Biography contributed by Clare Cramond
Frances Rigby and her husband George (1853-1910) had five children born between 1886 and 1893. The youngest Cyril Goullet was born in Frasertown the same year that Frances signed the Petition. Their other children were all born in Wairoa; Eva Grace (1886), Colin George (1887) and Norman Felix (1890).
It appears that Frances’ birth was registered in 1864 as Fanny Louisa Christina Gullet Wilson to Mary Christina and George Wilson, but she may have been the daughter of whaler and farmer, Felix Goulet and sister to Eugenie Beckett who also signed the Petition. There was a newspaper report from 16 March 1869 describing Felix and his family’s escape from their home during the Hauhau disturbances. It says: 'The eldest child, a little girl five years old, walking the entire distance – about 22 miles.' This could have been Frances.
Mary Christina was married two or three times, and Felix twice. They had several children.
On Frances’ marriage to George Rigby in 1885, her name was registered as Frances Goullett.
Frances died in 1949 in Auckland.
Sources
Naturalisation 1861 http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/na186124a25v1861n7324.pdf
Prickett, Nigel. (2002). The archaeology of New Zealand shore whaling. Wellington:Department of Conservation.
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18690316.2.13 Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1031, 16 March 1869, Page 2
Births Deaths and Marriages Online https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
Community contributions