MARK WOOLMER-YAXLEY was born 1864 in Saint Albans, Hertfordshire, England
- a son of Emma PUGH & her first husband Thomas WOOLMER
- his father died when he was about 2 and his mother remarried to Cornelius YAXLEY and 2 more sons in England before they emigrated to New Zealand on the Cathcart, arriving into Lyttelton 29 Aug 1874
on board were:
* his stepfather Cornelius aged 31
* his mother Emma aged 32
* sister Eliza aged 12
* Mark aged 10
* brother Frederick aged 8
* stepbrother Arthur aged 6
* stepbrother Ernest aged 2
(the ages given on a ships list are usually from the time of registration)

they settled somewhere in the South Island

Mark married Agnes Caroline Coventry DALZELL born (19 April 1869) on board the Caroline Coventry on the way to Christchurch. Her parents, William and Margaret (nee Orr) Dalzell emigrated from Northern Ireland as did her grandparents, Thompson DALZELL & his second wife, Susannah STEELE (total of 17 children)

MARK & AGNES had 10 known children (see his link above)
- a son, Henry Yaxley, was born in Kaikoura in 1893
- a son, Horace William Yaxley, died aged 27 in Egypt WWI

see also Yaxley message board

thank you to Warburton for the info on Mark's father (see comments)