John Woodburn McEwin born 1858 Matakana Auckland

[pollyhow]

I am seeking information on John Woodburn McEwin. He was the brother of my great-grandfather James McEwin. James married in Reefton, West Coast in 1878 and witness to the marriage was John McEwin, Miner, Reefton. This conflicts with other info I have that John lived in Auckland at this time. Does anyone know if he was ever in the Reefton area, and if so when.

[TwiggyTree]

There appears to be a John (no middle name) McEwin in Reefton until 1905/1906
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0vsb/

[TwiggyTree]

This may be contradicted by a 1903 marriage in Victoria, Australia for a gentleman with that name born in Auckland:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0vsc/

[pollyhow]

There appears to be a John (no middle name) McEwin in Reefton until 1905/1906
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0vsb/

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have seen those electoral records which show him to have been in the West Coast between 1896 and 1905-06. But he married in Auckland in 1881 and then supposedly took his family to Victoria, Australia around 1889 and was in Victoria when his first wife died in 1901 and when he remarried in 1903. To add to the confusion I found an article in Papers Past (Inangahua Times) saying that J.W. & J. McEwin were at a meeting in the Oddfellows’ Hall (Reefton presumably) on 27 January 1892. At first I took these men to be John Woodburn and James McEwin, but then remembered that John Woodburn McEwin was living in Australia at that time. Maybe he flitted around a bit 

[Lucy2]

 To add to the confusion I found an article in Papers Past (Inangahua Times) saying that J.W. & J. McEwin were at a meeting in the Oddfellows’ Hall (Reefton presumably) on 27 January 1892. At first I took these men to be John Woodburn and James McEwin, but then remembered that John Woodburn McEwin was living in Australia at that time.

Hi pollyhow

Mmm .. the "Inangahua Times" article you mention, relates to the installation of officers in the Robert Burns Lodge, and rather than "J.W. & J. McEwin", it states >

        J.W.,  J.McEwin   (= J full stop W full stop comma J fullstop McEwin )

It seems that the "J.W." refers to "Junior Warden", the office to which a "J. McEwin" was appointed. 

[For further info, see "Masonic Lodge Officer" @ Wikipedia. ]

   ~  Lu 

[Lucy2]

ooops  ... that should have read "Masonic Lodge Officers" @ wikipedia. 
 

[pollyhow]

 To add to the confusion I found an article in Papers Past (Inangahua Times) saying that J.W. & J. McEwin were at a meeting in the Oddfellows’ Hall (Reefton presumably) on 27 January 1892. At first I took these men to be John Woodburn and James McEwin, but then remembered that John Woodburn McEwin was living in Australia at that time.

Hi pollyhow

Mmm .. the "Inangahua Times" article you mention, relates to the installation of officers in the Robert Burns Lodge, and rather than "J.W. & J. McEwin", it states >

        J.W.,  J.McEwin   (= J full stop W full stop comma J fullstop McEwin )

It seems that the "J.W." refers to "Junior Warden", the office to which a "J. McEwin" was appointed. 

[For further info, see "Masonic Lodge Officer" @ Wikipedia. ]

   ~  Lu

Thank you for thinking about that for me Lucy, but I still stand by my original opinion that J.W. McEwin is a person, not a title. If you look at the other names mentioned in the article there are a lot of full stop-commas between initials. And then after each surname there is a semi-colon. To me this indicates that a number of families had more than one member at the meeting.

Something I’ve found out since last posting is that James McEwin’s mother-in-law Sarah Griffiths died in Crushington the day after the meeting. The article was written on the 27th January 1892 (a Wednesday) and mentions the meeting took place on the Monday evening, so I’m taking it that this meeting was on the 25th January. Sarah died  on the 26th January 1892. I now wonder if John may have come over to New Zealand from Australia when he heard that Sarah was unwell. John may have known Sarah if he was the “John McEwin, miner, Reefton” who was witness to the marriage of James and Mary Griffiths in 1878. Mary’s parents were in Reefton at that time. But I realise my imaginings on this may be completely wrong. It is so easy to head down the wrong track.
Polly

[orkrad]

 To add to the pot. 25 January is  anniversary day for the birth of  Robert Burns  the famous (and infamous! ) Scottish poet and it is most likely that office holders  of the Masonic Lodge you mention were chosen at a meeting on that day.

Regards Orkrad.

[pollyhow]

To add to the pot. 25 January is  anniversary day for the birth of  Robert Burns  the famous (and infamous! ) Scottish poet and it is most likely that office holders  of the Masonic Lodge you mention were chosen at a meeting on that day.

Regards Orkrad.

Thanks for that. You have made me curious and I looked on the internet for info about the Robert Burns Lodge in Reefton. I found an interesting website which showed photos of the Masonic Hall in Shiel St Reefton which opened in July 1892 (still there today), but in reading about it got a bit muddled with the difference between the Pacific Lodge and the Robert Burns Lodge. Were they both Masonic lodges? Maybe the Freemasons had more than one lodge in Reefton. How I understood the article was that the building in Shiel Street was built for the Pacific Lodge not the Robert Burns Lodge. Maybe the Robert Burns Lodge had to keep meeting in the Oddfellows Hall after July 1892.
Polly