Elizabeth Ann Rabone 1864-1950

Elizabeth Ann Rabone was born in Staffordshire, England, on November 26^th, 1864.[1]   The third child of Samuel Rabone, a West Midlands Railway Worker, and Margaret Williams, from Shropshire.[2]  The family emigrated to New Zealand in July 1872, with the Birmingham Railway Contractor John Brogden & Sons, as part of a contract with the New Zealand Government for the provision of a railway network and labour force to construct it.[3]

This tough working class beginning and emigration to a new colony as a child, set the foundation for Elizabeth; never likely to rise above her station, but with the fortitude to keep going even when faced with very difficult odds.

Samuel’s family settled in Picton, at the top of the South Island, and it was here in November 1883 that Elizabeth aged 19 married 22-year-old Francis Robert Godfrey (Frank), youngest son of John Godfrey a local Politician, Publican and General Merchant, and his wife Hannah Smith.[4]

Elizabeth and Frank had nine children between 1884 and 1898, two of whom died in infancy.[5]  Elizabeth was settled in Picton, socially active and engaged with her family and their small community.[6]  Her life inexorably changed in 1902, when Frank was diagnosed with syphilis and Elizabeth’s Doctor urged she “No longer co-habit with her husband”.  Their marriage marred by bankruptcy and Frank’s unconscionable behaviour, and with six children under 16, Elizabeth took her Doctor’s advice.[7]  Although the Women’s Movement had been instrumental in gaining women the right to vote in 1893, there was little support available for separated or divorced women raising children alone.  Elizabeth was not eligible for any financial assistance from the Government; pensions for widows did not begin until 1911 and low-income families only began to receive Government financial support in 1926.[8]  Those unable to support themselves prior to this relied on family support or charities.  Elizabeth never settled in one place for long after 1902, her limited choices dictated by her tenuous financial position.

Elizabeth took the three youngest children and moved to Wellington shortly after the separation, and over the next several years applied twice to the Magistrate’s Court for financial support from Frank.[9]  His failure to comply with court orders resulted in a prison sentence in late 1902.[10]  Perhaps as a compromise Frank took custody of the three children in Wellington for twelve months, and Elizabeth returned to Picton.[11]

In 1905 with her children back in her custody, no maintenance from Frank, and unable to provide for them, Elizabeth made the heartbreaking decision to relinquish her 5 and 6-year-old sons to a Church Funded Orphanage in Brightwater, 80 miles from Picton, leaving her with just three children under 16 to support.[12]  By 1911 her eldest children, most still teenagers, had established themselves on the West Coast in the mining region around Greymouth, at the foot of the Southern Alps, and Elizabeth joined them there with the youngest retrieved from the Orphanage and approaching the end of their compulsory schooling.[13]

While on the West Coast, Elizabeth successfully pursued a divorce from Frank, citing poverty as the reason she had delayed taking this action for nine years.  The divorce was granted on the grounds of Frank’s drunkenness, his abuse of, and violence towards Elizabeth, and his infidelity.[14]  Divorce requirements were changed by the Divorce Act of 1898, making them the same for both men and women, though fault still needed to be proven, and often sordid details of the guilty party’s actions were published in the newspaper.[15]  Thankfully Elizabeth’s divorce details were not published and she escaped the embarrassment of public disapproval.

Elizabeth Ann Godfrey nee Rabone

In late 1912 Elizabeth and the two youngest boys moved 640 miles north to Mercer to join her 17-year-old daughter Madge, who was recently married.[16]   Mercer was a bustling hub of railway activity beside the Waikato River, on the main trunk line between Auckland and Hamilton.[17]  Here for several years Elizabeth used the surname Young, and although family stories hint at a relationship with a man of this name, nothing is now known which confirms this.[18]

