E. Stretton

Signed family name

Stretton

Signed given name

Given address

Marton

Sheet number

521

Town/Suburb

Marton

City/Region

Whanganui region

Notes

Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert

Eliza Thoms was the middle child of twelve children of Charles Thoms and Elizabeth Thompson. They were from Northumberland, England and married in 1855 just before they immigrated to Wellington, New Zealand with Charles’ parents and siblings. Charles and Elizabeth moved to Porewa in the Rangitikei district where Eliza was born in 1867.

Eliza married Walter Stretton in 1884. Walter was born in 1860 in Cambridgeshire, England to John, a gamekeeper and Susan nee Bradford.

They had nine children born around Porewa where Eliza’s family lived:

Beatrice (1884–1949)
Susan Elizabeth (1887–1952)
Agnes Ellen (1889–1952)
William (1891–1916)
Ada (1892–1943)
Sophia (1894–1980)
Ivy (1896–1980)
Frank John (1898–1968)
Charles Thoms (1901–1952)

By 1900 Walter and Eliza had a dairy farm in Cheltenham, a small rural settlement north-east of Feilding. Walter was involved in the area, as a director for the Cheltenham Cooperative Dairy Company, the Cheltenham Rifle Club and Football Club. He was on the Cheltenham School Committee for 12 years, being for eight years the chairman. In 1913 Walter and Eliza sold their dairy farm, a first-class herd of good milkers, sheep, a plough and mower, and furniture from a seven-roomed house, by auction. The ladies of the Cheltenham district gathered at the Town Hall and made a presentation to Mrs W. Stretton, who, with her husband, is leaving the locality. 'Mrs Fisher said the ladies of the district regretted very much the departure of their friend, who, during her residence in their midst, had always done more than her share in helping any good object.'

The family moved to Waitakaruru on the Hauraki Plains and continued dairy farming. In 1914 Walter was elected to the Thames Borough Council for the new riding of Piako. And in May 1914 new branch of the Farmers’ Union was formed to which Walter was elected as chairman. Their eldest son William enlisted as a rifleman in the Army in WW1 in May 1915. He died of wounds received in action in September 1916 aged 25, and was buried in France.

Eliza and Walter were involved in sporting activities in the area. Walter was the Patron of the Waitakaruru Football Club in 1923. In 1924 a tribute to the generosity of Mr and Mrs W Stretton, who for many years had permitted the tennis club to use their tennis court. 'Mr Stretton was really the father of tennis in Waitakaruru' and was made an honorary life-member of the Waitakaruru Tennis Club. Eliza was a member of the Waitakaruru Women’s Institute and a life member of the local branch of the Plunket Society.

In 1936, at home, Eliza died aged 70 years, 'one of the oldest and most highly-respected residents of Waitakaruru'. She was buried at Totara Cemetery, Thames. Her will left her effects worth 1500 pounds to husband Walter.

Walter applied to subdivide some of his land at Waitakaruru in 1937, which was approved. He died at home in 1942 aged 81 and was buried in the Totara Cemetry, Thames. His probate worth 1800 pounds, gave one piece of land to his daughter Beatrice, another to son-in-law A R Douglas (married to Ivy), for services rendered, and a five acre block divided into eight lots for each of his surviving children.

E STRETTON is the daughter of 521 E THOMS Marton and sister of 520 Emma T COX