Here we have a cute little girl with big blue eyes in a sailor's hat, written on the back is 'Jessie Starnes'. With no photographer's name or any other information I really don't know if it was taken in NZ or not so it remains to be seen if this is her or not.
Jessie Irene Starnes was born on 2 Apr 1897 in Motueka, Nelson, the daughter of Thomas Briggs Stephen Starnes and Sarah Jane née Haines, the eighth of eleven children born in NZ. Jessie died on 11 Jan 1964 in Waimea West, I don't know if she ever married, I can't find her death reg under Starnes so perhaps she did, I found the information on this website.
References:
NZ BDM Records
If anyone knows anything about Jessie please do contact me, I would love to hear from you. All the information on this family may also be seen on WorldConnect here.
Dawn Scotting
pandora@kc.net.nz
Posts
2 comments:
What a lovely idea! Did you ever match this photo with Jessie's descendants?
Jessie Irene Starnes was a grand-daughter of early Nelson pioneer, Stephen Starnes (1832-1913) from Laughton, East Sussex, England, and his wife Fanny Jane (nee Briggs), born Dumfriesshire, Scotland. She was a widow with 3 young daughters when she married Stephen in November 1856– her first husband, Wiiliam Forfar, died on the “Lady Ashmore” during the outward bound voyage to Nelson in 1854.
Stephen Starnes had a farm called “Mount Pleasant” at Lower Moutere, just outside Motueka, near Nelson, where their children , including Jessie’s father, Thomas, grew up. Jessie’s parents lived for some time in Motueka after their marriage, then settled on a farm in Lower Moutere. One of Jessie’s brothers, Frederick (Fred) Starnes, who worked on their father’s farm before WWI, served with distinction during the war as an officer with the 12th (Nelson) Company of the Canterbury Infantry Brigade.
Jessie married Leo Monyon Palmer (1893-1974) a farmer from Waimea West. During WWI Leo served with the Medical Corps on the Hospital Ship “Marama”. It’s possible that Leo and Jessie met through her cousins Alan and Rowland Wills, who also both served on the H.S.”Marama” (Jessie’s aunt, Emma nee Starnes, married James Wills, who had a farm at Ngatimoti in the Motueka Valley).
Leo and Jessie had one child, daughter Irene Joyce (1924- 2008), who married Jack Reay-Whetter (1020-2011) and I believe they had at least one child.
Slip of the keyboard - Jack Reay-Whetter, of course, was born in 1920!
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