New Zealand entered WWI in 1914 and those of her sons old enough enlisted, and joined the war effort in Europe, Walter in 1914, Sam and Frank in 1916.[19]   Walter and Sam returned to New Zealand at the end of the war, however Lance Corporal Frank Godfrey of the NZ Machine Gun Battalion fell at the Second Battle of Cambrai, in Northern France on 8^th October 1918 aged 21.[20]  This was a painful year for Elizabeth as her youngest child Rabone, died six weeks after his brother, during the 1918 Post War Influenza Pandemic which swept the country.[21]  The loss of two sons so close to each other had a profound effect on Elizabeth, and she continued to remember them with lines of poetry published in Newspaper ‘In Memoriam’ notices 20 years after their deaths.[22]

Elizabeth lived the balance of her life close to, and often with her adult children who were scattered throughout the country. In 1923, she was with her daughter Olive for the birth of a grandson in the King Country.[23]  She spent the years of WWII in Otaki and Upper Hutt, near Madge and Walter’s families, and visited Sam who had remained on the West Coast.[24]  Despite maintaining close relationships with her adult children, some of her grandchildren recalled Elizabeth with less than fondness.  Her granddaughter Frankie, remembered her as “a mean woman, who would cut boiled sweets in half”.[25]  This frugal action perhaps indicative of the years of poverty Elizabeth had endured.

Elizabeth Ann Godfrey nee Rabone with Grandchildren in Mangaotaki 1929

Despite their efforts to locate him, the family lost touch with their Father in the late 1920’s, his daughter in law recalled in 1982 “The rumour was he may have gone back to the goldmines in or out of Picton and met with an accident”.[26]  Frank had remained in the North Island and died in a ‘Home for Old Men’ in 1931, of cerebral haemorrhage and syphilis; by this time Elizabeth had been calling herself a ‘Widow’ for more than a decade.[27]

Elizabeth never remarried and succumbed to old age at 85, she died in the home of her daughter Phyllis, on January 12^th, 1950, and was buried in the Pukekohe Public Cemetery.[28]

Elizabeth was a stoic and tenacious woman who chose the precarious life of single motherhood over an unworkable marriage, in a time with few social systems to support her.  With limited finances, she used her greatest skill, a determined focus on family and creating the tight bonds which held them together through poverty, separation, bereavement and two World Wars.  Her legacy; kind honourable sons, and strong resolute daughters.

Bibliography

Arnold, Rollo, ‘The Farthest Promised Land - English Villagers, New Zealand Immigrants of the 1870s’, Victoria University Press, Wellington, 1981.

Auckland City Council, Manukau Memorial Gardens, Pukekohe Cemetery, Pukekohe, New Zealand.

Auckland Star.

Baker, Maureen, 'Family welfare - Welfare, work and families, 1918–1945', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/family-welfare/pages 2 and 3, Accessed 10 Sep 2017.

Blenheim Bankruptcy Case Files c1876-c2003, Archives New Zealand, National Office, Wellington,

Brayshaw, Norman, The Godfreys of Wairau: a short history of John and Henry Godfrey. Blenheim, N.Z. N. Brayshaw, 1962

Brown, Hayley Marina, Loosening the Marriage Bond: Divorce in New Zealand, c.1890s - c.1950s, Victoria University of Wellington, 2011, Page 19. Accessed 17 Sep 2017.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Frank Godfrey, Service Number 14253, Burial Naves Communal Cemetery Extension, URL https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/307816/godfrey,-frank/ Accessed 28 Aug 2017

Cook, Megan, 'Divorce and separation - Growth in divorce: 1898–1979', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/divorce-and-separation/page-2, Accessed 23 Aug 2017.

England Census, 1871, Horseley Heath, Tipton, St Martin, Staffordshire, England, Class: RG10; Piece: 3003; Folio: 44; Page: 25; GSU roll: 838855, Ancestry, Accessed 23 Aug 2017.

General Register Office, Her Majesty’s Passport Office, England.

Godfrey to Reed, letter, 30 August 1982.

Grey River Argus.

Greymouth Supreme/High Court Divorce Files 1909-1981, Archives New Zealand, Christchurch.

