Updating William ASHLEY in NZ & England
elfield
Hoping someone can confirm or add to the following information, please.
William ASHLEY was born c1864 in Lancashire.
Census in 1891 & 1901 have been found. William was a railway wagon maker - 1891 in Droylsden, Lancs; 1901 in Lancaster.
His parents were Richard ASHLEY and Ann HESKETH (I think).
Siblings were:Joseph(c1860); George(c1862); John(c1867); Elizabeth(c1869); Richard(c1872); Annie(c1874); SarahJane(c1876)
William married Faith HOGG 25/12/1886. They had 4 (5?) children:
John R(c1890);Mary E(c1894);William(c1900-c1936)(died of spinal meningitis);George Joseph(1902-1932)(drowned in Waikato River).
There was also 'Aunt Polly' - whether she was Mary E, or a 2nd daughter, I don't know. We didn't know about John.
The family emigrated to NZ sometime between 1902 and 1910 - after months of searching have not been able to find them on any passenger list.
Oral history has it that they first went to South Africa - haven't been able to find them on any lists with that destination.
Found William and Faith in Karori Cemetary: William died in 1922 & Faith 1933.
Comments
ngairedith on 2009-01-19 01:07:17Hello elfield, I have found William and Faith's son John - he was killed in action in Belgium on 6th May 1917 when he was aged 27.
He was serving with the 14th Regiment, J Company as a Private when they left Wellington on 26th June 1916.
He was a confectioner before the war.
Faith was listed as his next of kin (William was still alive though) and they were living in Moxham Avenue in Kilbirnie, Wellington at the time.
I will research more for you and qill add it here as I find it ...
elfield on 2009-01-19 23:49:58Hi ngairedith, never thought to look on cwgc for John. Thank you for that snippet. I will follow it up. They didn't have a lot of luck with their sons. George Joseph was my grandfather.