Hughey, Catherine – Fourth Daughter

Notes on the Whisker Family

Quentin Green, a cousin in Auckland and a grandson of the youngest of William and Ellen''s children (Laura), kindly provided me with these notes on the Whisker family.

Ellen Whisker (1848-1892): There is no death certificate and from research I have carried out it is apparent that a section of the Registrar''s records at Feilding were destroyed in a flood in the early the 1890''s before the extracts were sent to the Central Registry at Wellington. Unforunately, her burial records are also not available either. It is from the death notice in the Feilding Star that any sort of record is known other than from what was passed down by her children. The death notice states that the burial was at the Sanson Cemetery. The family was not well off and seemed to have survived with some assistance from the Whisker Family, from whom they rented a house. Ellen was apparently more or less an invalid for some years and William also apparently suffered from ill-health (he died in 1900 of Myelitis). Thus, it is believed she was buried in one of the plots belonging to the Whisker family and the burial was not written up in the Cemetery Records. There are 6 plots at Sanson in which there are no record of whom was buried in them but I lean towards her being buried in one of the Whisker plots as a number of unattached Whisker relatives are recorded in these plots. I searched the Sanson Cemetry and no headstone was located for Ellen, which also tends to confirm that the family had little spare funds. In addition, William was buried at the Feilding Cemetery in 1900 which tends to suggest that whereever Ellen was buried there was no room for him. His daughter, Kathleen (Kitty) Mercer was buried with him in 1904.

I traced Ellen''s parents James Whisker and Jane Henry through a marriage certificate of one of her siblings as the NZ marriage certificates record the mother''s maiden name. The name Henry is apparent in grandchildren, Robert Henry Whisker (1866-1945), John Henry Feilding Whisker (1874-1935), John Henry Ellerm (1881-?), Mary Henry Ellerm (1882-1961) and Mary Ann Henry McKeague (1871-1921).

The parents of James Whisker (c1800 - ?), who married Jane Henry (1804-?) around 1832, were probably James Whisker and Anne Martin but I have not verified this as yet.

James and Jane Whisker''s known children are as follows:

(a) James (1833-1877?) born Londonderry. Married Catherine Hughey (1842-1912) at Karori 1865. James was a farmer in the Feilding area. However, the death date of James may not be correct as I can find no death certificate reference or burial record. Only that he dropped off the electoral rolls in 1887. He may just have disappeared from Feilding, died out of the country or may have been admitted to an asylum. Catherine certainly remained in Feilding until she died but didn''t state in the Electoral Rolls that she was a widow. From the 1893 Electoral Roll, the first under Universal Suffrage she described herself as Farmer until 1911, the year before she died. Her headstone says relict of James so he obviously died before 1912. Twelve Children, 8 boys & 4 girls.

(b) William Whisker (1834-1911) born Londonderry died Porirua, NZ. Butcher and Farmer. Does not appeared to have married.

(c) Thomas Frederick Whisker (1840 - 1894) born Northern Ireland died Wellington. Married Anna Maud Price (1856-1935). Grocer in Wellington. Known to have had two daughters, Anna (1886 - ?) and Mabel (1888-1947). Maybe other children. Marriage date not traced as yet.

(d) Jane Whisker (1845-1918) born Northern Ireland died Manaia, Taranaki. Married Henry William Ellerm (c1842-1923) 1880 at Feilding. Had 4 children with Ellerm. It is very probable that Jane was married previously and I will be checking this in due course.

(e) Ellen (1848-1892), see above.

(f) Mary Jane (1852-1905) born Northern Ireland married John Hughey (1833-1915) at Oroua, near Palmerston North, 2/11/1875. One known child, William James Hughey (1877-1905) born and died Feilding. John Hughey a brother of Catherine Hughey who married Mary Jane''s brother James Whisker. It is from the Hughey family that there is a connection with Maori ancestors in the Whisker Family.

