Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert
Selina Mabel Jones was born 1851 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, daughter of James and Sarah nee Stephens, who arrived in Auckland, 16 Feb 1865 on the Armstrong.
Selina Jones and Philip Warren married in 1870 in Thames, New Zealand. Philip Warren, originally from Ireland, immigrated from London arriving 1864 on the Ardberg with his father John, and siblings Cornelius and Mary. His mother Margaret died in County Kerry, Ireland in 1858.
Philip owned a bakery in Rolleston Street, Thames, and there, Philip and Selina’s first four children were born:
- Lily Kathleen (1870–1954)
- Mary Elizabeth (1871–1927)
- Philip James (1873–1931)
- Charles Alfred (1876–1876)
Baby Charles died at two-weeks-old. Then the family moved to Otahuhu where they owned a grocery store. And more children were born:
- Frederick Henry (1877–1947)
- Arthur Richard (1878–1902)
- Ernest Harold (1880–1880)
- Selina Daisy (1883–1970)
- John Franklyn Garfield (1884–1947)
- Ada Violet Hannah (1885–1886)
And two more babies died, Ernest aged one month and Ada aged six months.
Phillip and Selina Warren and their children moved to Rarohara Bay, Great Barrier Island in the late 1880s. They bought the Cook family farm of about 1000 acres, following the death of William Cook in 1893. The house on the property became their home which they also operated as a small guesthouse. The house was recorded as having 14 rooms. On the property was a woolshed, a mill, a workshop and a butchery.
The last two children were born in Auckland while the family were living on Great Barrier.
- Clifford Douglas (1886–1959)
- William Robert ‘Norman’ (1895–1974)
Three of the children made their way to Fiji to live. Lily married there in 1899. Arthur, a company manager died in Fiji in 1902, at 23. Philip James, a civil engineer, married in Fiji and died in 1931. Son Norman enlisted in the Army in Jan 1916, served in the Middle East, and was awarded the Military Medal for ‘gallantry in the field’ in December 1916.
Selina died in 1928, aged 76 and was buried in Quoin Island Cemetery, a very small cemetery on Great Barrier. Philip died ten years later in 1938 aged 89 and was buried with his wife in Quoin Island Cemetery. In his will, Philip left his insurance policies to Lily, Philip, Frederick and Frank. Of the rest of his estate worth 5000 pounds he left three-quarters to his son William and one-quarter to daughter Selina.
Selina is the mother of 380 M E WARREN Port Fitzroy
Sources
Aotea Great Barrier Island historic heritage survey
Historical BDMs
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 343, 17 December 1864, Page 4
PAPERS PAST Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 194, 18 August 1938, Page 1
Archway probate Philip
Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com)