Mary Letitia ANDREWS :I've looked at a good number of records to try and find some indication that this Mary Letitia (nee MERCER) was born in Ireland. But all (so far) to no avail.
Amongst records searched ... the WW1 Army records for her sons, but they enlisted at a time when parental details were not recorded on their attestation forms. [Where parents names are recorded, their birthplaces and time in NZ is also noted.]
Mary died at Wellington (North island) in 1935.
Her headstone at Taita Cemetery ( Section J - row 14 - 3509 ) reads >
"Mary Letitia ANDREWS d. 20 October 1935 - 69 years
Also - Violet Mercer ANDREWS d. 24 April 1933 - 42 years.
Also Edgar James ANDREWS d. 31 August 1907 aged 45.
Also Harold Leslie ANDREWS - K.i.A. Messines, France, 15 June 1917 aged 22 years. "
There was a Probate record for Mary >
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9T3-G4MD-Z?i=569&cc=1865481Her estate was taken care of by the Public Trustee and there doesn't seem to be anything on file which states where she was born.
Mary's husband Edgar had died in 1907. There is a Probate file for him also (Year: 1909) ... includes a copy of his death registration. Another Public Trustee-administered estate - and although Mary Letitia was named as executrix, there is a again no statement which might have verified her birth place.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9K9-K922?i=246&cc=1865481So this Mary Letitia has the same year of birth (c. 1866) as the Mary (10 years) travelling to NZ in 1876 with Joseph and Sarah HENDERSON. ??
The child > Henry aged 6 > is a good match for Henry Proctor MERCER. But where were the other two children > Jane Proctor and brother Richard
Did they travel to NZ at another time ?
[I couldn't find them on a passenger list. ? ]
~ Lu