Jane Stewart and James W. Whisker. I have come across other Whisker research and have noticed a few mixed up things. Understandable to a degree. I have in my records Jane Stuart Whisker (1880-1923). Sometimes the Stuart spelt Stewart in some records. Born Feilding and died Auckland. She was the second wife of Percival Augustus Mercer (1880-1955) and they married in Feilding in 1905. Jane was a cousin of Kathleen (Kitty) McKeague (1879-1904), a younger sister of your grandfather, Daniel, who married Percy Mercer on 1/1/1903 at Feilding. Jane was a daughter of James Whisker and Catherine Hughey.

James and Catherine also had a daughter called Mary Ann Stewart Whisker (1884-1885).

An aside: Kathleen and Percy had one son, Ronald Mercer who didn''t know until he was in his 60''s that Jane was not his mother. Kathleen & Jane apparently had similar physical appearances and his father never told him about his natural mother. She died shortly after his birth.

James W. Whisker: I don''t know about him but it is possible that James Whisker (c1800-?) had the second name William as this name persists in the Whisker line.

Of Alexander Whisker born 22/7/1819 I have no record. Was he a brother of Thomas (c1880-?)?
from web site http://www.columbia.edu/~im2131/genealogy.html accessed 27 Dec 2011



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The two men were guided by James Whisker, who with his brother-in-law John Hughey leased land from the Ngati Kawhata on the banks of the Oroua River.
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from web site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Feilding_(British_Army_officer) accessed 27 Dec 2011

Birth Details
1842/6, Catherine Hughey, First Ind Church Held By Alexander Turnbull Library Ref Msx 0046

Wellington Independent 7 November 1865
WHISKER - HUGHEY.- On the 1st November, at the residence of the bride''s father by the Rev. Mr. Muir, James Whisker, second son of Mr. James Whisker, Belfast, Ireland, to Miss Catherine Hughey, fourth daughter of Mr. William Hughey, Taita, Lower Hutt


Death Details
1912/1459, Catherine Whisker, Aged: 70Y - Date of Death 3/7/1912 from Death Registration

Feilding Star 3 July 1912
OBITUARY.
MRS WHISKER, OF AWAHURI
In the early hours of this morning there passed away, at her residence, on the Awahuri Road, one of the very earliest settlers of this district, Mrs Whisker, at the age of 70 years. She had been ailing for about three months. Mrs Whisker, who was a daughter of Mr Hughie, was a native of the Hutt, where she was also married. Her husband died some 13 years ago. Mr and Mr Whisker came to this district in 1846, settling on the property where their home still stands, and which has been the birth place of their eleven children, nine of whom are now living. During the troublous times of the Maori war, Mrs Whisker was the only white woman on this side of the Rangitikei outside the redoubt at Bulls, and many a time, receiving warning from friendly natives, she and her family had to leave the house and hide in the scrub and flax till the dangerous natives had passed by. This was during 1866 when inter-tribal fighting, as well as war with the Europeans, was proceeding all round the district. Mrs Whisker was regarded as a doctor by the natives, who sought her aid when wounded, and knew her sympathetic heart would not refuse them. Mrs Whisker leaves a family of two daughters, seven sons, and seventeen grandchildren to mourn her passing: Mrs Nairn (Raetihi), Mrs Mercer (Feilding), William (at home), Jack (Carnarvon) Beattie (Thames), Duncan (Awahuri), Dave (Feilding) (sic), Wattie (at home). The funeral will take place on Friday the remains being interred in the family plot at the Sandon cemetery.

Dominion 4 July 1912
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Mrs Whisker leaves a family of two daughters, seven sons, and seventeen grandchildren to mourn her passing: Mrs Nairn (Raetihi), Mrs Mercer (Feilding), William (at home), Jack (Carnarvon) Beattie (Thames), Duncan (Awahuri), Dave (Feilding), Robert (Feilding) and Wattie (at home)