Wakefield family of Nelson

[taonga1]

Any sleuths able to work two tangles out?

I want to order Clara's birth certificate, and William's death certificate, but I can't nail them down in the online BDM index:

They were living near Nelson, probably in Aniseed Valley, Waimea East, near Ranzau, which is now Hope.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Clara Elizabeth WAKEFIELD
- Birth record? - about 1860
- Any other siblings?  Other Wakefield births in that era, no parents named.

Evidence of her existence:
- Ranzau school prize - Nelson Examiner, 28 Dec 1865
- birth of son, George William Wakefield in 1878, with Alexander John Gray
- marriage 1879 to Alexander John Gray
- marriage 1928 to Harrison Cowman
- death 1929, aged 69 (Clara Elizabeth Cowman)
- Death certificate - states born in Nelson.
- Burial at Wakapuaka

There is a daughter listed for William John and Christina Wakefield in 1865 - Mena Eliza - with no further listings for a death or marriage.  Is it a bad transcription for Clara?  and with a wrong date?

Have searched the Nelson newspapers on Papers Past for 1860 and haven't found anything.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
William John/John William WAKEFIELD
- What ship did he arrive on?
- Where did he come from?
- Is he the same William John Wakefield who married Amelia Schwass in 1885?
- When did he die?  Where is he buried?  Want to order his death certificate - but which one is he?

Evidence for his existence:
- Named as Clara's father on her death certificate, 'John William Wakefield' and mother as Christina Lankow
- BDM online index - marriage in 1858 (in bride's field, no bride named)
- Marriage to Christina Maria Lankow - 1858
- Electoral roll - section 110 Waimea-east, Nelson Examiner, 5 Apr 1862, pg 3
- Electoral roll - 22 June 1867 - lists him as William, John Wakefield
- Marriage to Amelia/Maria Schwass - 1885 (or is this a son?  with the same name?)
- IGI, b. 1831 (married to Amelia Schwass)

Cannot find a cemetery record for him, and the William and John Wakefields on the online BDM index don't appear to have matching birthdates.  Of course, I'm only going by the IGI listing for an 1831 birthdate.

Have searched Nelson ship's lists up to 1860.

Christina's second husband was Hans Joachim Christoph (Joseph) Busch, and it would seem that the Busch, Schwass and Lankow families all arrived together on the Skiold arrival of German immigrants in 1844. 

Any insights??

[Thamesite2017]

Have you made contact with museums, NZSG branches in the area
JUst see for instance MOTUEKA branch and NElson have extensive indexes
http://www.genealogy.org.nz/Motueka_162.aspx
http://www.tdc.govt.nz/index.php?Historykeptalivebydedicatedvolunteers
BYe
Althea

[Lucy2]

Hi taonga

Just want to compliment you on your presentation of information, here.     All very easy to follow - well done !  

Aah yes, a bit of a tangle ... but probably just a process of elimination, and digging for some extra clues.    

Firstly, William John / John William WAKEFIELD  :

If his first wife Christina has re-married, (Hans Joachim Christoph (Joseph) BUSCH) in 1877,  then at that time, she is either a widow, divorcee, (or a deserted wife who has had her husband declared "dead").   Being a widow, of course, is the mostly likely  ... and that means, Mr. WAKEFIELD had died prior to 1877.

The online (NZ) Death index doesn't show a "William" in this time frame ... however there are two "John WAKEFIELD" deaths - 1863 (perhaps unlikely if he is father of the 1865 child) ... and 1871.   Neither listing records "age at death".

Do you have access to (the old) NZ BDM records on microfiche ??    It would be worth checking to see where both of those deaths were registered.

I'm assuming that you don't yet have the cert. for Christina's second marriage?    A look-up of the intention to marry notice though, would confirm whether she was a widow.

[I note too, that there are two children from this second marriage - Alexander John BUSCH (1877) and Amelia Sophia BUSCH (1881) - parents shown as Christina and Joseph].

That IGI (submitted) entry for William WAKEFIELD / Maria Sophia Emilie SCHWASS (presumably "Amelia" ?)  ... is a little odd ?   Especially his age (1831) ?   (Again, an ITM look-up might clarify that ? )   I wouldn't think that this "William" is the same person who married Christina in 1858).

