Robert Gross (1837 - 1890)

Born 2 Feb 1837 in Saint Anthony, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Annie (Cassidy) Gross — married 6 Jan 1882 in Nelson, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 12 May 1890 at age 53 in Motueka, New Zealand

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Biography

Robert Gross was baptised 2 April 1837 at St.Anthony, seventh child of Matthew and Mary, and aged 14 in 1851 census with his widowed mother. Robert had lived with his brother in Bendigo (sic) Australia before coming to New Zealand to settle on the west coast of the South Island. He worked there in a mine and at some time injured his back. (We assume it was a gold mine, because of the address “Boatman’s in the electoral registration. However, on the map sent by Trevor, there is a coal mine, the “Island Block” a few miles south-east of Reefton - hg.) Boatmans or Boatmans Creek and the tiny town of Reefton had seen gold rushes and was the scene of a rush in January 1872 following a rush to a new gold reef at nearby Larrys Creek in December 1871. Fine specimens of quartz were found, and 200 applications for claims were made in a month. We do not know when Robert Gross arrived on the scene, but the fact that he was still in the region in 1880 suggests that the mining bonanza was sustained for a number of years. Perhaps he worked in one of the afore-mentioned mines. And perhaps he had accumulated just enough by 1881, after 29 years in New Zealand, to be able to buy himself into the position of manager at that guest house in Nelson, where Annie Dalgety was the cook. In June 1889 he did day work for the Motueka Road Board. With back troubles he moved to Nelson to manage the boarding house.” [Trevor Barrow] He was a miner in 1881 electoral roll at Boatman’s, Inanghua, West Coast and he married Annie Dalgetty nee Cassidy [folio 1420] on 6 January 1882 at Motueka a suburb of Nelson where he was a boarding house keeper of Waimea Street Nelson and Annie was 32 a widow and the cook there. She was the widow of Alexander Dalgetty by whom she had five daughters. In 1883 electoral roll Charlotte was living at Express Ave, Wellington city. After leaving the boarding house Robert worked or the council on road works. [Stuart Heath] Robert died 12 May 1890 a labourer at Motueka a suburb of Nelson in the South Island. While passing the post office he fell and expired before he could be carried home. His will was filed at Nelson Court by Roberta Gross. In the will No 386 dated 3 March 1887 Robert Gross of Motueka, Nelson, left property to his wife Anne and his three surviving children. Anne died in 1920 aged 73, both buried in the Motueka cemetery. [Joy Quinn research in 2004] Robert was a labourer. He married his wife Annie in 1882. They went on to have four daughters, Mabel, Jessie, Martha and Roberta Elizabeth. Robert Gross 53 miner ex Cornwall, died in New Zealand in 1890.

Robert died in 1890 from a heart attack. They had four daughters when he died, and a fifth daughter born two weeks after: Emily, Mabel, Martha, Jessie and Roberta. ^[1][2][3]

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search
2. ↑ https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18900514.2.28?end_date=31-05-1890&items_per_page=10&query=Gross&snippet=true&start_date=01-05-1890
3. ↑ https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC18900514.2.12?end_date=31-05-1890&items_per_page=10&page=2&query=Gross+death&snippet=true&start_date=01-05-1890

Research by Joy Quinn and Trevor Barrow.

• "New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Probate Records, 1843-1998," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-1DSQ-62?cc=1865481&wc=7HG9-FT2%3A1045248801%2C1045265001 : 15 October 2015), Nelson Court > Probate records 1849-1890 P414, P417, P374-P416 > image 162 of 386; Archives New Zealand, Auckland Regional Office.