Hokitika Museum Photographic Collection, Westland District Council, Hokitika, New Zealand, GPNeg#5758.

Legel, Paula. Influenza Pandemic 1918. Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hira. First published: 5 June 2015. Updated: 11 June 2015.
URL: www.aucklandmuseum.com/collections-research/collections/topics/influenza-pandemic-1918, Accessed 19 Sep 2017.

Marlborough Express.

New Zealand Defence Force, Personnel Archives, Archives New Zealand, National Office, Wellington.

New Zealand Electoral Rolls 1853-1981, Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand 1919, Ancestry, Accessed 17 Aug 2017.

New Zealand Electoral Rolls 1853-1981, Otaki, Wellington, New Zealand, 1938, Ancestry, Accessed 20 Aug 2017.

New Zealand Electoral Rolls 1853-1981, Otaki, Wellington, New Zealand, 1946, Ancestry, Accessed 20 Aug 2017.

New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, Grey, West Coast, New Zealand, 1911, Ancestry, Accessed 17 Aug 2017.

New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, Wairau, Marlborough, New Zealand 1905, Ancestry, Accessed 20 Aug 2017.

New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, Wellington, New Zealand, 1902, Ancestry, Accessed 20 Aug 2017.

New Zealand Herald.

New Zealand Times.

O'Connor, Frankie, conversation with Sue Young and Maureen O'Connor, digital recording, 2010, in author’s possession.

Phipps, Gareth, revised by Ian McGibbon, '1918: spring offensive and advance to victory' (The Hundred Days Offensive), URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/western-front-1918, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 21-Jun-2017, Accessed 28 Aug 2017.

Pollock, Kerryn, 'Children’s homes and fostering - Church institutions and charitable aid', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/childrens-homes-and-fostering/page-1, Accessed 17 Sep 2017.

Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand.

School Admission, Progress and Withdrawal Registers indexes 1858-1912, NZSG Kiwi Collection V2, New Zealand Society of Genealogists.

Swarbrick, Nancy 'Country schooling - Getting an education: 1800s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/country-schooling/page-1 Accessed 17 Sep 2017.

The Colonist

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand (Auckland Provincial District) - Mercer, Victoria University of Wellington Library, New Zealand Electronic Text Collection, Te Puhikotuhi o Aotearoa, Accessed 10 Sep 2017

Wanganui district Council, Aramaho Cemetery, Accessed 10 Aug 2017.

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[1] Birth Certificate of Elizabeth Ann Rabone, born 26 November 1864, General Register Office, Her Majesty’s Passport Office, England, 1864, Dec Qtr, District, Dudley, Vol 06C, Page 53.

[2] Ancestry, Census record for Samuel, Margaret, Samuel Jnr, Jane & Elizabeth Ratone (Rabone), No 4 Court, 4 Horseley Heath, Tipton, 1871 England Census, Tipton, St Martin, Staffordshire, Accessed 23 Aug 2017.

[3] Rollo Arnold, ‘The Farthest Promised Land - English Villagers, New Zealand Immigrants of the 1870s’, Part One - English Villagers, New Zealand Immigrants, 1 Brogdens' Navvies, Wellington, Victoria University Press, 1981; Obituary, Marlborough Express, Volume XXX, Issue 100, 30 April 1894, Page 2, Obituary of Samuel Rabone.

[4] Marriage Certificate of Elizabeth Ann Rabone and Francis Robert Godfrey, married 28 November 1883, Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages New Zealand, 1883/2892; Norman Brayshaw, The Godfreys of Wairau: a short history of John and Henry Godfrey. Blenheim, N.Z. N. Brayshaw, 1962.

