Hello...
I can't offer anything new sorry but I'm wondering if you have the 1885 death certificate for Bridget SMITH or the 1911 death certifcate for William John SMITH. The certificates should mention the number of living children and may help in working out if the three sisters were still alive in, respectively, 1885 and 1911.
I say 1885 and 1911 purely because of the following tree on Mundia...
William John SMITH 1831-1911
http://www.mundia.com/au/Person/26701401/1902271154...so if the tree is the wrong William John SMITH then just ignore me :-)
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For what it's worth, there is possibly a probate file for the above William John SMITH held at Auckland Archives. Maybe it contains a will. Well worth starting an Auckland Archives look-up request thread.
SMITH William John - Titirangi - Gardener - 1911
http://archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=21454781And this may be the probate file for his second wife Alice, also at Auckland Archives...
SMITH Alice - New Lynn - Widow - 1936
http://archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=9389572And at Wellington Archives is the probate file of his son Edward who you said is buried in Ngaruwahia
http://archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=23127224The files may contain a clue. Maybe not.
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I have gone through all the deaths and marriages in New Zealand and can't find any that seem to fit.
One thing I can give you is a list of deaths from the BDM NZ website but listed by first name, not surname. So if you feel like looking through
***lots*** of Mary, Agnes and Alice deaths then click on
"Download" (not
"Add to my Dropbox") at the following link...
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0x5z/It's a small zip file containing four text files. If you have any problems unzipping it let me know.
You can use the BDM NZ Marriages website to eliminate a lot of the names and then spend some time checking out the remainder. Will be helpful if you can share the load as there are a lot of names.
I've included deaths plus or minus five years of the birth years you gave (which doesn't make sense but will if you download the zip file)
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Do you know if the two Mary SMITHs buried in adjacent plots at Waikumete are part of the family. They're most likely mother and daughter but one of them was born in 1873-ish.
Having said that, Mary and SMITH are quite common names so it's most likely a coincidence but I couldn't find them in PapersPast to rule them out.
SMITH, Mary, 24 years, d.15 Sep 1896, bur.17 Sep 1896, Roman Catholic Division B Row 3 Plot 13
SMITH, Mary, 85 years, d.26 Aug 1888, bur.28 Aug 1888, Roman Catholic Division B Row 3 Plot 14
Regards
Beg