Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert
Jessie Simpson was born in Auckland in 1861, the youngest of the four children of Scottish settlers James and Mary McDonald nee Nicol.
In 1883 Jessie married William Reid in St David’s Church, Auckland. William Reid was born in 1861 in New South Wales, Australia, the second son of James and Lizzie nee Roberts formerly of Belfast, Northern Ireland and now Auckland.
Jessie and William had two sons:
- Ernest William James (1884–1967)
- Arthur Frederick George (1885–1885, died 7mths)
William was a carpenter and builder, and at first, they lived in Kingsland Road, near his parents. In 1897, Jessie’s father James Simpson died suddenly whilst living in their house and Jessie was the executor and sole beneficiary of her father’s will. Also the same year, William sold, by auction all his household furniture, a light trap and harness, cow and fowls. The family moved to Devonport, and William continued to be a builder, and his son Ernest was a carpenter. He bought a 21 perch section in Vauxhall Road, Devonport and over the next four years, Reid took out numerous mortgages and built a villa on it. In 1908 William died, aged 45 years.
By 1911 Ernest was married to Florence Harris and moved to Hamilton and it seems Jessie went with her only son, although they are listed at separate addresses in the electoral roll. Jessie died in 1915 in the Waikato, aged 53. When Ernest enlisted in the Army during WW1 in 1917, he was living back In Devonport.
Sources
Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com)
NZ Historical BDMs
Archway probate James Simpson
PAPERS PAST Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 117, 31 July 1897, Page 8
PAPERS PAST Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 4227, 29 December 1883, Page 2