Another NZ look-up please

[spades]

Hi Elaine,

'Sawmiller' could mean either, I think.

The Wises'sDirectories listings are illuminating. Owners of businesses paid to have an entry in such directories if I recall correctly, so the implication of the 1929 and 1931 entries is that Guy and Jean could have been living together then, but by 1940 they had separated, divorced, or she was widowed.

Both Abel Smith Street in Te Aro and Portland Crescent in Thorndon are in central Wellington, but about 3km apart. Was 18 Portland Crescent the address of the boarding house you mentioned?

At least we've now know who to look for,and that she was still Jean MATTHEWS in 1940. I'll search for a second marriage or a death.

Manana, riley

[spades]

Hi Elaine,

18 Portland Crescent still exists, and I've got two photos of the house. Can you send me a Personal Message with your email address, please, so I can send them to you. I can't attach them successfully to this post.

Regards, riley

[Elaine48]

Wow! That's incredible. Thank you so much for doing that. My email address is ::
 A wee bit late, sorry, but email address removed by moderator to prevent spam and other abuse. Please use secure PM system to exchange personal information.

Can't WAIT to see them!

Thanks
Elaine

[spades]

Hi Elaine,

I spent a couple of hours at the library looking for the MATTHEWS, but didn’t get very far.

I checked the Wellington Electoral Rolls for 1922-1924 inclusive, but no luck. However;

1929 Wellington Central Electoral Roll. p.136
#6724 MATTHEWS Guy McRae, 22 Oriental Tce, merchant.
He was the only Matthews at that address, and there were no Jean Matthews in this Roll or Supplementary Rolls.

1931 Wellington Central Electoral Roll. p.146
#7244 MATTHEWS Guy McRae, 22 Oriental Tce, merchant.
Again, he was the only one of that name at that address, and she did not appear in this or Supplementary Rolls.

1941 Wellington Electoral Rolls – no record.

I checked the RGO indexes for a marriage of Jean Matthews from 1921-1945 inclusive, and found one: the 1940 marriage of a Jean MATTHEWS, which I matched using Varcoes Marriage Index to a John Hamilton ALEXANDER (folio 14099).

I then looked for her with this surname in the Wellington 1941 electoral rolls, but didn’t find her. It’s quite likely that this marriage isn’t her and probably took place elsewhere in NZ, but it will be necessary to get the marriage certificate to prove it.

I checked Wises NZPO Directory 1942 and found this:
Pg.1376
“MATTHEWS Mrs Guy 18 Portland Crs Wel”There was no record of him.

From my own experience with NZ Trade Directories such as Wises, I recommend that you don’t place too much reliance on their information. These directories often lagged behind persons changes of address and occupation. Use them only as a rough guide as to persons historical locations, and try to confirm it using electoral rolls.

Lastly, I checked the computer database of Wellington’s Karori Cemetery burials. There is a Jean Matthews buried there, died 1938, but she was the fourth daughter of a Col. DUNBAR, Royal Scots Fusiliers. No Guy Matthews buried there.
 
Regards, riley

[Elaine48]

Hi Riley,

I'm sorry you went to all that trouble. Since we last communicated I've found out just about everything about my gran, including the fact that she changed her first name to Betty. Goodness
knows why. Her and Guy were married in 1920 in London with her using the name Betty even then.

Both the Guy McRae Matthews you mentioned are him, actually I don't have either of those so that is great. Also the Mrs. Matthews is my gran too. By that time they were seperated. They never divorced but must have been seperated for a long time before their deaths. She died in 1968 in Lower Hutt, he died in 1971 in Auckland. I have also since discovered Matthews wasn't his real name but the name of his step-father. They story is much more complicated than even I dreamed of. Just recently I've been contacted by a descendant of Guy's uncle which as you can guess I am astonished by.

Anyway thank you so very much for your help. I will add those electoral rolls to my notes on the 2 of them.

All the best,
Elaine