Seeking J. & M.J. Bartley, cabman and wife - historical research work in progress, begun December 2005
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Could this be John Bartley, reading the Lyttelton Times outside their premises and Warner's Hotel, in north-east Cathedral Square, Christchurch, c1904?
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Or this, awaiting a fare back to Sydenham, through 'the bottleneck' congestion, south from the Square along 'Colombo Road', c1910?
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Or this, mid-'bottleneck', ranked outside Whittle's Hotel on
'the triangle' at High Street - Colombo Street corner, in 1912?
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Or this, at the High Street - Manchester Street corner, before the
Queen Victoria Clocktower was relocated to Victoria Street, in 1915?
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Given that John Bartley was sixty to seventy years old during the sequence pictured above, it is possible that he was working out his retirement - while dealing with his wife Mary Jane's illness and early passing - through this period.
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These illustrations are ©opyright from Canterbury - Pictures from the Past by John Wilson, published by Whitcoulls in Christchurch, 2002. More pix and detail about Christchurch drivers are available here.
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Introduction
Surname meaning for Bartley - "English: from the Middle English personal name Bartle (see Bartle) a pet form of Bartholomew. English: variant of Barclay Irish: sometimes the English name (see above) but it was also adopted for Mac Pharthaláin (see McFarlane). Americanized form of South German (Swabia) Bartle and the Swiss German cognate Bartli. Similar surnames: Barley, Hartley, Batley, Carley, Barclay, Bartle, Badley, Bailey" - ancestry.com.au/genealogy
The surname Bartley is reasonably common, less often used as a first/christian name. It could be followed along a farmer-settler migratory route, originating in west England, then Scotland (perhaps Ayrshire), to Northern Ireland in the 1600s Republic (Donegal, Fermanagh), back to England escaping the 1841-51 Potato Famine, and out into the colonial 'New World'. Destitute flight leaves scant trace, so the larger Bartley populations of North America and Australia are not the target of this research (see the endnotes for related links, and an interesting gene study). Other versions of the same surname are Bartholemew, Bartlie, Bartlett, Barclay, Berkley, &c.
There were a good number of Bartley migrants to New Zealand, but the concern of this page is establishment of the Bartley line in Canterbury NZ. Along the way we find it a good example of realisation of the classic Kiwi dream: "Jack is as good as his master" - imported rural labour rejected the role, and set itself up in small business instead, rural and urban. This went on to form a dominant national characteristic, which continues to challenge Anglo-traditional notions of class and deference.
Family legend: "Nanna Snell (Dad's Mother) used to tell us stories about the Bartley family, and she said that somewhere in the past, a younger son of an Earl Bartley (Isle of Mann), married 'beneath him' and appears to have been disowned, this branch of the family appears to have settled in Ireland. Wishful thinking? ..." [Source: Pauline Khong, nee Snell]
Reference: "ancient Dalriadan-Scottish name Bartley is the ancient and popular given name Bartholomew, a widespread personal name in medieval England at the time. Spelling variations of this family name include: Bartley, Bartlie, Barteley, Bartely, Bartelie and many more. First found in Strathdon, in Aberdeenshire, and were descended from Parlan and the son of Parlan whose name became Farlane and Bartley, at the time when it was undesirable to continue a name beginning with Mac. ... in the north of Scotland under the leadership of their chief, Earl Sigurd. This settlement was permitted by the Scottish king and the kings of the Isle of Man ... Some noteworthy people of the name Bartley: Thomas Houghton Bartley (d 1878), New Zealand politician; Edward Bartley, New Zealand (English born) architect; Gerald Bartley, Irish politician; Robert Leroy Bartley (1937-2003), recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom" Bartley Coat of Arms & Name History / Family Crest in Google cache;
Isle of Man wikipedia + see Bartley links at page foot
Stop Press: [From data on this page? 10-07-2012] New info from myheritage.com says George Bartley (b 1816 County Fermanagh Ireland, d 1915 Christchurch NZ) m Polly Creighton (b 1826 County Fermanagh Ireland, d 1880), son John Bartley (1846-1924). Abraham Johnston 1795-? m Isabella Johnston 1805-? County Donegal Ireland, daughter Mary Jane Johnston (1855-1913). Traces Martin line back to Derick Paine 1546-1616 m Margaret Anstie 1550-1636.