Lu
                                continued   .... next post >>

[Thamesite2017]

have we looked at the JOHN 1871 on a previous thread??
Burial locator it is WAIRAU 1871 death rego
and 1870 a WAIRAU MArlborough entry
no ages

and there was a JOHN WAKEFIELD river drowning 1870-1875

Bye
Althea

[Lucy2]

  ----   WAKEFIELD births   :

"Mena Eliza WAKEFIELD" - birth registered 1865  ??

Hmmm ... (again) may be worthwhile looking at the microfiche
record for this (there are some weird "transcriptions" showing up in these online records).    

[Of course if Clara had her son in 1878, then her birth year is probably unlikely to have been 1865 ?   But when we're stumped, then every little scrap of info, is worth exploring further].  

Did you also notice amongst the WAKEFIELD births, a "Dorothy Christina WAKEFIELD" reg'd. 1863 ?

And there is a "George Henry WAKEFIELD" (b.c. 1860 at Nelson) in an IGI submission - no parents shown there, nor on the 1859 online birth record.

So, determining where other WAKEFIELD births were registered (within a particular time-frame), might also be of help ?

Lu

[Lucy2]

have we looked at the JOHN 1871 on a previous thread??
Burial locator it is WAIRAU 1871 death rego
and 1870 a WAIRAU MArlborough entry
no ages

Hi Althea   

Mmmm .... I couldn't find that previous thread you mention ??

(But Wairau, Marlborough   ... not so very distant from Nelson ??)

Lu

[DotBrennan]

Is this the one Althea was thinking of....?

Elusive Wakefields in Nelson ...
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,369984.0.html


Bren

[taonga1]

Thank you Alethea, Lucy and Kiwi  ... I'm just working through all the ideas you've raised so far (it's such a pain having to go to work when there's genealogy to do!)

Alethea:  I did visit the Nelson Provincial Museum 3 years ago and go through their index, taking notes of all the Wakefields.  I know a lot more now though than I did then, and I should probably follow up on some of the new related surnames that I've discovered.  Is the Motueka group the main NZSG group covering Nelson?  I know, I really should join NZSG *blush*

Looking again at my notes from there, I've listed an 'Eliza Amelia Wakefield', daughter of John Wakefield, Farmer, and 'Christina Amelia Wakefield, nee Lankow' marrying James Coutts Dallas, both aged 22, 24 Je 1890 at Wanganui, born in Nelson.

You wouldn't name three daughters Clara Elizabeth, Mena Eliza and Eliza Amelia, would you??

Their correspondence file also listed Clara Mary Wakefield, daughter of William Wakefield and Amelia Schwass, b. 1886 Nelson, m. Wanganui 18 Sep 1909, aged 23.        Something about Wakefields being born in Nelson and marrying in Wanganui??

Lucy:  Thank you - I'm a Librarian by trade, and I know how easy it is to get facts tangled if they're not laid out!

I'm with you on that IGI submitted 1831 birth entry.  It doesn't look right to me.  I'm also becoming convinced that it's two different men; John marrying Christina, and then William marrying Amelia.  Several sources would appear to be confusing things, with Maria/Amelia and John/William getting switched around. 

I'll concentrate on searching for a John Wakefield death first, I think.  Thank you Althea for those Wairau entries.  I haven't brought up John Wakefield before here - on the first thread I did, I was trying to work out why I wasn't finding George William Wakefield's parents, Clara and Alexander, but it was because George was illegitimate and they married after he was born.  The rest of his siblings are Grays.

Lucy:  I suspect Dorothy Christina will be a sibling - Christina Lankow has several Dorotheas in her family tree.  I've been working on George Henry Wakefield for the past few days!  He was born around the same year as Clara Elizabeth, and he's also buried at Wakapuaka.

I went through every Wakefield listed in Nelson cemeteries and tried to put their family relationships together.  George Henry's son Leslie George married Clara's daughter Florence Mary Gray - so both her mother's maiden name, and her married name, are Wakefield!  No wonder it gets tangled  :-)

Off to work on deaths.

[taonga1]

Sorry Althea - I have no idea how I snuck that extra 'e' into the spelling of your ID!