Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Georgina Aldridge was born in Dunedin in 1872, the daughter of George Aldridge, a fisherman, and Alice.
Her mother Alice had been married to Thomas Ruth, a fisherman, who drowned in 1870. She later appeared in court in 1871 with a baby in her arms, charged with being drunk in Walker street. The newspaper noted, 'she came to town on Wednesday. About ten that night she was ejected from a brothel in which she had been disorderly, and about two hours after was found drunk in the street with a baby'. She was let off with a caution.
Georgina was born the following year. Her mother was then living with Georgina’s father George Aldridge, a fisherman, in Port Chalmers.
In January 1875 George died three weeks after a blow to the head. The coroner’s jury returned a verdict of 'death resulted from disease of the brain, brought on by excessive drinking and accelerated by a blow upon the temple'.
Alice, presumably accompanied by her two young daughters, then went to live in Dunedin and worked as a prostitute. In October 1875 she was imprisoned for three months for habitual drunkenness and vagrancy.
Alice re-married in January 1876, but this did not last long. Three weeks after her marriage she was again in court 'one of the oldest female offenders in Dunedin, was charged with being drunk in Walker Street, and also with making use of obscene language…though married to a hard working man three weeks ago, she had never been sober since'.
In 1881, their mother’s neglect resulted in Georgina and her elder sister Alice being committed to the Caversham Industrial School. Their mother was charged with disobeying an order of the Court that she contribute towards the support of her children. She asked that the children be licensed out to her. This was refused as she had had them before and she 'left them in a disgracefully neglected condition'.
Georgina remained in the Industrial School until she married John Finlay McArthur, a labourer, in December 1889. They had two sons before Georgina died on 24 February 1894, aged 22 years. Her husband John died in 1907.
They are buried together in the Southern Cemetery, Dunedin.
Sources
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
DCC Cemetery Records http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz