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Tag Archives: Rupert Seggie ORMSBY (1886-1959)

ORMSBY, Rupert Seggie (1886-1959)

11 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Ormsby Family

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Alison SCOTT (abt. 1855-abt. 1920), Jessie Kathleen DIDCOTT (abt. 1882-1966), Richard Steel ORMSBY (1853-1922), Rupert Seggie ORMSBY (1886-1959)

[for Rupert’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 02 December 2014. All photos, and information about Jessie DIDCOTT, in this post have been provided by P. GORMLEY of New Zealand. Thank you Peter! for adding to the story of ‘Uncle Seg’ and ‘Aunt Jessie’. ]

Rupert Seggie ORMSBY was born 13 January 1886 in Otago, New Zealand to Richard Steele ORMSBY and his wife Alison SCOTT. Rupert’s early life with his family is described in the story of his father. [see post 9 November 2012]

During WWI Rupert was in the New Zealand Reserves and did not serve overseas. He continued to live in Avon with his mother and worked as shop assistant / indent clerk.  On 3 May 1917, at the Registry Office in Christchurch, Rupert married Jessie Kate DIDCOTT. On the marriage registration Jessie indicated that she was two years older then Rupert.Seg-Jess-1919

Photo right is of ‘Seg’ and Jessie. Unfortunately the photo is damaged, however it is one of the few photos of the couple from this era, about 1919.  Perhaps this is their wedding photo, they are both looking very formal, ‘Seg’ particularly in a suit more formal than a shop assistant would normally wear?

CCF19092014_00002

Jessie was born on 27 April 1882 at 2 Wrights Place Upper Easton, St. George, (near Bristol) Gloucestershire, England to Sidney (Sydney) DIDCOTT and his wife Emily.

The 1891 census shows Sidney (36, shoemaker, born in Cardiff, Wales), his wife Emily (35, box maker, born in Bristol), and their three children: Jessie (8), William (7) and Emily (4). The family lived at 4 Clayton Street, ______, Gloucestershire. The family appears to have lived in relatively stable financial situation: they could afford the above studio photograph in Bristol.

Photo above: Jessie and her mother about 1892, Bristol, England.

Jessie, her mother and siblings William and Emily, appear to have emigrated from England to New Zealand in May 1900. Father Sidney is not with them according to the ship’sJess-1898-Bristol manifest. Perhaps he traveled to New Zealand before his family and sent for them later?

Research has not yet shown where the Didcott family lived from their arrival in New Zealand in 1900 and Jessie’s marriage to Rupert in 1917.

Photo right: Jessie, before her marriage to Rupert?

After their marriage Rupert and Jessie lived with his mother Alison in Avon, near Christchurch until Alison’s death in 1920.

CCF19092014_00000

By 1928 Rupert and Jessie moved to Auckland and for the next ten years the couple lived at four addresses as Rupert worked variously as a buyer, manager and commercial traveler.

58-Opawa-Rd-1950

By 1938 they had returned to the South Island and for the next 21 years they lived at 58 Opawa Road in the Christchurch suburb of Sydenham.
A family member, Peter G. from New Zealand remembers: “My fathers father married Ruperts wife’s sister (Emily DIDCOTT, my paternal grandmother ). I well remember Uncle Seg as i called him. We visited 58 Opawa Rd (photo right) often, and found him a very kindly man.”

P220_2398_3197  Rupert died in 1959 aged 73 years. He did not leave a will.

CCF19092014_00001After Rupert’s death Jessie continued to live in their home.

One thing that is immediately noticeable after Rupert’s death is that Jessie reported her name as ‘Jessie Kate’ not the more formal ‘Jessie Kathleen’. After her husband’s death, all Jessie’s records (Electoral Rolls, her death notice, and register at the Christchurch High Court Probate) are all listed as Jessie Kate. It’s as though she was saying “This is the name my parents gave me and it’s the name I want to be known as”.

Jessie died in 1966 at age 84. Her will is registered in the Christchurch High Court, Christchurch; it has not yet been checked. The couple had no children; however  it appears that the couple enjoyed frequent visits with extended family.

Gradually the story fragments come together allowing Uncle Seg and Jessie to tell theirownstories so that they will not be forgotten.

ORMSBY, Richard Steele (1853-1922)

09 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by theirownstories in Brickrow Farm, Ayr, Scotland, Ormsby Family

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Alison SCOTT (abt. 1855-abt. 1920), Andrew ORMSBY (1848-1928), Helen STEEL (abt. 1821-1913), James Ormsby (Abt. 1807-1871), Leslie James ORMSBY (1882-1942), Richard Steel ORMSBY (1853-1922), Rupert Seggie ORMSBY (1886-1959), Sargood Son and Ewen, Scobie Brothers

[for Richard’s parents and siblings see page ‘ORMSBY’ at top of screen]

[this post last edited, new information and / or images added 18 March 2013]

Richard Steele ORMSBY was born on 19 March 1853 in St. Quivox, (probably at Brickrow Farm), Ayrshire, Scotland, to tenant farmers James ORMSBY and his wife Helen STEEL. As the 5th child and 4th son of James and Helen, Richard would be expected to find work other than at Brickrow Farm, as that tenancy would likely be handed to the eldest son Andrew [Andrew ORMSBY].