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What is known so far..
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John and Mary Jane Bartley.
Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch NZ, Anglican section.
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Table made from Chch Central Library, Canterbury Museum DRC, ArchivesNZ, Births Deaths & Marriages, etc documents:
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?-Arrival:
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Miss Johnston
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'Albion' from Melbourne
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a.2.3.1872 Hokitika
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Steerage
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?-Arrival:
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Mary Johnstone
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'Mongol'
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a.2.1874
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IM 15/88
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?-Arrival:
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John Bartley
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a.Wellington?
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a.1874
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IM 17/1 p.2 (74/1294)
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?-Arrival:
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John Bartley
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s.12.8.1877
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a.9.11.1877
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a.Lyttelton Chch
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on the 'Rangitikei'
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ex: London-Plymouth
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farm labourer
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age 36 (=b.c1841)
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Sussex - families
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with:
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Fanny Bartley
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wife
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age 33 (=b.c1844)
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Sussex - families
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with:
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Mary A Bartley
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general servant
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age 22 (=b.c1855)
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Sussex - single women
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?-Arrival:
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Mary J Johnstone
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s.31.10.1877
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a.9.1.1878
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a.Lyttelton Chch
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on the 'Hereford'
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ex: London-Plymouth
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general servant
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age 16 (=b.c1862)
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Galway (departue port?)
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?-Arrival:
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Mary J Johnston
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s.13.2.1878
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a.25.11.1878
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a.Lyttelton Chch
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on the 'Wanganui'
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ex: London-Plymouth?
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age 16 (=b.c1862)
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Galway
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with:
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Frances Johnston
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two adults
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age 35 (=b.c1843)
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Galway fare £27-3-0
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- Difficult trace ongoing.. It is said that the couple met in Christchurch.
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Chch Hospital:
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Admssn & Dischg Book
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John Bartley 39
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(=b.c1841) English
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Labourer
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#517 p.109
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28Sep-4Oct1880
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Sim stroke
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Rel.denom: Ch. England
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Charge: £1-1-0
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Marriage cert:
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3-Sept-1881
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Registrars Office
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Christchurch
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Witnesses:
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John Bartley
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Carrier, Bachelor
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Co. Fermanagh
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age 35 (=b.c1846)
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Joshua Martin, Laborer
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Mary Jane Johnston
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Servant, Spinster
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Co. Donegal
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age 25 (=b.cOct1855)
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Elizabeth Martin, Chch
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Parents:
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George Bartley
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Farmer
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Polly Bartley
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(nee) Creighton
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Parents:
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Abraham Johnston
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Farmer
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Isabella Johnston
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(nee) Johnston
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Chch Hospital:
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Admssn & Dischg Book
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Jno Bartley 35
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(=b.c1846) Irish Laborer
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Sandridge Sydenham
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#586
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14Dec1881 - 2Jan1882
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Varicose Veins
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Rel.denom: Ch England
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Charge: £2-17-0
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Birth cert:
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22-Jan-1887
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William Bartley (eldest son)
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King's Street
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Sydenham
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Parent:
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John Bartley
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Laborer
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45 (=b.c1841)
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Co. Fermanagh
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Parent:
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Mary Jane Bartley
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formerly Johnston
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31 (=b.c1855)
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Co. Donegal
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Chch Hospital:
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Admissions Book
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Mary Jane Bartley 35
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(=b.c1855) Irish
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King St Sydenham
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#953 18Feb1891
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Dr Ovenden
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Ovarian & tubal disease (Cystic probably)
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Rel.denom: Ch. England
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Husb. John Laborer
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Chch Hospital:
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Admissions Book
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Margaret Bartley
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8
