Samuel Hewlings was born in 1819 in Wallingford, ENG.
1,2 He and
Nga (Elizabeth) Hei were married in 1861 in Geraldine, NZ.
2 He died on 23 February 1896, at age ~77, in Geraldine, NZ.
2 NZGS memlist 14 jul 2019
"My 5 x great uncle, Samuel HEWLINGS married Nga Hei in 1861. This was before parents were stated on marriage records, so their parents are not named. I've finally worked out Samuel's parents, and know plenty about his life, but I'm still curious about Nga Hei. Is there any way to work out who her parents were? Or which iwi and/or hapu she belonged to?
They had several children, but no grandchildren, so there are few family stories that have been passed down.
There is a story that Samuel was rescued by a Maori princess, which sounds slightly over the top! There is no location mentioned, but Samuel was definitely in Russell and Auckland and Canterbury at various times in the 1840s. Their first child was born around 1850, by which time Samuel was probably in Christchurch.
The couple spent some years in Geraldine and at some point, probably after the death of one of her daughters, the story is that Nga Hei left Samuel, taking their youngest daughter, and went back to her family in the Bay of Islands.
Nga Hei was also known as Elizabeth or Eliza (noted on burial records for some of her daughters). I believe this is a death notice for her:
NEW ZEALAND HERALD, VOLUME XVIII, ISSUE 6160, 15 AUGUST 1881 (Papers Past)
Hewlings - On July 29, at Russell, Bay of Islands, Jane Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Hewlings, of Christchurch, Canterbury, N.Z., aged 56.
From what I can work out, whakapapa seems to be a taonga, treasured knowledge. I'm not sure if it is appropriate for me to even look and as I have no Maori ancestry myself, I'm not sure where to start."
Abbey WILSON
went to Geraldine 1854 GNE. Samuel Hewlings was a surveyor in 1840.
2 He immigrated to ENG to Wellington arriving dec 1841 on the Antilla in April 1841 left ENG on the Prince rupert which was wrecked Cape Town. arrived Wellington dec 1841 on the Antilla GNE.
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