Which may have suited Richard fine as it appears he never wanted to be a farmer. By age 17 in 1871 he was a ‘banker accountant’ and lived as a boarder with a family at Waterside Place in Cumnock, Ayrshire. Not content with the life of a bank clerk in Scotland, Richard dreamt of adventure and wanted to join in the gold rush to New Zealand where gold had been discovered in the Otago region on the South Island in the 1860s.

The death of his father James on 12 October 1871 provided the means of accomplishing this plan. According to the inventory conducted at the time of his father’s death, Richard was the beneficiary of a £100 Endowment Policy with the St. Patricke Assurance Company of Ireland when he reached the age of 21 on 19 March 1874.

By 1875 Richard, 22, lived and worked in Clinton, Otago, as a shop assistant for Scobie Brothers, storekeepers. One of his first memorable experiences, in 1876 in his adopted country, occurred when he acted as witness for his employer against a man accused of stealing “one dozen Crimean shirts valued at £7 10s”. The stolen shirts were “a large check, and heavy twilled shirt, of which there were six ordered black and white pattern and six red and white Rob Roy pattern”.[1]

Sometime between 1875 and 1880 Richard, who sought advancement, moved to Milton, an important and bustling town in early Otago. The town, located on the route to the goldfields, was also home to several large factories and industries. Since Milton was a major staging post for prospectors on their way to the gold fields of Central Otago it grew rapidly during the gold rush years. As an example, the congregation of the Tokomairiro Presbyterian Church had reached 4000 by the late 1870s.

Richard’s employment in Milton is not known however he enjoyed a social life. On 25 August 1880 Richard married Alison SCOTT at the home of James SCOTT, likely Alison’s father.

Immigrants arrived every day from around the world to take part in the gold rush and Dunedin, on the Otago Harbour, served as the entrance point for this influx. To live in Dunedin, the largest city in the country, was Richard’s goal.

Richard and Alison had three children: Leslie James ORMSBY (born 1882), and twins Rupert Seggie ORMSBY and Lily ORMSBY (born 1886). Lily died at birth. At this point I don’t know whether the children were born in Milton, or after the family moved to Mornington, a suburb of Dunedin.

Electoral Roll records for New Zealand provide a picture of the family. In 1890 Richard and Alison lived in Mornington. Richard, trained as a “banker accountant” had advanced to “confidential clerk to Sargood, Son and Ewen”, a large importing and warehousing business in Dunedin. Alison is not mentioned in the Electoral Roll for that year since women did not get the vote in New Zealand until 1893.

Sargood, Son and Ewen was a large importing firm of a type common in New Zealand at the time. Due to the country’s distance from major supply centres importing merchants purchased or ‘indented’ a range of items from their agents and suppliers overseas, paid for and then sold locally with an increase in price to ensure a profit. Salesman or ‘travellers’ would visit local stores to sell the range of imported stock. The harbour city of Dunedin was the shipping and importing centre for this lucrative trade.

One of the oldest and most prominent Australasian firms of this type was Sargood, Son and Ewen was, with branches in most major cities on both sides of the Tasman Sea and a London purchasing house. The company’s Dunedin branch, established in 1862, served as the head office for New Zealand. Richard’s position as confidential clerk in this prestigious firm was one of responsibility and he was entrusted to speak on behalf of the company.

This he did in December 1890 when he gave evidence on behalf of his employer in the matter of a bankrupt customer who defaulted on payment. Tobacco, biscuits, glassware, boots, shoes, reels of cotton, saddles, straw hats, drapery stock, silks, satins and expensive dress pieces were some of the goods that had not been paid for. [2] The accused man, Bernard Ginsberg, protested that he had had the money to pay, but that it “had been stolen from him in a brothel in Dunedin” and he had been too ashamed to tell the company the reason for his non-payment.

By 1896 Richard achieved his ambition and lived in Dunedin, where he remained for the rest of his life. Between 1896 and 1906 the family moved three times in Dunedin. Was this to larger or smaller homes? While it’s not known whether Richard’s fortunes were going up or down something happened to the family.

In 1911 Richard (58), an accountant, lived by himself at a fourth address in Dunedin. Alison (56) lived in Avon, a suburb of Christchurch with her sons Leslie (29) a mechanic, and Rupert (25) a shop assistant. During the WWI period 1914 to 1918 both Leslie and Rupert enlisted in the army. Leslie may have served overseas. Rupert was in the Reserves and did not leave New Zealand.

From 1911 Alison lived in Avon, with both her sons until WWI, and then with Rupert after Leslie joined the army. She died, aged 65, in 1920 in Avon. Alison left a will registered in the Christchurch High Court, Christchurch which has not been checked at this time.

Richard remained in Dunedin where he died, aged 69, in February 1922. He was buried in Anderson’s Bay Cemetery in Dunedin on February 11, 1922. He did not leave a will and is not mentioned in the family cemetery inscription in St. Quivox, Ayrshire, Scotland, even as an ‘in memoriam’ mention. Perhaps Richard had lost touch with his Scottish family?

Newspaper sources: The National Library of New Zealand has scanned copies of archived newspapers. The newspaper accounts with reference to Richard can be found at http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast, by searching the ‘exact phrase’ option’ using the phrase ‘Richard Steele Ormsby’.

[1] Newspaper: Clutha Leader, Rorahi II, Putanga 83, 10 Huitanguru (February) 1876, Resident Magistrate’s Court, page 5

[2] Newspaper: Otago Witness, 23 Hakihea (December) 1890, Page 29, ‘Alleged Breach of the Bankruptcy Act’



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