[5] Birth Registration record of Thomas Godfrey, born 1884, Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand, 1884/7152; Death Registration record of Thomas Godfrey, died 1884, Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand, 1884/4570; Birth Registration record of Dorothy Lily Godfrey, born 1893, Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand, 1893/1170; Death Registration record of Dorothy Lily Godfrey, died 1884, Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand 1893/3744; Greymouth divorce file - Godfrey, Elizabeth Ann v Godfrey, Francis Robert, 29 August 1911, Greymouth Supreme/High Court Divorce Files 1909-1981, Archives New Zealand, Christchurch Regional Office, Item ID R20314919, Pages 2 and 3.

[6] Local and General News, Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIV, Issue 194, 20 Aug 1900, Page 2; Local and General News, Marlborough Express, Volume XXXV, Issue 226, 28 Sep 1901, Page 2; Coronation Celebrations, Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVI, Issue 142, 20 June 1902, Page 3.

[7] Greymouth divorce file - Godfrey, Elizabeth Ann v Godfrey, Francis Robert, 29 August 1911; Debtors' Petition, Debtor Francis Robert Godfrey, October 1896, Blenheim Bankruptcy Case Files c1876-c2003, Archives New Zealand, National Office, Wellington, Item ID R22907097.

[8] Maureen Baker, 'Family welfare - Welfare, work and families, 1918–1945', Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/family-welfare/pages 2 and 3, Accessed 10 Sep 2017.

[9] Frank, Rabone and Margaret Godfrey admitted to Thorndon School, Wellington 28 January 1903, by Elizabeth Ann Godfrey, School Admission, Progress and Withdrawal Registers indexes 1858-1912, NZSG Kiwi Collection V2, New Zealand Society of Genealogists; Ancestry, Electoral Roll Record for Elizabeth Ann Godfrey, Wellington, New Zealand 1902, New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, Accessed 20 Aug 2017; Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 31, 6 February 1906, Page 2; Local and General, New Zealand Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 4784, 14 October 1902, page 4.

[10] Local and General, New Zealand Times, 14 October 1902.

[11] Frank, Rabone and Margaret Godfrey admitted to Mt Cook Schools, Wellington 20 Jul 1903 by Francis Robert Godfrey, School Admission, Progress and Withdrawal Registers indexes 1858-1912; Ancestry, Electoral Roll Record for Elizabeth Ann Godfrey, Wairau, Marlborough, New Zealand 1905, New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, Accessed 20 Aug 2017.

[12] Frank and Rabone Godfrey admitted to Spring Grove School, Nelson, 24 Sep 1906 by Guardian Mr W Schwass, School Admission, Progress and Withdrawal Registers indexes 1858-1912, NZSG Kiwi Collection V2, New Zealand Society of Genealogists; St Andrew’s Orphanage, (refers to Mrs Schwass’ home in Brightwater), The Colonist, Volume LIII, Issue 13079, 12 April 1911, Page 2; Kerryn Pollock, 'Children’s homes and fostering - Church institutions and charitable aid', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/childrens-homes-and-fostering/page-1, Accessed 17 Sep 2017.

[13] Marriage Registration record of Margaret Phyllis Caroline Godfrey and Alfred Branch, 1907, Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand, 1907/5549; Marriage Registration Record of Olive Jane Godfrey and Reuben Carne, 1908, Registrar of Births deaths and Marriages, New Zealand, 1908/1178; Frank and Rabone Godfrey departure from Spring Grove School Nelson, Last day 17 Feb 1911, Destination Totara Flat, School Admission, Progress and Withdrawal Registers indexes 1858-1912; Ancestry, Electoral Roll Record for Elizabeth Ann Godfrey, Grey, West Coast, New Zealand 1911, New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, Accessed 17 Aug 2017; Nancy, Swarbrick, 'Country schooling - Getting an education: 1800s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/country-schooling/page-1 Accessed 17 Sep 2017.

[14] Greymouth divorce file - Godfrey, Elizabeth Ann v Godfrey, Francis Robert, 29 August 1911.

[15] Megan Cook, 'Divorce and separation - Growth in divorce: 1898–1979', Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/divorce-and-separation/page-2, Accessed 23 Aug 2017; Hayley Marina Brown, ‘Loosening the Marriage Bond: Divorce in New Zealand, c.1890s - c.1950s’, Victoria University of Wellington, 2011, Page 19.

