McNeil, Wedding
Production date
1907
Description
Wedding party and guests standing on the veranda of a house. Bride Ethel Florence Humphries and groom William McNeil; bridesmaids Nellie O'Brien (right) and Florence Aitken (left); best man Donald McNeil; flowergirl May Humphries. Annie May Humphries (nee Pepperill) stands to the right of the vertical post on the right. Thomas James Humphries stands behind her.
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Public comments
Ethel Florence Humphries is the daughter of Catherine (née Harper) and Charles Humphries who came to New Zealand on the ship Woodlark as settlers selected by the Emigrant and Colonist's Aid Corporation for the Manchester Block, Feilding. They came from Oxfordshire with five children, but one, 3 year old Thomas died on the voyage. Their name was spelt incorrectly on the passenger list as Humphrey. Three more children were born in New Zealand including Ethel in 1884. They left Feilding for the Opunake district around 1880 or 1881, travelling by bullock dray, they journeyed principally along the beaches as far as Hawera, then by makeshift roads and rough tracks through dense bush and flax. At Opunake, the family took up a block of bush-covered land on what is now Te Namu Road. This family are included in the book "Swamps, sandflies and settlers", a new edition being published for the 150th Anniversary of the Manchester Block settlement by the Feilding and Districts Community Archive in the Coach House Museum.
- Janet Doyle posted one year ago.