Mary Emma (Buckingham) Mitchell (abt. 1852 - 1912)

Born about 1852 in London, England, United Kingdom

Wife of William Henry Mitchell — married 27 Jan 1897 in Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 26 Oct 1912 at about age 60 in Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Tracy Hope [send private message]

Biography

Mary was born about 1860.

Stories told by her great-granddaughter, heard from Emma's grandson, Jack:

Mary, known as Emma, was an orphan and her surname comes from a Buckingham orphanage in Wales where she was abandoned as a baby. She came out to New Zealand in 1874. She and William had a common-law marriage until they moved from Niagara/Waikawa to Invercargill. Their children born before their marriage were Violet, George, Robert, William, another son who became a chemist, Myra, Martha and Cassandra.

She was illiterate but, as her son told her grandchildren, she would have made a great businesswoman as she was very strict.

Emma was apparently labelled the witch of Waikawa: on visiting the museum there many years later, her great-granddaughter was told that she was classed as a witch. She cursed a ship to sink after the owner fired husband William for building the wharf with the wrong timber. The ship did indeed sink when it hit open sea. (Never mind that the region was well known for shipwrecks!)

The story of Emma's last name at birth, Buckingham, may be apocryphal, since her marriage certificate lists her parents' surname as Buckingham. No further records have been found so far to confirm one way or the other.

An Emma Buckingham emigrated from Wales to Otago, New Zealand, aboard the Adamant departing 14 July 1875 and arriving at Otago/Bluff on 2 December. She is recorded as 26 years old and a servant.^[1] A diary kept by another passenger, Ebenezer Johnson, kept a diary of the journey, which almost ended in disaster more than once thanks to the drunk captain:

There was panic among the single girls when the ship went ashore as the doctor had made a practice of locking them below decks at night and they could not see what was afoot. The fear of the unknown had entered their souls, and the situation was not improved when an irresponsible Irishman shouted down at them that they were all doomed.^[2]

Emma was recorded as one of many young single women emigrating to New Zealand to find work as servants, or to marry. Undoubtedly she spent much of her journey locked below decks.

Sources

1. ↑ "New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSY8-NXM : 9 March 2021), Emma Buckingham, 2 Dec 1875; citing ship , Archives New Zealand, Wellington; FHL microfilm 004412767.
2. ↑ Woodward, Corey (transcription). The Memorable Voyage of the Barque Adamant. New Zealand Yesteryears: Shipboard Diaries. http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/diaries/adamant1875.html.

• Marriage certificate of Cassandra Mitchell and Charles Frisken, 1909 (copy held by Tracy Hope)
• Marriage certificate of Mary Emma Buckingham and William Henry Mitchell, 1897 (copy held by Tracy Hope)
• Invercargill City Council Cemetery Search. https://icc.govt.nz/cemetery-result/?id=54776, accessed 14 January 2020.
• Southland Times, Issue 17180, 28 October 1912, Page 4. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19121028.2.12, accessed 14 January 2020.
• Julie Frisken. (29 April 2020). In Facebook [Friskens Reunited]. Retrieved April 29, 2020, from https://www.facebook.com/groups/160024994403423/permalink/802302410175675.