[16] Orange Blossoms, Marriage of William Blanch to Margaret Dorothy Gladys Godfrey, Grey River Argus, 26 Nov 1912, Page 3; Military Record, GODFREY, Frank - WW1 14253 - Army 1914-1918 New Zealand Defence Force, Personnel Archives, Page 1, Archives New Zealand, National Office, Wellington, Item Number R16786790.

[17] Victoria University of Wellington Library, New Zealand Electronic Text Collection, Te Puhikotuhi o Aotearoa, The Cyclopedia of New Zealand (Auckland Provincial District) - Mercer, Page 702.

[18] Military Record, GODFREY, Frank - WW1 14253 - Army 1914-1918, page 1.

[19] Military Record, GODFREY, Francis Walter - WWI 6/1293, WWII 814644 – Army, New Zealand Defence Force, Personnel Archives, Archives New Zealand, National Office, Wellington, Item Number R24056625; Military Record, GODFREY, Samuel John WW1 32948- Army 1914-1918 New Zealand Defence Force, Personnel Archives, Archives New Zealand, National Office, Wellington, Item Number R16786810; Military Record, GODFREY, Frank - WW1 14253 - Army 1914-1918.

[20] Military Record, GODFREY, Frank - WW1 14253 - Army 1914-1918; Gareth Phipps, revised by Ian McGibbon, '1918: spring offensive and advance to victory' (The Hundred Days Offensive), URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/western-front-1918, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 21-Jun-2017, Accessed 28 Aug 2017; Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Frank Godfrey, Service Number 14253, Burial Naves Communal Cemetery Extension, URL https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/307816/godfrey,-frank/ Accessed 28 Aug 2017.

[21] Death Registration record for Rabone Clarence Godfrey, died 13 November 1919, Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand 1918/9551; In Memoriam, Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 270, 13 November 1919, Page 7; Paula Legel, Influenza Pandemic 1918, Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tāmaki Paenga Hir, first published 5 June 2015, Updated 11 June 2015, Accessed 19 Sep 2017.

[22] In Memoriam Notices, New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23163, 8 October 1938, Page1.

[23] Frankie O'Connor, conversation with Sue Young and Maureen O'Connor, digital recording, Hillsborough Heights Village, Mt Roskill Auckland, New Zealand, 18 July 2010, in author's possession.

[24] Ancestry, Electoral Roll Record for Elizabeth Ann Godfrey, Otaki, Wellington, New Zealand, 1853-1938, New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, Accessed 20 Aug 2017; Ancestry, Electoral Roll Record for Elizabeth Ann Godfrey, Otaki, Wellington, New Zealand 1946, New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, Accessed 20 Aug 2017;  Unknown Photographer, Studio Portrait of Elizabeth Godfrey with Son Sam Godfrey and grandchildren, 15 December 1922, Hokitika Museum, Westland District Council, Hokitika, New Zealand, GPNeg#5758.

[25] Frankie O'Connor, conversation with Sue Young and Maureen O'Connor, digital recording, 2010.

[26] Daisy Godfrey to Olive Reed, letter, 30 August 1982, Original held by Olive Reed.

[27] Death Certificate of Francis Robert Godfrey, died 13 May 1931, Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand, 1931/3674; Wanganui district Council Burial Record, Francis Godfrey, buried 16 May 1931, Aramaho Cemetery; Ancestry, Electoral Roll Record for Elizabeth Ann Godfrey, Widow, Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand 1919, New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981, Accessed 17 Aug 2017.

[28] Death Certificate of Elizabeth Ann Godfrey, died 12 January 1950, Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages, New Zealand 1950/18966; Auckland City Council Burial record of Elizabeth Ann Godfrey, 14 January 1950, Manukau Memorial Gardens, Pukekohe Cemetery, 82 Wellington Street, Pukekohe, Lot PKANG-F-065.