Susan Morris arrived in Auckland on 31 August 1859, having been born at sea during the voyage from Plymouth, England, on board the barque The British Queen.
On 8 July 1880 she married William Upris Collett, who was born in Auckland in 1854. She lived with William until her death on 4 April, 1939.
According to the recollections of William Collett, published in the Auckland Star in 1944, the Morris family’s life in New Zealand began tragically. After arriving Susan’s father Enoch Morris left herself and mother Jane in Auckland and set off with four other men in a small boat for New Plymouth, where he had heard, opportunities were better. The boat was caught on the bar at Onehunga, and the men were not heard of again.
In 1893 Susan and William were living in Brown Street, Ponsonby. In 1921 her entry in the Old Colonist’s Association Register records her address as having been 35 Brown Street. Prior to Brown Street birth notices suggest the family had also lived nearby in Napier Street and Douglas Street.
Susan would have been 34 when she signed the petition, with four children (Susan, William Humphreys, Florrie, and Henry) aged between 12 and 3 years old.
In 1912 William and Susan moved to Clevedon, where Susan took an active part in social activities in the area. On the occasion of their Golden Wedding in 1930 she was presented with gifts from the Sewing Guild, Clevedon Croquet Club, and the Mothers’ Club of the Y.W.C.A.
Biography contributed by Renée Orr
Sources
- AUCKLAND STAR, VOLUME LXI, ISSUE 169, 19 JULY 1930: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19300719.2.157.13.1
- GOLDEN WEDDINGS., New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20617, 16 July 1930: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19300716.2.2.4
- DEATHS, New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23314, 5 April 1939: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19390405.2.2.3
- EARLY MEMORIES, Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 245, 16 October 1944: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19441016.2.22
- 1893 Electoral Roll.
- Old Colonists Association. Register. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 493.
- Births, Deaths and Marriages Online: https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz
- GOLDEN WEDDING., Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 169, 19 July 1930: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19300719.2.157.7
Image
Mr and Mrs Collett, c. 1930 (AUCKLAND STAR, VOLUME LXI, ISSUE 169, 19 JULY 1930)
Click on sheet number to see the 1893 petition sheet this signature appeared on. Digital copies of the sheets supplied by Archives New Zealand.
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