Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert.
Agnes Jane Cunningham was born in 1874 in Derbyshire, England, the daughter of Robert Cunningham and Mary Whitworth. It is not known whether she came to New Zealand alone as a young adult or with her father, as Robert later died in Australia.
In 1889 Agnes passed the teacher candidate’s exam in Rangiaohia, Waikato. In 1893, she passed the pupil teacher exam in Auckland, with a special mention in Domestic Economy and Laws of Health. As the Education Board decided where teachers were sent, she spent 1897 in Kamo, then two years in Tuhikaramea, Waikato.
In 1907, Agnes married Henry Ingham, a widower from Lincolnshire. Henry had previously married Ada Mary Eaton in October of 1903, who died less than two years later.
Henry and Agnes' son Charles Robert was born the next year. The family farmed around the Waikato in Hairini and Otorohanga.
By 1940 they had retired to Papatoetoe, Auckland. Agnes died 6 October 1943, aged 69 years.
Henry moved to live with his son in Hamilton and died there in 1969 aged 92 years. He was cremated at the Hamilton Park Cemetery. In his will, he left his estate to be divided between his two grandsons.
Sources
Papers Past
- "Pupil Teachers' Examination", Auckland Star, 22 July 1889
- "Pupil Teachers' Examination", Thames Star, 23 February 1893
- "Social Sphere", Observer, 10 October 1903
- "Deaths", Poverty Bay Herald, 5 October 1905
- "Deaths", New Zealand Herald, 7 October 1943
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