Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert.
Rachel Anna Fairhall was born in Surrey, England 1n 1823 to Thomas (a builder) and Mary Ann Fairhall, sometimes known as Fairhall-Holder.
She married Thomas Chaplin, a clerk in a news office, on 19 Oct 1846 in London. They had four daughters and one son, in and around London: Anna Elizabeth in 1847, Emily Mary in 1850, Eliza Isabel in 1854, Clara Rachel in 1857, and Thomas in 1859.
In 1860 the family migrated to New Zealand on board the Mermaid and settled at Ahuroa, where they “endured many of the hardships incidental to the life of an early pioneer”.
After some years farming they moved to Warkworth, where Thomas was the first clerk of the Rodney County Council. He held this position for 22 years. While there, they were energetic workers in the temperance cause and for the Methodist Church. Thomas and Rachel retired to Grey Lynn, Auckland, about 1914.
Thomas died 6 February 1916 aged 92 years, and is buried at Waikumete Cemetery. His will left everything to his wife.
Rachel died on 28 October 1916 aged 93 years, of senile decay and paralysis. She is buried in the same grave.
Her will left her own property at Mahurangi to her married daughter Clara Rachel, for her own personal use. The rest of the estate, valued at £850, was divided between three married daughters Clara, Eliza, and Emily.
Sources
New Zealand Society of Genealogists Cemeteries Information
Papers Past
- "Personal Items", Press, 18 February 1916
- "Personalia", New Zealand Times, 6 November 1916
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