William Possenniskie was born about 1819 in Warsaw, Poland.
1,2 He and
Mary Ann Rawson were married on 1 June 1848 in St Paul's, Auckland, NZ.
2 He and
Grace were married on 23 September 1873 in Auckland, NZ.
3 He died on 2 August 1882 in Sydney, NSW, AUS.
2 Living Auckland early 1840's DM
I was looking for a William Possenniskie who I knew was in Auckland in 1847. The name is his own mash-up - as a 17-year-old, he fled from conscription in Prussian-partitioned Poland to London.
Passenger lists led nowhere. Papers Past led nowhere, because newspapers seemed to record only the names of the cabin passengers, and left "steerage" as a number.
But the book, The First Fleet of Auckland, by Darry Mc Carthy, had a W Posseniskie in a list of pre-1846 Aucklanders.
William and Mary Ann had seven children. His life collapsed when she died of tuberculosis aged 43 in 1871. If he expected his second wife to be a loving mother to his children, he was wrong. The marriage was a disaster, and he left Auckland with his children for Sydney.
Quickly afterwards, another man with the same surname was able to take over William's business goodwill in Auckland. The name Henry Poser (who arrived off the Portland in 1864) disappeared when William left Auckland... all in the story.
https://polishhistorynewzealand.org/new-zealands-earliest-polish-family/
BARB. William Possenniskie immigrated to to Auckland in 1847.
2 He was a Tailor, Princess St, Auckland between 1849 and 1851.
3 He was an Innkeeper, Masonic, Princess St, Auckland from 1853 to 1855.
3