Thank-you, yes that is him.
We are trying to discover what happened to him.
We know he was born 3 Jan 1842 at Norley Place, Plymouth, Devon, England to Robert Edwin Ford and Mary (Hill) Ford. He was a scholar and lived at 1 Pym Street, Stoke Damerel, Devon, England in the 1851 Census and visited 6 Park Cottages, Stoke Damerel, Devon, England while working as an apprentice optician in the 1861 Census. He married Catherine Hodder on 8 Jan 1863 at The Ebenezer Methodist Chapel, Plymouth, Devon, England. They had a son, John Hodder Ford born on 12 Aug 1863 at 24 Edgcumbe Street, East Stonehouse, Devon, England. On the 10 May 1864 the London Gazette carried a Bankruptcy notice for William who was recorded as living at 24 Edgcumbe Street, East Stonehouse, Devon, England working as a Boot and Shoemaker.
We have been unable to discover when or how William Henry, wife Catherine and their son John Hodder FORD arrived in New Zealand but we do know William Henry and Catherine had 2 more children, William Henry Ford (Jr) born on 6 April 1868 in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, (died 20 Oct 1939 at the War Memorial Hospital, Waverley, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), and Mary Ann Ford born on 9 July 1870 in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, married Arthur John (Jack) Adams and died 27 Dec 1951 in Chatswood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
On the 6 Feb 1877 William Henry filed for bankruptcy at the Supreme Court in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand and again on the 17 Jan 1882 at the Invercargill Supreme Court, Southland, NZ filed for bankruptcy.
We also know William Henry Ford was arrested and charged with the arson of his business, (a boot and shoe making shop) in Invercargill, Southland New Zealand. On the 7 Jan 1882 at the Supreme Court, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand William Henry was Committed to trial on arson charges, granted bail. He was acquitted of these charges on 24 Jun 1882 at the Supreme Court, Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand.
We are reasonably sure that up until 1884 (from the New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1882-1884 year), that he was living at Appleby ,Part of section 14, block 1, Invercargill Hundred. Occupation Shoemaker.
Then he completely disappears.
His wife, Catherine and their 3 children, John Hodder, William Henry (Jr) and Mary Ann Ford are all in the Sydney, New South Wales, Australia area by 1890. There no mention of William Henry Ford (Sr) at all.
Catherine dies on 9 Mar 1897 at Waverley, New South Wales, Australia and there is no mention of her husband, William in newspaper death notice, nor is she referenced as a widow.
Catherine left 5 pieces of land in Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, Woodville area in NZ, (obtained copy of her Will from NZ Archives), to her 3 children, her husband was not mentioned in her Will at all. The Will was written on the 4 Feb 1897 at Woolahra, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
My cousin & I are assuming the land was transferred to Catherine by husband William at the time of his bankruptcy.
In Catherine's funeral notice there is no mention of her husband nor is she referred to as a widow, (Catherine Ford Funeral notice - Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 10 March 1897, page 10).
Catherine and William Henry's youngest son, William Henry Ford (Jnr)married on 15 Apr 1933 in Waverley, New South Wales, Australia and the record shows his mother Catherine as deceased but not his father - just his father's name and nothing else.
We're at a loss as to what happened to William Henry Ford after the 1882-1884 New Zealand Electoral Roll Record.
Any help would be gratefully appreciated as we cannot find hide nor hair of the man from 1882-1884 onward.
Thank-you!
