Biography contributed by Wendy Napier-Walker
Mrs Cordner was born Mary Jane Black c 1842 in Armagh, Northern Ireland to Alexander Black and his wife Mary.
On 19 September 1861 Mary married Isaac Cordner in Seagoe, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Mary (19 yrs) and Isaac (21yrs) Cordner sailed from London on 15 November 1861, arriving in Lyttelton, New Zealand on 10 February 1862 on the ship Matoaka. Isaac was a Farm Labourer.
In June 1874 Isaac was charged with embezzlement (money stolen from his employer, Mr Francis Innis of Waltham). Isaac was a farmer at the Wilderness Farm, age 35 years.
Isaac who was a Storekeeper, was declared bankrupt in July 1878.
The Waimate Daily Advertiser in February 1951, published a report that a portion of the Waimate Star newspaper dated 31 January 1879 had been discovered by a resident pasted on the back of an old photograph of the Oamaru breakwater. 'There was also an invitation to call and inspect a stock of New Brown Ale. Mr Isaac Cordner advertised the taking out of a wholesale and spirits licence, and offered ales and beer from two gallons upwards. He designated his premises the “Railway Refreshment Rooms”, and they were situated in Queen street opposite the Council Chambers.'
The 1881 electoral roll records Isaac as a Boarding House Keeper, Waimate.
In July 1887, Mary applied to the Court for a Prohibition Order 'against the supply of liquor within the licensing districts of Waimate, Deep Creek and Makikihi' to Isaac Cordner. This was granted for a period of 12 months.
In 1893 Isaac was an Expressman in Waimate.
In 1893 Mrs Cordner signed the Women’s Suffrage Petition in Waimate.
Isaac Cordner died on 11 November 1896 in Christchurch, age 56 years and is buried in the Waimate Old cemetery, Presbyterian section, Plot 000479.
Mary Jane Cordner died in Waimate on 26 March 1897, age 50 years and is buried in the Waimate Old cemetery, Presbyterian section, next to her husband in Plot 000478.
Sources
Otago Police Gazette 10 November 1875, page196
North Otago Times 14 October 1878, page 3 – In Bankruptcy
Greenwood, William, Te Waimatemate – History of Waimate County and Borough, pg 172-173
Lyttelton Times 29 July 1887, page 3 – Magisterial
The Wilson Collection
Ancestry Family Trees
NZ DIA Death Index 1896/2203 Isaac Cordner