Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert
Jessie McLean Connor was born in 1867 in Whangarei, the eldest child of Irishman James and Margaret nee Scott. James had a business in Whangarei before moving to Parnell, Auckland.
In June 1892, at her widowed mother’s house in Parnell, Jessie married George Edward Partridge. George was a 28-year-old sawmiller from Port Albert. He was born in 1865 in Port Albert, the first NZ born child of William and Elizabeth nee Lester of Oxfordshire, England. The Partridges arrived with the Albertlanders on board the Matilda Wattenbach in 1862. They settled in Port Albert, north of Auckland, on a government grant of land.
Jessie and George had three children born in Port Albert:
- Norman James (1894–1951)
- Margaret Alvina (1896–1958)
- Winifred Dorothy (1900–1968)
In 1885 sawmilling was the largest source of employment in the region, with Auckland supplying 45% of the country’s timber production and 91% of timber exports. George continued working as a millhand in Puhipuhi, Northland, and after 1910 near Grey Lynn, Auckland. Son Norman served in France as a sapper in World War 1. He enlisted in 1916 and was away for three years.
George died in 1923, aged 58 years and was buried in the Waikaraka Cemetery. Jessie lived on in the same house in Grey Lynn with her married daughter Winnie Kehoe, and died there in 1945, after a long illness. She was buried with her husband in the Waikaraka Cemetery. In her probate, she left her dwelling house, land it was on and furniture to her daughter Winifred. Any residue of the estate worth 750 pounds was to be split between her other children, Norman and Margaret.
Jessie is the sister of 24 Jane LITTIN
Sources
Archway probate Jessie
PAPERS PAST Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVIII, Issue 1602, 9 September 1862, Page 3
PAPERS PAST Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 166, 14 July 1892, Page 11
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25166, 2 April 1945, Page 1
Te Ara – Timber Town