Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert.
Previously transcribed as Margaret Oaks.
Margaret Maria Pankratz was born in 1868 in Puhoi, daughter of Joseph and Margaretta, early settlers from Bohemia.
She married in 1887 in Warkworth to Richard Oakes. Richard was 33 and originally from Derbyshire, England. His parents, Ralph and Agnes Oakes, worked on land in the Dome Valley, near Warkworth.
Richard and Margaret had six children: Richard Joseph Leedham in 1888, Alice Margaret in 1890 (died in infancy), Agnes Elizabeth in 1892, William John Pankgratz in 1895, Emily Amelia May in 1901, and Mabel Adeline Theresia in 1903. Richard worked as a bushman and then took a job with the Wilsons Cement Company, where he worked for 50 years.
Margaret died on 1 February 1933 at her residence Sandspit, Warkworth, aged 65 years. The obituary in the newspaper stated, “The late Mrs Oakes was of a kind and retiring nature, and was much respected, in her younger days willingly taking her share in all social and other activities.” She was buried in the Warkworth Anglican Cemetery.
Less than two months later, Richard died and was buried with his wife in Warkworth Cemetery. They were survived by five children and 12 grandchildren.
Richard's will took two years to be probated because there was a dispute about whether or not he was of sound mind when he made it in December 1932. In the end Agnes had 10 acres off the farm in Warkworth and the house. Richard had the rest of the 63-acre farm, Mabel the 20 acres around the house and all the livestock, and then the money was divided in unequal fractions.
Sources
Papers Past
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