hard to say without any further info, like, did he have a second name and which month of 1908 he was born.

I've got a James Pearson born 21 Jan 1909 or a George James born 22 Sep 1908 or a James Charles born March 1909 etc

No James at Feilding to match nor any at Eketahuna, Woodville etc. There was a James Pearson living in Otaki who died in Palmerston North Hospital on 11 Nov 1977 aged 68 (birth year of about 1909)

do you have more to go on?

thank you so much for your help the information was spot on my mother admitted that her dad died in palmerston hospital and that he had no middle names she thinks he was born about 1909 not sure where

well, in that case he was probably James Pearson who was born on 24 January 1909 to Robert PEARSON & Louisa Mary GRANT

PEARSON - GRANT, At Nelson, on September 27th, 1905, by the Rev J. H. Mackenzie, Robert, youngest son of Jonathan Pearson, of Feilding, to Louisa Mary, third daughter of William Grant, of Nelson (formerly of Wellington)

where do you look for all these answers i have so many questions about grand parents and why lousia left granddad to live with thisother man and if there were more children etc it would be great to look up some of this info my self

hello kiwi6,

you should be able to find what you want by using the links on this journal:
New Zealand REGIONAL ARCHIVES

have been checking out your site looking for info on my great grand mother her name has not turned up under her single name of lousia mary grant, pearson or burd the guy she left my great grand father for mum said she died when i was about 6 months old that would put it about 1958 or 59 if you haveany ideas i would appreciate it of where else i could look

hi kiwi6,
It will probably take a lot more digging than that

that journal has hundreds of links to sites that may contain info on your ancestors. The actual journal will not contain her name etc...

but if you go to the cemetery links and check in all the cemeteries which I have broken down into New Zealand districts to make it easier, like Manawatu, Waikato etc you may find them. That's where I found out that James Pearson had been living in Otaki and died in Palmerston North Hospital
THINK where she might have gone. If she left him in the Manawatu was she likely to go to the big city? then go check up in Auckland for example. Or if she would have 'hidden out' in the country then better you go look in the smaller places like south Taranaki, Wairarapa or even the South Island!

If your mum knows WHEN she died she probably also knows approx WHERE she died and even the guys name - every tiny, little bit of info is a surprisingly huge help

Go to the Papers Past link and read newspaper articles which may contain news about them which is where I got the wedding announcemet from 3 comments up

the Papers Past site is added to all the time and I use it every day of my research. There are more than two million pages of digitised New Zealand newspapers and periodicals. The collection covers the years 1839 to 1945 and includes 77 publications from all regions of New Zealand. Has lots of 'gossip' of things like what you're looking for (no privacy acts in those days)

Also, there is a link to New Zealand Birth Deaths & Marriages. Put in the names and roughly the dates you want to check and you will find a wealth of info

some of the links on that journal open onto sites that have hundreds of other links themselves to check on. There are shiping lists, genealogy links, links to local councils and museums. Most areas are so proud of their heritage that keep wonderful records on their early settlers and descendants.

There are Electoral rolls for every district which helps you trace where your family were at a specific date, Justice and Jury Lists links and Soldiers galore, their memorials and Cenotaph links

so now that you have your grand parents names (above in comments 3 & 4) you can look for more info and perhaps find THEIR parents etc etc. Remember that any info on anyone within the last hundred years (after 1912/13) gets harder and harder to find because of privacy acts

Bottom line, I cannot suggest anywhere else for you to look as that Archives link contains just about every web site in New Zealand that has records

Have you checked family tree web sites? other people may also be looking for the same people as you are and may have started trees for them
some are free, some you have to pay
* My Heritage
* rootsweb
* Ancestry.com
* Tribal Pages
* New Zealand Research Sites
* Message Boards for New Zealand. You could leave a message there also

Hi Kiwi6 - I believe we are related - Louisa Mary Grant was the sister of my G Grandmother Annie Elizabeth Grant.
My mothers generation remember her as Aunty Lou Burd and remember her son Jim who will be James Pearson.
Louisa Mary Grant was the daughter of Louisa and William Grant - he was a builder in Wellington and later in Nelson

I have a photo of Louisa Mary ( who was most beautiful when she was young) as an attendant at my G G Grandmothers wedding.
I also have photos of her mother Louisa Grant ( nee Abbott) and HER mother Sarah Ann Abbott - nee Allington )

oh wow can you send me copies of the photos to davidsonleigh2@gmail.com I would appreciate it and I know mum would love to see them thanks very much cuz leigh

mum was saying lousia never divorced grandads father she just left him and lived in sin with walter she died when I was about 9 months old and is at rest in the karori cemetery apparently she told granddads family that he died as a baby but she brought him up under walters name living about 2 blocks away from his father how mean was that. the info I have on her is lousia mary grant{ pearson } died 1 march 1959,married 1924, cremated 1959, burial plot 43L wellington any other info you have on her would be great thank you so much for bringing all this info to life it is nice to know where you come from

mum told me the people you talked of were her cusins

oops sorry aunts

hello leigh,

Louisa Mary Grant (1882-1959) married Robert PEARSON (1876-1954) in 1905
September 27 1905 PEARSON - GRANT, At Nelson, by the Rev J. H. Mackenzie, Robert, youngest son of Jonathan Pearson, of Feilding, to Louisa Mary, third daughter of William Grant, of Nelson (formerly of Wellington)

