Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Ann Grant was born in 1868 in Port Albert, one of the seven children to Joseph and Ann nee Robinson. They were born in Lincolnshire and came out to NZ on the Caduceus in 1864 as part of the Albertlanders scheme. They took up a land grant in Port Albert.
On 14 June 1884, at Te Kopuru, Northland, when Annie was 19, she married a 38-year-old widower named Edwin Curel. Edwin was born in 1844 in Marshfield, Gloucestershire, England to John and Catherine. He was a mate on ship 1873 to NSW, Australia. There he married Louisa Curtayne in Melbourne in 1874 before coming to NZ in 1877. Louisa died in 1878 in Auckland, aged 30 years. There were no children born. Edwin became a pilot and chief boatman in the Kaipara Heads, and was for a time, collector of customs.
They had 12 children, with one dying in infancy:
- Hilda Lilly (1885–1971)
- Albert Edwin (1886–1982)
- Frank Clifford (1888–1970)
- Ivy Gladys (1889–1970)
- Archibald Grant (1892–1976)
- Hazel May (1893–1980)
- Myrtle (1895–1895)
- William Edmund (1896–1981)
- Clarance Irvine (1898–1991)
- Lawrence Melvin (1903–1975)
- Myrtle Iris (1906–1990)
- Thelma Jeanie (1908–1989)
The family lived in the signal house in Pouto, Northland until Edwin retired to Port Albert in 1910. By 1922 they were living in Helensville, and Edwin was still describing himself as a boatman. Sons Albert and William held seafaring certificates, and the other sons became farmers.
Three sons saw service in the First World War. Archibald enlisted in July 1916 and served throughout the war as a rifleman. William enlisted in 1917 as a rifleman. He was wounded in the arm and shoulder and discharged as no longer physically fit for war service in May 1918. Clarence signed up in May 1918, but the war ended before he was sent overseas.
Edwin died in Helensville in 1928, in his 84th year 'Beloved by all.' and was buried in the Helensville Cemetery. Annie lived on in their Helensville house and died there in 1950 aged 82. She was buried with her husband in Helensville Cemetery. Her headstone reads, 'Dearly loved and sadly missed.'
Sources
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19928, 23 April 1928, Page 1
Archway Military Service William Clarence Archibald
Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com)