Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert
Annabella McKenzie born 1831 in Bouldaerie, Nova Scotia one of eight children of Donald and Janet/Jessie nee MacKenzie. They were originally from Scotland and moved to Nova Scotia where Annabella was born.
Around 1850 Annabella married William McKenzie Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada and their first two children were born there. William was the son of Murdoch McKenzie and Annabella, so they were first cousins.
They came to Auckland in the Gazelle, arriving on 18 September 1853, from Nova Scotia via Adelaide, Australia. They were part of a large group of Scottish settlers from Nova Scotia, that were looking for a heavily forested area which would yield timber for homes and boats, land suitable for cropping, and a coast where fish could be caught. Their scouting party sailed up the east coast north of Auckland and entered the Waipu River. Annabella’s father, who had accompanied them, died a couple of months later.
Annabella and William had seven children:
- Jessie (1849–1913)
- Murdoch (1850–1892) born in Cape Breton
And born in Waipu:
- Annabella (1854–1938) was the first baby born in Waipu
- Donald William (1857–1939)
- Isabella (1860–1931)
- Alexander (1861–1944)
- Flora Margaret (1863–1941)
William bought land along what was to be called 'The Braigh', at a location close to where the town was built, so his farm was the obvious spot for the first Highland Games that were held not long after the settlers arrived in Waipu in the 1850s. William always spoke in Gaelic as he was unable to speak English. When he sued a neighbour in 1876 for the illegal detention of a heifer, an interpreter had to be sworn in to translate.
William died 10 June 1900, aged 83 at Waipu, and was buried in the Waipū Cemetery. And Anabella died 30 November 1916 aged 85 at Waipu and was buried with her husband. Their unmarried daughter Jessie was buried with them. Aig fois – At rest.
Sources
https://www.kaurihohorehistory.org/the-mckenzie-family
PAPERS PAST Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXII, Issue 5355, 12 December 1876, Page 3
PAPERS PAST DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS, VOLUME X, ISSUE 672, 6 DECEMBER 1853, PAGE 2
https://teara.govt.nz/mi/1966/mcleod-norman
Bream Bay News 23 Aug 2018
‘Sailors and Settlers – the Migration of Highlanders from Nova Scotia to New Zealand in the 1850s and 1860s’ by John McLean, Winter Productions, Wellington, 2010