Mary Jane (Kinsman) Playford (1835 - 1928)

Born 1835 in St Keverne, Cornwall, England

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Playford II — married 16 Dec 1860 in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Descendants

Died 25 May 1928 at about age 93 in Kent Town, South Australia, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Derrick Watson [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Kinsman Name Study.

Mary was born in 1835. She was the daughter of William Kinsman and Phillis Symons.

Baptised 1835 in St Keverne ^[1]

Mary Jane Kinsman, d/o William Kinsman, married Thomas Playford, s/o Thomas Playford in 1860 in Adelaide ^[2]

She died in 1928 in Kent Town, South Australia ^[3]:

Mrs. Mary Jane Playford, relict of the lat Hon. T. Playford died at her residence, Helston, Kent Town, at the age of 94 years. She had lived in the State for 78 years. She was a native of St Keverne Parish, Cornwall, and was the eldest daughter of the Rev. William Kinsman, a Bible Christian minister in England; and her father-in-law was the Rev. Thomas Playford, of the Bentham Street Church, Adelaide.

She arrived, South Australia , with her parents when about 16 years of age, and after in later years recalled her first sight of the City of Adelaide and interesting events which occurred during her young womanhood, associated with the struggles and experiences of pioneering days. On landing at Port Adelaide she reached the city by means of bullock dray, and slept for the night in a shed in Hindley street, before continuing next day her journey to Mitcham where the family settled. There the Kinsmans were neighbours of the Playford family. Thus the intimacy commenced that was destined to end in matrimony. When Miss Kinsman married Mr. Thomas Playford, they also resided at Mitcham for a time. Mr. Kinsman went to the goldfields, but was never heard of again, much to the grief of the family. At Drysdale, Norton Summit, Mr. and Mrs.Playford passed 68 happy years. Mr.Playford, who was at one time Premier and later Agent-General of South Australia, and afterwards a Federal Senator and Minister of Defence, died 13 years ago.

The death of Mrs. Playford has removed the last of the sturdy men and women who originally took up land in the Norton Summit and Cherryville districts. Mrs. Playford travelled extensively. She visited Europe, Asia, Japan, America, New Zealand, and all parts of the Commonwealth. She saw Queen Victoria's jubilee procession through the streets of London, and was present in Melbourne at the opening of the first Federal Parliament. She was a deeply religious woman, and was one of the foundation members of the Norton Summit Baptist Church, with which she had been identified when it was known as the Grassy Flat Church in the time of Mr. Playford's father (the Rev. T. Playford). Mrs. Playford was of a very sweet and kindly disposition, and retained her faculties until the last. During the Great War she spent most of her time knitting socks for the soldiers. She was 80 years old when the war broke out, and had never made a pair of socks before that time. Her youngest son, Major Playford and two grandsons, served in the war.

Mrs. Playford reared a family of 10 children— five sons and five daughters. The sons are: — Messrs. Thomas, Copley, John, Lloyd, and Elliott Playford; the daughters. Mesdames J. H. Sexton, H. J. Tuck, J. H. Cowling, H. Giles, and H. P. Onslow. There are 40 grandchildren and 38 great-grandchildren.

Sources

1. ↑ Non Conformist Registers, RG4 / Piece 100 / Folio 7, d/o William and Phillis
2. ↑ Australia Marriage Index 1788-1950, ancestry.com
3. ↑ Obituary, The Register newspaper, 26 May 1928

See Also: Kinsman ONS website page for Mary Kinsman