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(=b.c1890)
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#124
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9May1898
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Ward No.2
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Hepatitis
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Chch Hospital:
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Admissions Book
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Mary Jane Bartley 44
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(=b.c1855) Irish
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Barbadoes & Tuam St
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#1139
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23Jan1900 Dr Fox
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Cystic disease of kidney
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Rel.denom: Ch Delphian
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Charge: £2-17-0
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Death cert:
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10-Nov-1913
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Mary Jane Bartley
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Married
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202 Barbadoes Street Chch
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Parents:
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Abraham Johnston
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Farmer
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--
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b. Co. Donegal
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Issue living, ages:
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M: 27 21
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F: 31 29 23 20 18
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m.@ 25 '56' d.58
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c33 years in NZ '15' (=b.cOct1855)
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Death cert:
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8-Jan-1924
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John Bartley
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Cabman
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Wakefield Avenue, Sumner Chch
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Parents:
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George Bartley
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Polly Bartley
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(nee) Craton (sic)
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b. Co. Donegal
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Issue living, ages:
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M: 41 39 29 28 27
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F: --
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m.@ 35 '44' d.79
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c50 years in NZ '29' (=b.c1844 a.c1874)
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J&MJB - issue 1:
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b.8-Jul-1882
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Polly Bartley
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F
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@20:21 m.27-May-1903 Arthur Walter Button
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J&MJB - issue 2:
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b.cMar1884
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Isabella Jane 'Bella' Bartley
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F
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J&MJB - issue 3:
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b.22-Jan-1887
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William 'Bill' Bartley
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M
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@23:22 m.28-Sep-1910 Annie Elizabeth Martin d.c1939 @52
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J&MJB - issue 4:
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b.cMar1890
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Margaret Ellen Bartley
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F
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@25:31 m.15-Apr-1915 Robert Henry Main
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J&MJB - issue 5:
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b.cJun1892
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?-Charles 'Charlie' Bartley
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M
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or Thomas b.cFeb1892
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J&MJB - issue 6:
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b.cDec1893
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Dolly Bartley
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F
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@33 m.24-Aug-1927 Joseph Kane Snell mixtae religionis (eldest son)
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J&MJB - issue 7:
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b.cJul1896
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Annie Amelia Bartley
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F
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m.1916 Thomas George Snell (younger brother, parents Joseph Algernon Snell & Winifred Quinliven)
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Sydenham Public School:
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Register 1887-94
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Polly Bartley
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J Bartley King St Sydenham
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index #518 b.1.7.1882
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last day 13.6.1891
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removed from Reg 1.7.1891
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Trans to H[agley?] U[pper] Girls
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Sydenham Public School:
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Register 1887-94
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Bella Bartley
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M Bartley King St
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index #685 b.4.2.1883
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last day 21.9.1888
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removed from Reg 4.9.1888
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Sydenham Public School:
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Register 1883-86
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William Bartley
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E/G Osborne Matson St Syd
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index #1181 b.6.10.1878
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last day 27.3.1885
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removed from Reg 2.6.1885
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ex Richmond School
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?-Related:
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George Bartley
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1891 Carpenter, Angus St
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voted in favour of
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Sydenham relicensing Waltham Arms Hotel
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Private 15470
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2nd Battalion
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Canterbury Regiment
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d.7Jun1917
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capture of Messines France
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?-Related:
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Kate Bartley
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d.24Jun1886 i.26-Linwood
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Servant Ireland
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@33 (=b.c1853) 12 years in NZ (=a.c1874)
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Bartley home #1: 111 King Street today, holds five flats with garages.
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Houses more of the early period: no. 102 & 100 King Street today.
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Bartley home #2: corner of Moorhouse Avenue and Waller Terrace today.
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Bartley home #3: corner of Tuam and Barbadoes Streets today.
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Biography of John and Mary Jane Bartley.
Vogel Scheme migrants? Pre-mechanised urban transport industry, Christchurch NZ.
Before that? - John's Protestant, Northern Ireland settler family (or part/s thereof) may have been back in England awhile before JB sailed. Like Mary Jane, who came direct from Donegal or indirectly via England for domestic service, John has origins obscured by mid-Victorian poverty. Both were regarded as acceptably Irish, in the young Anglican colony of Canterbury. The Scotch thistle and Celtic motif on their headstone are probably the clearest message from J&MJB to us about their family traditions, as no Catholic ones were passed down. Both names are well represented in North-western Irish counties.
