Hugh Nesbitt & Jane Elizabeth Latimer

Today's photos were rescued from a tip and kindly sent to me by Barry of Once Again Images. The good news is that someone took the time to write some details on the back of them.

Hugh Nesbitt LATIMER was born in Ireland in 1820, parents unknown. Sometime before 1864 he married Jane Elizabeth CLARE, marriage date unknown, Jane's parents also unknown.

• Subject: Hugh Nesbitt Latimer & Jane Elizabeth nee Clare
• Date: After 1895
• Photographer: John Robert Hanna, 196 Queen St, Auckland, NZ
• Found: Auckland, NZ

Hugh & Jane had the following children in Ireland:-

1. Eliza Jane born 4 Apr 1864 in Dublin
2. John Nesbitt born 13 Dec 1865 in Dublin
3. Eleanor born 19 Jan 1868 in Dublin
4. Adelaide born 8 Jun 1870 in Fermanagh
5. Hugh Nesbitt born 8 May 1872

On the 8 Jun 1875 the family boarded the Carisbrook Castle at Belfast, it arrived in Auckland NZ on the 8 Sep 1875.

• CARISBROOK CASTLE
  LIVERPOOL TO BELFAST TO AUCKLAND
  08 JUNE 1875 - 08 SEPTEMBER 1875.
• * LATIMER Hugh A, Jane E, three children
• * LATIMER John C
• * LATIMER E J

Other settlers including the Latimers were all destined to settle in Katikati in the Bay of Plenty as part of George Vesey Stewart's vision of a settlement of Ulster gentry and tenant farmers, of which he would be patriarchal head. He wished the farmers to become landowners, and therefore insisted that all should possess some money. Without waiting for New Zealand approval of his plan, he invited members of Orange Lodges in Ulster to join him. Negotiations were long and difficult. After an extensive tour of New Zealand he chose as a site for settlement the Katikati Block, on the shores of Tauranga Harbour. He arranged with the Government for settlers in his first party to receive grants of land on conditions of occupation and improvement. This party, of 28 families, arrived by sailing ship in 1875. The second party, 378 in number, followed in 1878. For them Stewart bought land from the Government and sold it in farm lots. Stewart purposely included a large element of the governing and professional classes in Ireland. This “Ulster plantation,” says A. J. Gray, contributed “an atmosphere of culture and refinement that is seldom found in pioneering settlements”. Fortunately, their private means helped to carry Katikati through the depression of the eighties.

Stewart had painted prospects in glowing terms, but the settlers had to start from scratch in a wilderness, and the inevitable hardships produced deep resentment against the leader. But the settlement's origin gave it a strong community spirit, and an important lift came with the development of the famous Martha gold mine at Waihi, less than 20 miles away. Then dairying developed, and the success of Stewart's venture was assured.

Partial quote from an article by author Alan Mulgan, O.B.E. (1881–1962).

Two years after their arrival in NZ daughter Mabel was born. This photo was taken in Cambridge in Oct 1905 when she was aged 28. She died suddenly on the 28 Jun 1945 in Auckland aged 68 and is buried in the Purewa Cemetery, Auckland. (Purewa has a searchable database online here).

• Subject: Mabel Latimer
• Date: October 1905
• Photographer: Leo Isherwood, Cambridge, NZ
• Found: Auckland, NZ

Hugh & Jane's daughter, Eleanor, married a Mr Smith and had a son named Roy.

• Subject: Eleanor & Roy Smith
• Date: Unknown
• Photographer: Tadema, Newton, Auckland, NZ
• Found: Auckland, NZ

And their daughter, Adelaide, married Andrew Bell.

• Subject: Adelaide & Andrew Bell
• Date: Unknown
• Photographer: Unknown (unreadable)
• Found: Auckland, NZ

There's also a photo of Miss Ellie Mulvany, cousin to Jane Elizabeth Latimer.

• Subject: Miss Ellie Mulvany
• Date: 1885-1895
• Photographer: John Robert Hanna, 134 Queen St, Auckland, NZ
• Found: Auckland, NZ

One last photo with no <obvious> links to this family although the hand writing on the back seems to be the same as the others.

• Subject: Irene Whitton Henry
• Date: 1912
• Photographer: Charles Joseph Ellerbeck , 46 Karangahape Rd, Auckland, NZ
• Found: Auckland, NZ

Stop Press: I have already managed to track down Peter Baker in Australia whose children are the great-great-grandchildren of Hugh & Jane. If anyone else is connected to this family please contact me as I will be keeping scans of the photos just in case.

• References:
• The dates that John Robert Hanna operated his two photographic studios I found in an interesting article on Photo-Sleuth's website.
• Link to photograph of Ellerbeck's shop in Karangahape Rd found in the Ockenden Historical Photograph Collection at http://www.archifact.co.nz/
• Genealogy research on http://www.ancestry.com/ and http://www.familysearch.org/