* Robert's parents were Jonathan Edward PEARSON (1868-1939) & Mary Helen ASHWORTH (1875-1932), they are buried in Feilding. His grandparents, Jonathan (1833-1896) & Susannah (1836-1912) Pearson, were from Yorkshire, arrived in Wellington 22 Oct 1874 on the Douglas and arrived in Feilding in November that year making them one of Feilding's earliest settlers

Louisa & Robert had 2 children:
* 1906 - 1907 Edna Jean Pearson (aged 7 months, buried Wakapuaka)
* 1909 - 1977 James Pearson (aged 68, buried Palmerston North)

in 1910:
Louisa & son James were living in Taranaki & Robert was living in Feilding
William & Margaret Burd were living in Petone, Wellington
(not 2 blocks away, but 300km away)

Court proceedings for maintenance for Louisa and her son James, continued for a few years and was made very public in the newspapers of the day. All friends and family would have been aware of James's existence (and of his name as Pearson)

Hawera & Normanby Star, 15 April 1910
... ROBERT PEARSON was charged with failing to provide his wife and child with adequate means of maintenance. Defendant pleaded not guilty. Mr O'Dea, counsel for complainant said the parties had been married about five years and that practically during the whole of that time defendant had not provided a home for his wife. During the past nine months complainant had kept herself and child and had only received from the defendant in that time some ?3. The complainant gave evidence that the defendant had failed to maintain her. Defendant stated when they were married he provided a home for the complainant at Nelson, but he had since lost it. Defendant followed the occupation of a carpenter, and for some time work had not been plentiful. Defendant contended that the complainant had left him and that while she was away if was not incumbent upon him to keep her. The Magistrate made an order that the defendant should pay 15s per week for the support of his wife and 2s 6d per week for the support of the child

Hawera & Normanby Star, 22 May 1911
... ROBERT PEARSON was charged, on the information of his wife, Louisa Pearson (Mr O'Dea), with failing to comply with an order of the Court to pay 15s per week towards her maintenance, the arrears amounting to ?20 5s (this is equivalent in 2013 to about $3,270). There was a second charge of failing to comply with an order of his son, the arrears in this case amounting to ?3 17s 6d.
Mr O'Dea said the payments had been made very regularly till some time in October, since when the defendant had not paid a stiver. About two or three months ago the defendant's solicitor instituted proceedings in Feilding to have the order cancelled, and the Magistrate refused to consider the application till the arrears had been paid.
The defendant, in the box, admitted that the money had not been paid. On December 9 he got a home together, and wrote to his wife acquainting her with this fact, in the expectation that she would return to him. No reply was received from her and witness felt justified in withholding further payments. He was a carpenter earning 10s per day when working.
His Worship said the money must be paid, or the defendant would be sent to prison.
The defendant replied that he had been living up to his means, and could not pay.
The Magistrate said he would adjourn the case till June 26, and if the defendant would pay 30s a week, 12s 6d towards paying off the arrears, the Court would be satisfied. The first payment must be made on June 5, and failing this further proceedings would be taken, and the defendant would be sentenced to six months' imprisonment. This, he impressed upon the defendant, would not wipe out the arrears, which would still have to be paid, the imprisonment notwithstanding

Hawera & Normanby Star, 26 June 1911
... The case Louisa Pearson v. Robert Pearson, a summons for disobedience to a maintenance order, arrears under which were ?25 and which had been adjourned from May 22, came up for hearing. Mr O'Dea, who appeared for the wife, said that Pearson was evidently treating the Court with contempt, and asked for severe punichment. His Worship sentenced Pearson to six months' imprisonment in the New Plymouth gaol. The summons against the same defendant for failure to comply with an order for the maintenance of his son was adjourned till September 26 to see what effect the order for imprisonment in the first case would have.

