Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert
Emily Martha was born in 1867 in Mahurangi, the seventh of ten children of the Rev Robert McKinney and wife Martha. They were Irish-born and Robert was a Presbyterian minister who was in charge of congregations at Mahurangi and Matakana.
Emily grew up in a minister’s family heavily involved in parish and community activities. In 1889 at the installation of the Masonic Hall Warkworth, when fifty couples danced, she was mentioned, 'The youth and beauty of Mahurangi mustered in full force… Particularly noticeable for gracefulness was Miss Emily McKinney.' The same year she displayed her drawn thread work at the Mahurangi Industrial Exhibition.
She lived with her parents until they died and didn’t marry until she was in her forties. In 1909 she married Herbert John Saddleton at St Paul's Devonport. Herbert was born in 1862 in Whitstable, Kent the son of farmers Henry and Martha.
They had three children in quick succession:
- Martha (1910–1996)
- Robert Henry (1911–1999)
- John Charles (1912–1996)
Emily continued to enter her drawn thread work, in 1912 at the Kaipara Flats Show. The electoral rolls show Herbert and Emily farming in Pokeno, south of Auckland. In 1916 they sold the farm, and sold by auction all the Jersey dairy cows, farming equipment, porkers and poultry, and dairying equipment. Also, household furniture and a piano by Fisher.
They moved 40km away to farm at Waiau Pa. Martha continued to win prizes for her drawn thread work, in Ramarama Flower Show in 1917, and for potatoes in the 1936 Waiau Pa Flower Show. The children grew up to be good sports people. Martha in lawn tennis, and the boys representing the Franklin area in golf, hockey and tennis. In 1942 their son Robert was wounded in the Middle East during the War and invalided home.
Herbert died in 1943 at Waiau Pa, aged 80, without fanfare. There was no newspaper death notice or probate. Emily Martha died shortly after, in 1949 at Waiau Pa. Her probate left 1000 pounds to her unmarried daughter Martha, and the residue to son Robert, which was worth 2000 pounds. They are buried together in the Waiau Pa Cemetery.
Emma is the daughter of 378 Martha MCKINNEY
Sources
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9269, 24 January 1889, Page 6
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16205, 15 April 1916, Page 3
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9528, 21 October 1889, Page 6
Archway probate