Arrival on the May Queen

George was born on October 16th, 1844, in Sedgely, Staffordshire, England. He died on April 27th, 1919, in Hamilton, New Zealand. George’s cause of death was heart failure. Elizabeth was born on November 25th, 1847, in Cockerton, Durham, England. She died on November 6th, 1895 in Onehunga, NZ, from carcinoma and peritonitis.

George and Elizabeth left their home in Darlington, Durham, England aboard The May Queen together with their three sons travelling third class, departing England on 26 August 1881 and arriving in New Zealand on 16 Dec 1881. The journey appears to be a relatively uneventful one, with no deaths and only one birth. In a subsequent journey in 1888, the May Queen ran aground in Lyttleton Harbour and subsequently sank. She still lies at the bottom of the harbour and is now mostly covered in heavy silt.

George does not appear to have been very good at corresponding with his family back in England. Ten years after he had left England for NZ, his sister and brother-in-law were enquiring after him in the newspaper.

George, like his father Thomas, was a bricklayer. His mother was Elizabeth VENABLES.

Elizabeth GRAHAM had left a handwritten will which was witnessed by her daughter-in-law Rose Ann HENRICKSEN. Elizabeth left everything to her husband George and then signed the will, with her name and then wrote beside it “her mark X”. Rose Ann later attested that Elizabeth “knew how to read and write and was in the habit of adding the words her mark X to her signature.”

Three years after his wife Elizabeth GRAHAM died, George remarried, first to Mary BADLEY (incorrectly identified as Mary Ready on George’s death certificate) and then after Mary’s death on May 23rd 1904, to Louisa BERRY. Louisa, born in Newcastle, NSW, had previously been married to John PAIN with whom she had six children, the youngest of which was just three years old when John died. George and Louisa married on August 4th, 1904, just three months after his last wife had died. Perhaps he was wanting to offer her support for her many children.

When George died, he left his property “consisting of the House and Ground attached including the furniture therein” to his wife Louisa. He also bequeathed his gold watch to his son Robert.

George and Elizabeth had three sons, Arthur Russell Fellows, Frederick George Fellows, and my great grandfather, Robert Thomas Fellows.

Arthur Russell FELLOWS

Arthur met a sad end in New Zealand. At just 16 years of age on Christmas Eve 1885, he was trampled to death by a horse. The Auckland Star reported his death on January 2nd, 1886:

Frederick George FELLOWS

Like his father and grandfather, Frederick was a bricklayer and lived near his parents in Onehunga. Frederick was born on August 12th, 1871, and died November 13, 1938, at the age of 67. He married Margaret Matilda KIMBERLEY in 1894 in Onehunga and they had seven children: Charles Graham “Charlie” (not listed in the BDM register); Esma Florence; Dorothy May; Ernest Frederick “Ernie”; Leslie Wilfred; Eileen Winifred. Frederick and Matilda are buried in Waikaraka Cemetery.

Frederick and Margaret had 47 grandchildren, 15 of which came from daughter Esma. Family celebrations must have noisy, albeit expensive, affairs!

Sources

Elizabeth Graham’s Will: https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE47830028

George Fellows’ Will: https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE49196173

George Russell FELLOWS
b. 16 Oct 1844
d. 27 Jul 1919
m. 23 Apr 1867 (Elizabeth Graham)
m. 23 May 1898 (Mary Ann Badley)
m. 4 Aug 1904 (Louisa Berry)

Mother: Elizabeth Venables
Father: Thomas Fellows

Siblings:
Joshua Fellows

Half Siblings:
Hannah Jane Fellows
Joseph Fellows
Mary Ann Fellows

Children of George and Elizabeth
Arthur Russell (1869-1885)
Frederick George (1871-1938)
Robert Thomas (1873-1940)