Biography and image contributed by Janet Doyle, Feilding
Elizabeth Annie (Lizzie) Benge was born on 6 June 1868 in Mangaroa, Upper Hutt, Wellington, eldest child of Rose Anne (Annie) nee Wilkins (1851-1933) and John Benge (1841-1906). Elizabeth’s father was a sawyer in the Collins Creek Sawmill at Te Marua, Upper Hutt and later owned the Mill after the death of his father David Benge. Elizabeth had six brothers and three sisters. She was a foundation pupil of Te Marua School, and then attended Mangaroa School from June 1879-April 1884.
St John's Church, Trentham, Upper Hutt was the venue for her marriage to Job Charles Mabey on 19 June 1889. They had seven children: Rachel (1890-1925), George (1892-1970), Rosie (1894-1895), Blanche (1897-1989), Grace (1900-1973), Jean (1904-1980) and Beth (1908-2008). Job and Elizabeth farmed on Mabey Road, Taita; the land that Job was born on in 1858. They donated the land on which Taita (Avalon) Hall was built. Job is described as a genuine 'character', something of a living local legend in George Kaye Remembers… articles in The Hutt News.
Elizabeth was a foundation member of the Taita Methodist Church and her contribution to the spiritual life and fellowship of the Church was said to be incalculable. Job died at their home on 18 May 1952 aged 93 years, and Elizabeth died ten years later on 6 November 1962 aged 94 years. They are both buried in the cemetery surrounding Christ Church, Taita.
Elizabeth Mabey with her husband, Job, and three children, c 1894.
Sources
Cyclopaedia of New Zealand. Wellington volume. Upper Hutt section: Benge, John, page 843
The Descendants of David and Philadelphia (Sarah) Benge and John Douglas and Eliza Mann Benge. Ongaonga: Evergean, 2001. Page 350.
'Avalon Public Hall' in Hutt Alive. Apr/May 2007. Pages 2-7.
'Diamond Wedding of Pioneers'. Newspaper cutting, June 1949
'Hands across the century: In commemoration of the centenary of the first known Wesleyan Methodist Church service to be conducted at Taita, Lower Hutt 1848-1948'. Greenwood, W. compiler. Taita Methodist Church Publications Committee, 1948. Page 27.
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