Hawera & Normanby Star, 9 September 1912
... Upon the application of Mr Hanna, the Magistrate cancelled the maintenance order against Robert Pearson for the support of his wife and child. The application was made on the ground that the circumstances had changed since the making of the order

Feilding Star, 28 November 1917
... In the Feilding Court this morning, before Mr Kenrick, S.M., ROBERT PEARSON, carpenter, of Feilding, for failing to register as a Reservist under the Military Service Act, was sentenced to one month's imprisonment in the Wellington Gaol

Evening Post, 7 February 1918 - DIVORCED
... NEW PLYMOUTH - In the Supreme Court to-day, before Mr Justice Edwards, Louisa Mary Pearson, of Ararata (14km from Hawera), wife of Robert Pearson, of Feilding, carpenter, petitioned for a divorce from her husband on the grounds of desertion and failure to maintain. Mr Hutchen of New Plymouth (instructed by Mr O'Dea), appeared for the petitioner. After hearing evidence his Honor granted a decree nisi, to be made absolute in six months

Louisa Mary Pearson next married Walter Clement BURD on 9 April 1924. Her son, James Pearson, was then aged 15 and Walter had then been a widower for 2 years

Louisa Mary died as BURD on 1 March 1959 aged 76 and her ashes are buried in Plot 43 L, PUBLIC section at Karori, Wellington
She is buried with her husband Walter Clement Burd who died 31 July 1952 aged 80

All those buried in Plot 43 L at Karori:
* in 1900 - Walter's 16 year old sister, Mabel Augusta Burd
* in 1907 - Walter's 7? month old son, Charles Ludlow Burd, son of his first wife, Margaret Catherine Mahon
* in 1909 - Walter's 28 year old sister-in-law, Maria (nee Fairley) who married his brother Herbert John Burd in 1905
* in 1920 - Walter's 71 year old father, Walter Clement Burd
* in 1922 - Walter's first wife, Margaret Catherine aged 56
* in 1952 - Walter Clement Burd aged 80
* in 1959 - Walter's 2nd wife, Louisa Mary aged 76
* in 1961 - Walter's 73 year old sister, Emily Alton Burd

NOTES on William Clement Burd
Walter Celement Burd was born in 1871 in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England to Walter Clement Burd (1848-1920) & Elizabeth Cooper ALTON
- they emigrated in 1872 & Walter's siblings were born in NZ
his father was Chief Clerk in the railway goods-shed and received transfers and promotions which meant they moved around NZ
WALTER'S SIBLINGS:
* 1875 - 1949 Frances Mary Burd (born in Christchurch)
* 1877 - 1944 Gertrude Matilda Burd
* 1878 - 1951 Charles Frederick Burd
* 1879 - 1947 Herbert John Burd
* 1881 - 1941 Ernest William Burd
* 1882 - 1961 Helen Beatrice Burd
* 1884 - 1900 Mabel Augusta Burd
* 1886 - 1886 Eva Elizabeth Burd
* 1888 - 1961 Emily Alton Burd (born in Timaru)
* 1889 - ? Elizabeth Burd
In 1897 their father was promoted to a post in the Stationery Department and they moved to Wellington. He retired with superannuation in 1913 after 36 years service

Walter married Margaret Catherine 'Madge' MAHON (1866-1922 daughter of Adam & Maria Mahon) in 1895 & had 5 children:
* 1898 - 1978 Mary Ernestine Burd
* 1900 - 1967 Harold Scott Burd
* 1903 - 1996 Margaret Elizabeth Burd
* 1905 - 1965 Walter William Garfield Burd
* 1907 - 1907 Charles Ludlow Burd
They were living at 37 Cuba street, Petone for a number of years. Margaret's father, Adam Mahon died there in Oct 1916 aged 83 (so Louisa was not there in 1916)
Margaret was very involved with the Plunket Society and was the Hon Secretary for a number of years.
William was very involved with the St John Ambulance Brigade and was the auditor for the Petone Division, he was also the Hon. Auditor for the Plunket Society & later, when they moved into Wellington, Hon. Auditor of the Kelburn Croquet Club and he was the Vice President of the Northland (Wellington) Progressive Association

Margaret died in 1922 - Evening Post, 9 November 1922 BURD - On Wednesday, 8th November, at Harbour View road, Northland, Wellington, Margaret (Madge), dearly loved wife of Walter C. Burd (late of Petone and formerly of Timaru) (so Louisa was not there in 1922)
Margaret's mother, Maria Mahon, was living in the house with Walter in Harbour View Rd., Northland, Wellington until her death in Aug 1923 aged 94 (so Louisa was probably not there in 1923)
- Walter and Louisa married the following year

Info on the PEARSON Divorce in 1918

YESTERDAY'S PROCEEDINGS. (Before His Honor Mr. Justice Edwards) The sittings of the Supreme Court at New Plymouth were continued yesterday before his Honor Mr. Justice Edwards.

Louisa Mary Pearson (Mr. D. Hutchen) petitioned for a divorce from Robert Pearson on the grounds of his failure to support her. Petitioner in evidence said respondent had served a term of six months' imprisonment for failing to obey a maintenance order made in her favor. She had made an agreement to accept a sum of money in lieu of maintenance money, but none of that money had been paid. She had had two children by respondent, one of whom had died. Since she left her husband some nine years ago she had received no support from him, and had maintained herself and her child by her own work. Corroborative evidence was given by Emily Grant, whose husband was a brother of petitioner. His Honor granted a decree nisi, to be made absolute in six months, and also allowed petitioner the custody of the child. Costs on the lowest scale were allowed.

Source: SUPREME COURT, Taranaki Daily News, 7 February 1918