We don't yet have a definite arrival date or ship for either John or Mary. Their Christchurch marriage in September 1881 is our earliest record. John arrived with some capital (off the goldfields?), or worked a few years to accumulate it, as the government's 1882 Return of Freeholders of NZ (first full survey for tax purposes &c) lists John Bartley, Sydenham labourer, worth £190. [There was also a Mary Jane Bartley, with a Robert John and a Richard Henry (sons?) of Geraldine, worth £120 - probably unrelated. A Bartley family registered through Oamaru were producing about as many offspring through the 1880s and 90s as did John and Mary Jane in Christchurch, and there were at least two Auckland Bartley families as well.] John also appeared in the Sydenham Borough Council Valuation List 1882 - though not in 1879 - as a "Laborer" with one apportioned area and a two-room house in King Street, rates £10. The land cost £82-10-0 on the January 1883 transfer "containing one rood" from artisan William Thin [LINZ Christchurch]. Since we have to guess, we could assume John was a Lyttelton Railway Tunnel and/or Christchurch railway labourer (construction around that time attracting migrants), and accomodated in the Addington barracks, as to how and why he was able to buy into the brand new Sydenham Borough. Addington camp administrative material survives at the local Archives, but contains no worker names.
Just married (and John through varicose vein treatment, a year after a mild stroke), the new family's home was in Block Number 83, of Rural Section 196: "Tennyson Street.. formed the southern boundary of land owned by Major J. H. Clarkson, who arrived on the Steadfast in 1851. He and his three sons established a farm which because of its situation was called Sand Ridge. A wide stratum of shingle and sand ran from Addington to Waltham and between Huxley and King streets."1
NZ Post Office Directory 1883-4, Wise & Co, also has John Bartley of King St, Sydenham, listed. Here the family were building up their capital, perhaps some taxi or trucking business, and steadily outgrowing their house. "Sandridge Suburb" had been subdivided in 1876, and John Bartley's '20 perch' section a decade later had a Rateable Value of £150 [SBC Valuation Roll 1886-9; one rood is 40 perches; devaluation an economic depression effect?]. The RV had dropped further to £130 in 1889-92.
Mary Jane was a signatory to the Female Suffrage Petition of 1893, that was organised from Sydenham by Kate Sheppard and won NZ women the parliamentary electoral vote. All seven Bartley children were born by 1896, and the first two - Polly and Bella - attended Sydenham Public School on Colombo Road (opened 1873) up till 1891 and 1888 respectively. Waltham (1891), Christchurch West (Hagley), or Gloucester Street (Christchurch East) is probably where the rest of the children's schooling was done [no Bartleys attended Addington school (1881); Christchurch East was soon 'the largest school in the colony' - Cyclopedia NZ, 1903].
John was still a "Laborer" in the buildup to being able to shift residences, and improve the Bartley nett worth. (111) King Street sold in 1896 for £125, and their next home took them just inside the 'Four Avenues', just south of Christchurch West School. The 24-perch western corner of South Belt (Moorhouse Avenue) and Waller Terrace cost £100 in 1895, and was an intermediary relocation of the family and business aims, yielding £345 at sale in April 1899. The economy was improving again. Their dream home site and future was even nearer the city centre.
In May 1899 the Bartleys purchased by mortgage the 14.25 perch (360 square metre) property on the north-east corner of Tuam and Barbadoes streets, for £132-10-0. This served as home and new business premises, with John listed as a "Coal Merchant" on its title transfers. The same details were recorded a decade later, in the Christchurch 1909 Elector's Roll, but Mary Jane's health was failing well before then. The last house she ran was variously noted as 62 and 202 Barbadoes St, which latter address was listed when Mary died in 1913 of an untreated abdominal growth.
In the 1911 Elector's Roll John's entry was hand-crossed from 'Tuam Street coal merchant' to read 'Barbadoes Street cabman'. In 1915 John as 'coal merchant', and Margaret Bartley. tailoress, were the Barbadoes Street residents. The premises were sold in June 1918, to "produce merchant" Robert Geddis for £320. Described as a "cabman" at his passing in 1924, John may have entered the taxi trade through Sand Ridge Section neighbour, and "the city's earliest cab-driver," Henry William Read.2 At firstborn Polly's marriage in May 1903, parent John was a "cab proprietor", and at Margaret's in 1915, a "Gentleman": retired, or dapper and well-mannered hansom cabbie? John ended his years in Wakefield Avenue, Sumner by the sea.
Cabmen were an organised lot, with dealings with the public added to by Police and Council authorities from the 1860s. Registration or association records may exist. John could also have been active in a Friendly Society or similar.
