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The Scarlett and Mason forbears
My mother was Bessie
Scarlett, daughter of Albert
Thomas Scarlett and Clara
Homan Mason. All were New Zealand born, of English stock. I don't have
many names on the Mason side, but the Scarlett line has been well-researched
by Tom Fitzsimons of Palmerston North, New Zealand. You can find many
Scarlett connections on Roger
Moffat's Genealogy I know very little about the Mason side of the family, or their origins. Plenty of room for research here! The Clare and Osborne lineage
My father's mother was Mercy Clare, daughter of Samuel Clare and his wife Eliza Osborne. They had a family of 6 boys asnd 2 girls, so the Clare descendants are numerous. A comprehensive family tree and history was compiled by Howard Samuel Clare in 1985 and published by Henry Clare subsequent to a family reunion in 1984 (see Bibliography below). This research principally covers the descendants only as it was compiled before the days of personal computers and internet access to the UK census databases and other records now so easily searched. Samuel was just a boy of X when his parents emigrated to New Zealand from Beaminster, Dorset. We don't know much about the Osborne family, but we believe that Eliza was aged about 5 when her parents emigrated from Middlesex to New Zealand. My father's first employer was his Uncle Charles Osborne, Eliza's brother, who had a plumbing business in Auckland. I can remember passing their premises in the early 1970s, during my lunchtime walks from DSIR in Albert St to the Farmers Trading Company in Hobson St. Eliza died in the influenza epidemic in 1918. My father Eric was aged 4 at the time, and he recalled one of his earliest memories of witnessing his mother's grief at receiving the news. Mercy was only 27 when her mother died, and she received her last letter from her mother in the post on the following day. The Chappell and Gallon families from Australia
My wife is from the Chappell family of Brisbane, Australia, and her mother was a Gallon. We are hoping to add these family lines in the near future. The Carruthers and Bell connections
Watch this space. The Lineham links
Watch this space. The Jenkins branch in Argentina
Edith Clist, who was 11 months older than my grandfather Sidney, emigrated to Argentina in 1909 and married Alfred Jenkins and settled there. We know a little about Alfred's family from census records, and that he was an orphan from Bristol, England. Both were missionaries, but Alfred died leaving Edith to raise her four daughters. I don't think Sidney ever met Edith again (or any of her children) but they corresponded regularly by mail, and as a child I remember Edith's daughter Dorothy Jenkins sending me postage stamps from all over the world, which she had rescued from letters received at her work in New York City. Dorothy was a point of contact with several in the wider family, and she was the one who passed on to me her grandfather George Clist's Family Bible. In recent times, through the wonders of internet searching, one of Edith's grandsons living in Jujuy, Argentina, established contact with me, and we are enjoying a growing relationship through email and Skype conversations as we try to bridge the years and miles that have separated the families for over a century. In March 2009 my wife and I visited Córdoba and Jujuy in central and northern Argentina and met many previously unknown second cousins, as well as Edith's youngest and only surviving daughter Betty Sipowicz (English pronunciation "Sipowitch") neé Elizabeth Ilda Jenkins. So we are building up our knowledge of our American relatives (now in both North and South America and elsewhere) and reconstructing the history of the Argentine branch. The Rossiter mystery
Edward Rossiter (Ted) and his younger brother Charles were raised by my great-grandparents George and Mary Clist, and were treated as part of the family. It was Ted who worked with George in the Shoreditch Smithy, and he carried on the blacksmithing business after George retired. We always knew that Ted and Charles were orphans, but that was all. I obtained a copy of Charles Rossiter's birth certificate which gave his parents as Edward Rossiter and Elizabeth Quick. Census data reveals that Elizabeth was my great-grandmother Mary's immediate older sibling in a large family. There is a photo in my grandfather's collection in which the young mother looks exceedingly like Mary Quick, so I am guessing that she is Elizabeth. There are 5 children, including two boys whose age difference looks like they could be Ted (Edward, jnr) and Charles Rossiter. You can see this photo in the Most Wanted page. Ted Rossiter married and had at least two children, Charlie and Lizzie, neither of whom married, as far as I know. We met Ted and Charlie on our visit to the smithy in May 1973. I think Lizzie was out shopping, so we missed seeing her. Charlie was shy to the extreme, and non-communicative. But Ted was very clear in his mind, and described all relationships from my perspective. You can see some photos of Ted in The Forge and the Ivy Cottage. We later learnt that Ted died just a few weeks after our visit. How I wish I had asked Ted all the questions that I am searching answers for now. For instance, who was Ted's wife? Charles Rossiter emigrated to New Zealand in 1910 along with his foster-brothers Sidney and John Clist. We believe he settled in Christchurch, and some descendants might still be living in the area. The New Zealand Marriages 1836-1956 CDROM has only one record of a Charles Rossiter, who married Gladys Sarah Lord in 1923 (Folio 04862). And I have found a Christchurch cemetery record which matches his birth year. But what was his occupation? Has he left descendants? There are plenty of Rossiters living in Christchurch, so maybe some of those will be related. My grandmother Mercy Clist (Clare)'s Birthday Book contains the name Rita Rossiter b. 24 Feb (year not given). She might be the wife of Ted, or a daughter of Ted or Charles. I'm seeking details on this. It was sad that the parents Edward and Elizabeth died so young. I wonder what were the causes of their premature deaths? And it was sad that the children had to be separated. Who were the girls, and what were their histories? Books and other items not listed in the Documents and Repositories sections of this website.
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