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Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert
Mary Ann CLIFT was born to John and Sarah (nee HOLLOWAY) CLIFT in 1843 In Bilston, Staffordshire and married there to Thomas SHALE in 1864. Thomas was a dairy farmer and they moved to Monmouth in Wales where eight children were born; Mary Elizabeth (1865-1941) Thomas Joseph (1866-1925) William Henry 1868-1879) Harold Howard (1870-1953) Ada Maude Marion (1873-1958) Sidney Howard (1874-1957) Charles Lionel (1878-1952) and Grace Blanche (1878-1952).
Their third child, William Henry Shale died in March 1879 at age 11years and three months later the family set sail for a new life in New Zealand. The family arrived in Port Chalmers in 1879 aboard the Forfarshire and settled in Fairfield, Dunedin. A further two children were born there; Gertrude Alice (1880-1958) and Oliver Samuel (1882-1969). Thomas continued to be a dairy farmer in New Zealand until his death in 1915.
Mary Ann died in 1897 after 'a long and painful illness, aged 54 years.'
Sources
NZ BDM
Electoral Rolls
Evening Star newspaper, 11 June 1897
Image
Thomas and Mary Ann Shale grave, Dunedin.
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