Catherine Rachel (Weavers) Clark (1911 - 1981)

Born 14 Sep 1911 in Colac Bay, Southland, New Zealand

Ancestors

Wife of Howard William Thomas — married 8 Jun 1935 (to 15 Jun 1948) in The Manse First Church, Dunedin

Wife of Harold Reuben Clark — married 21 Jun 1948 (to 24 Dec 1964) in Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 26 Dec 1981 at age 70 in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jeff Thomas [send private message]

Biography

Catherine, known as "Kay" was born in 1911. She is the daughter of John Weavers and Clementina Evans. ^[1] My grandmother Kay Weavers represented N Otago in representative tennis matches, often in doubles with Ms Baikie, and also hockey. Her tennis records ended on marriage to Howard William Thomas in 1935 ^[2], with the birth of her first son, Brian, soon after. Unitil this time she was living at her parent's house 16 Greta St, Oamaru. The marriage was probably controversial within her family, given Howard Thomas's somewhat dubious personal history. There are stories her husband also filched money from her father's business, after which they relocated to Blenheim. (Her father J A Weavers had retired to Invercargill in 1938.)

Despite 3 children the marriage was not a happy one. In 1944 Kay left for Invercargill with the children, but the boys were later given in custody to her husband. He attempted to raise them in Blenheim with the help of his elderly mother, but this was not a success. Work, health, drinking and legal problems all played their part, and eventually the boys were taken away and lived in foster homes to minimize their father's influence. Meanwhile, soon after their divorce was finalized Kay remarried Digger Clark in 1948 ^[3] , He was a former POW during WW2, They lived at 70 Antrim St, Invercargill, raising her daughter Maureen Thomas and their son Rex Clark. Digger died in 1964 and Kay remained a widow. In later years she moved to Christchurch and she passed away there at Xmas 1981 ^[4], . She is buried in Invercargill with Digger (see gravestone on his profile)

The following newspaper reports shows H. Thomas and K Weavers on the same hockey field as early as 1931. HOCKEY SOUTH CANTERBURY V. NORTH OTAGO. the game ended: South Canterbury 4, North Otago 4. Messrs H. Thomas and A. Stonyer were referees ^[5] They were both members of the Pirata Ladies Hockey Club in 1932, where Kay was deputy captain and Howard manager-coach (and co-selector) of the team ^[6]

As an example of her tennis, here is a report on the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association's hard-court championship and handicap tournament in 1935 LAWN TENNIS Women's Singles Finalists The women's singles also has gone according to expectations, the finalists being Miss E. Rudkin and Miss I. Poole. Miss Rudkin played severe and accurate tennis to beat the tenacious Oamaru player, Miss K. Weavers and Miss Poole also played soundly to beat Miss N. Bishop in straight sets. Miss Weavers had previously beaten Miss J. Senior, Canterbury junior champion, in an interesting game. Close Doubles Matches In the women's doubles the second seeded pair, Misses Rudkin and M. Sherris, reached the final only after a great struggle with Misses Weavers and S. Boyd, who in the morning caused a surprise by putting out a strong doubles pair in Mrs B. M. Peppier and Miss Bishop. Misses Rudkin and Sherris will meet Misses I. and T. Poole in the final ^[7] In January 1937, a year after she gave birth to my father, she was still listed as one of the top three players in the North Otago Lawn Tennis Association's ranking list ^[8]

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Sources

1. ↑ http://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
   • NZ Birth registration 1911/25370
2. ↑ http://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
   • NZ Marriage registration 1935/9503
3. ↑ http://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
   • NZ Marriage registration 1948/10161
4. ↑ http://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
   • NZ Death registration 1982/28132
5. ↑ the Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20323, 24 August 1931
6. ↑ OTAGO DAILY TIMES, ISSUE 21579, 26 FEBRUARY 1932, PAGE 10
7. ↑ the Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21455, 23 April 1935
8. ↑ Otago Daily Times, Issue 23100, 28 January 1937

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Jeff Thomas for starting this profile.

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