This history indicates that John Bartley and Charles Martin would have met as equals, doing much the same work carting on Christchurch streets, and probably became friends; the Martins had £175 worth of Haast St in Linwood (1882), long term - two plots at estate liquidation in 1937. Both their families lived in close proximity to Christchurch East School. This would explain why their children, Bill and Annie, married. It's the typical small business dream lived out on both sides, though motor vehicles soon transformed their occupations and landspace needs. Before then, public trams and trolley buses were already pressuring the private transport sector. Eventually the city streets would be sealed and messy horses discouraged from using them. The animals became hard to control around noisy and aggressive vehicular traffic. The bicycle too, had popularly taken off.
The Press had no Bartley obituary in November 1924. A GR Macdonald index entry for John Bartley was made, with the Linwood Cemetery headstone names and ages only, but no further detail was found for it at the time (Canterbury Museum library, 1964). The present document meets that legacy shortfall.
- Sydenham, the Model Borough of Old Christchurch - An Informal History, NZ Federation of University Women: Canterbury Branch, Pegasus Press, 1977, p.9.
- ibid., p.11.
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William 'Bill' Bartley and wife Annie Elizabeth Bartley (nee Martin), with their sons (l-r) Ronald 'Ron' Bartley, William John 'Jack' Bartley, Colin Aubrey Bartley and Russell Wilfred 'Bill' Bartley, at their daughter Mavis Helen 'May' Bartley's wedding (to Tama Newbery), St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch, 1940.
~ In loving memory of Jack Bartley ~ a truly great grandfather ~
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20th-21st century descendents of John & Mary Jane Bartley..
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from Polly Bartley & Arthur Button:
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?
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?
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?
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?
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from Isabella Bartley:
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?
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?
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?
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?
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from Bill & Annie Bartley:
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William John 'Jack' Bartley m Stella Herman; Chch
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Jocelyn, Judith
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Jo's children - Philip, Richard, Anzak (Christopher), Simon (deceased), Fiona, Amanda; Judy's children - Guy (deceased), Charlotte
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Jo's grandchildren - Samantha, Stella, Felix, Celeste, Mitchel, Imogen, Tennyson; Judy's grandchildren - Louie, ..., ...
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"
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Ron Bartley m Nola Day; Ackd
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Ron, Kay, Leonie, Susan, Ian, Peter
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?
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?
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"
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Mavis Helen 'May' Bartley m Tama Newbery; Chch
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Jennifer, John
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Andrew, Stephen, Shelley, Matthew, Kylie
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?
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"
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Colin Aubrey Bartley m June; RNZAF, Ackd
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Shirley, Tony, Karen
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?
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?
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"
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Russell Wilfred 'Bill' Bartley m Kathleen; NZEF, Ackd
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Susan, Michael, Mark
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?
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?
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from Margaret Bartley & Robert Main:
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Ngaire Main, sister, ..
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?
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?
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?
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from ?-Charles Bartley:
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?
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?
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?
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?
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from Dolly Bartley & Joseph Alder Kane Snell:
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?
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?
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?
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?
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from Annie Amelia Bartley & Thomas George Snell m 1916:
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Willam 'Bill' Snell d 1970s?
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?
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?
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?
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"
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Jack Snell married d 1980s
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3 children
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?
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?
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"
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Joyce Snell ????
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?
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?
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?
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"
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Ross Bartley Snell m Betty Ebba Hammar, divorced 1952 Chch; m Audrey Dorathea 'Betty' Easter 1953, lives in Whangarei; d 1998 @74yrs
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Pauline Glenda Khong (nee Snell) of Melbourne b 1948; Grant David Snell b 1949 Dorathea's son, adopted; Reid Bartley Snell b 1955
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Pauline's children - Carla-Marie Pirotta, Steven Rangi Royal, Genevieve Moana Royal-Holmes, David Wei Yun Khong; Grant's children - 3 sons (Reid Bartley deceased), 2 daughters
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Pauline's grandchildren - Zoe & Aaron, Masison Rose & Lachlan Andrew, Jayde Anne; Grant's grandchildren - 2
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"
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Patricia Snell m Thomas Berry, Chch
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4 children
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?
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?
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To be continued. ... Link to Tyndall wikipedia/bible
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