Biography contributed by Jacqui Beets
Christina Thomson was born on 13 April 1852 at Gladsmuir, East Lothian, Scotland, one of eleven children of Thomas Thomson, a coal pit engine man, and Marion (May) Sandilands. In 1876 Christina married Andrew (Archie) Archibald, a coal miner.
The first of Christina’s family to emigrate to New Zealand was her eldest brother, Francis (Duncan) Thomson, who sailed on the Hydaspes in 1873 and set up a building company in Wellington. Christina’s parents followed and established a farm at Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt. Her brother William and sister Marion also emigrated around this time. William then nominated Christina and Andrew, their children John (6), Marion (4) and Margaret (2), and Christina’s siblings Thomas (22), Robert (19) and John Fortune (9), as assisted emigrants. The party sailed on the Westland, departing from Plymouth on 11 August 1883 and arriving at Wellington on 31 October 1883.
Christina was heavily pregnant on the voyage and gave birth at sea to a boy, Thomas Westland Archibald, who passed away eleven days after landing. The Archibalds had four more children in New Zealand: Janet (Jean) (1885-1956), Christina Helen (1887-1910), Thomas Andrew (1890-1921) and William Hedley (1894-1894). Andrew Archibald worked as a watersider on the Wellington wharves and Christina signed the petition from their home at 13 Hopper Street, Mount Cook.
Tragedy struck the family several times. In 1892 Christina’s mother May was killed when a wagon driven by her son overturned on the Hutt Road. In December of that year Christina’s sister Marion died of epilepsy. In 1894 the Archibalds’ youngest child, William Hedley, passed at the age of nine months, and in 1904 Christina’s brother John was accidentally drowned in the Patea River.
Christina Archibald passed away on 15 June 1906 at Wellington, aged 54. She is buried at Wellington’s Karori Cemetery.
Sources
Ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com.au
Burials at Homedale Cemetery https://www.familytreecircles.com/u/ngairedith/?&next=425
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org
“The Fatality at Lower Hutt.” Evening Post, Volume XLIII, Issue 72, 25 March 1892, p. 4
“Fatality on the Hutt Road: Wife of a Wainui Farmer Accidentally Killed.” Evening Post, Volume XLIII, Issue 71, 24 March 1892, p. 2
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com
Martyn, Ian, “Keith Gordon Thomson.” Medals Reunited New Zealand. 9 Aug 2022. https://medalsreunitednz.co.nz/nz-police-keith-gordon-thomson-operation-recovers-ww1-medal-of-otaki-born-auckland-regiment-soldier/
"New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSTG-YY3 : Wed Nov 08 02:06:46 UTC 2023), Entry for Christina Archibald, 1883.
New Zealand Births, Deaths and Marriages online www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Scotland’s People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
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