland to Sydney on 28th July, 1879, so maybe he headed off to make his fortune on the goldfields of Australia.
I am descended from William Walter Palmer, one of Christina’s many brothers. Let me know if there’s any particular information you need-I have information on all Christina’s siblings.
