Emily K Retemeyer

The 1893 electoral roll confirms -William Bernardus Farmer

Biography contributed by Sharlene Rumney

Emily Kate Mountfort was the daughter of Charles Mountfort and Mary Eliza Adnam; she was born in Christchurch on the 28th of August 1856. Her parents had arrived in Lyttelton in December 1850 on board the Charlotte Jane and the Mountforts lived in Canterbury and Otago before moving to the Manawatu in 1875.

On the 6th of November 1875 Emily was married to the widower William Bernardus Retemeyer (born in Liverpool, England on the 23rd of December 1838) at the School House, Feilding by the Rev. H.Bevis. The wedding was celebrated by picnic at Westoe, the estate of the Hon. W. Fox and it was reported that festivities of an extensive nature were inaugurated.

Emily and William had six children; Reginald Fox, Catherine, Alfred Wynhard, William Mountfort, Dorothy and Emily Mary.

Emily Kate had also signed the 1892 suffrage petition.

Emily’s stepdaughter Mary L Retemeyer signed sheet 508 as did her sister-in-law A.B Mountfort.

Upon retiring from farming the Retemeyers moved to Napier where William Bernadus died in 1912 and Emily Kate in 1927; they are both buried at the Old Napier Cemetery.

Sources

http://canterburyphotography.blogspot.com/2009/01/c-w-mountford.html

https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2m60/mountfort-charles-adnam

https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/183115312/emily-kate-retemeyer

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/about-the-petition - 1892 suffrage petition Excel spreadsheet

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers (all newspaper articles below from Papers Past)

Wanganui Herald (12 November 1875, issue 2628)

Wanganui Herald (13 November 1875, issue 2629)

Manawatu Standard (31 December 1912, issue 9379)