| Home Page
Contact Page
Dora Amy Coates
Dora's life in New Zealand
Thomas Boyd Reesby
Dora's life after 1887
Some of their descendants
What happened ...
Whats New Page
Guest Book Page
Some more photos
|
|
|
Dora arrived in New Zealand alone at sixteen ...
Dora was 16 and a widow when she arrived in New Zealand. She was given the choice of being shipped home to her parents in London - or staying. She chose to stay and was made a ward of the state. She was well educated in English and fluent in French and was appointed as lady's maid to the wife of the Governor. This woman was illiterate so Dora spent about two years writing her correspondence, much of it describing the history and conditions of early Wellington.
|
| |
Housemaid in a country hotel
As soon as she was old enough, Dora left Government House. She took a job as maid in The Bush Hotel, near Greytown in the Wairarapa north of Wellington.
This is where she met Thomas Boyd Reesby, who was droving cattle in the area. He stopped, noticed the young woman hanging out clothes, and asked her directions for Masterton, a nearby, larger town.
And then, surprised, he asked her why an obviously well educated young woman was working in a place like that.
|
Best wishes from Blenheim ...
a postcard of the time.
|
| |
They married in Blenheim:
Dora wasn't too keen to explain how she ended up as a housemaid, but Thomas was persistent. On his return from Masterton with more cattle, he managed to persuade her to go with him to Blenheim, where they were married on March 6, 1878. |
Dora and Thomas's son Frank (my grandfather) is fourth from the left. This photo was taken during the 1920s at Rotorua in New Zealand. |
| |
Five children ...
Thomas and Dora lived and worked on sheep stations in Marlborough in the South Island. Their children were Bessie (1878), Thomas Charles (1880), Herbert Arthur (1882), Francis Allan(1884) and William Boyd (1888).
William (Bill) was born after his father's death in 1887. (See his own page for an account of Thomas's life and death.)
|
Three of Thomas and Dora's great-great-grandchildren. Pat's children, Russell, Peter and Jenny, about 1973. |
|
|
