Grave concerns

Tucked away at the eastern end of the Stanmore Bay foreshore is a small graveyard (pictured) enclosed by a white picket fence and containing two graves, those of James Harrison and his daughter Ellen.

James Harrison’s family came from the Isle of Wight. The family had long had connections with the military and James (born 1817) joined the 80th Regiment. He was posted to Sydney where he met and married Marguerite Clementine Romanssons in 1854. She was born in 1816 in the city of Pau, at the foot of the Pyrenees. After attending the University of Pau she attained teaching diplomas and eventually moved to Paris where she became tutor to the family of an English army officer. When he was posted to Australia around 1845 she accompanied the family to Sydney. At that time Sydney was a pretty rough and wild place and must have been quite a shock after her life in Paris. James and Marguerite Clementine had three daughters; the first died soon after birth, Ellen was born in 1856 and Emily in 1857.

In 1860 the family moved to Auckland and set up home in High Street. Five years later for ₤325 James bought land at Stanmore Bay including that now occupied by Whangaparaoa College and the Leisure Centre. Eventually he owned a large block across the Peninsula from the eastern end of the Bay to what is now the Peninsula Club. The Harrisons probably lived in Stanmore Bay Cottage (now an Indian restaurant). In 1870 he died and was buried at Stanmore Bay. The following year his sixteen year old daughter married Maurice Kelly Jr. (son of the well known Maurice Kelly of the Wade Hotel) at the Catholic Church at the Wade. She gave birth to two children, Maurice Claude and Constance, but in 1876 aged only 20, she died, presumably in childbirth, and was buried near her father.

Maurice Kelly Jr. got married again (to Sophie Morton) and they produced a large family. However, Mary Kelly (wife of Maurice Kelly Sr.) was obviously worried about the wellbeing of Ellen’s children and she set up a trust fund to provide for them until they reached their 40th birthdays.

Museum News

Pioneer Village open Sat/Sun 10am-3pm. Groups welcome any day by arrangement. Newly refurbished 1860s Chapel available for hire for weddings.
Friday July 2, Lunch at Silverdale RSA 11.30am for 12 noon. Speaker C. F. Goldie (Karl Sim). Visitors welcome. Info: ph Ngaire 424 8615.