Dora Geeves

Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert.

Dorothea Lutjohann was born about 1836, probably in Denmark, daughter of Max Lutjohann.

In London in 1865, Dorothea and Thomas Geeves had a daughter, also called Dorothea. The couple later married on 25 July 1869 at Saint Luke, Chelsea in London.

At some point the family immigrated to New Zealand with Thomas' brothers Percy and John.

They first lived at Tuapeka Flat in Otago, and moved into Lawrence in 1880 when the younger Dorothea married Henry Carr. Thomas worked as a labourer and Dorothea did some nursing – in 1883 she was paid one pound for nursing at the Tuapeka Goldfields Hospital.

In 1887 the Tuapeka Hospital and Charitable Aid Board heard a petition from "Mr and Mrs Thomas Geeves, who are in an indigent state and unable to support themselves... The Board recommended that they be allowed 5s per week”. For the next few years they received between 2s 6d and 5s a week.

Thomas requested to have his weekly allowance raised from 2s 6d to 5s in 1890, as he found it impossible to support himself on the firstnamed sum. The board responded "As this application purported to come from Lawrence, it was resolved that applicant be informed that the borough of Lawrence was outside the County's jurisdiction."

Thomas Geeves moved to Caversham in Dunedin, and died there on 4 May 1901. He is buried in the Southern Cemetery.

Dorothea found work in Warkworth, north of Auckland, as a nurse, as evidenced by her appearance on electoral rolls there from 1893-1897.

By 1899 Dorothea was living in the Costley Home For the Aged Poor in Auckland. She remained there until she died in 1915, registered as Rebecca Dorothea Abel Geeves, (incorrectly) 89 years old. She is buried in Waikumete Cemetery.

Sources

Find a Grave

Ancestry

Papers Past

• "Sale of house & residence area", Tuapeka Times, 29 May 1880
• "Tuapeka Goldfields Hospital", Tuapeka Times, 6 October 1883
• "Tuapeka Hospital and Charitable Aid Board", Tuapeka Times, 19 January 1887
• "Tuapeka Hospital Board", Tuapeka Times, 13 June 1888
• "Tuapeka County Council", Tuapeka Times, 23 April 1890