52 Ancestors - Week 11 - Lucky - Helen (Riley) McMinn
My initial thought when seeing the prompt "Lucky" was to write about me, but from a genealogical point of view, that didn't seem quite right. As the Irish are celebrated during March, and it's close to St. Patrick's Day, the subject of the "Lucky" blog will be my great great grandmother, Helen or sometimes Ellen Riley, who married Alexander McMinn, a prominent 19th Century New Zealand journalist.
I always believed that Helen was the first European child born at Himitangi near Foxton as that is what my grandmother, Marcia, believed. In fact, Marcia was wrong. Helen was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1845 into a poor Catholic family. Those three facts were potentially a death sentence for Helen as from September that year, potato blight had mysteriously occurred initially around Dublin and before long Ireland was in famine.
However, Helen's family had an escape route. In 1841, Helen's father Francis Farrell Riley had enlisted in the 65th Regiment of Foot at Plymouth. On 20 September 1846, the family embarked on a new life from Gravesend, England on the Sir Robert Peel. They arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on 4 January 1847. Where Helen stayed at that time is unclear as the regiment fought first in the Bay of Islands and later at Wanganui. By 1849, Francis had bought his discharge from the army, reputedly because his wife, Catherine, had saved the seven pounds required by taking in washing. The Rileys settled at Turakina near Marton where Francis, a bit of a rogue, was initially a contractor though eventually ran a store and the Shamrock Hotel.
Although Helen no longer had famine to fear, there were other hazards. At this time, Maori and European settlers had taken up arms against each other because of land. Helen spent many nights hiding without lights in the bush with her mother, brothers and sisters. Meanwhile her father posted sentries around the town to protect them from marauding Maori who they believed would murder them in their beds.
By 1874, Helen was married to Alex McMinn, a Protestant from the other side of the tracks. His father had been a doctor near Belfast and Alex was well educated. She was also the mother to at least one child and Alex was registered as the father. I've always wondered if religion was the reason why they took such a long time to marry. As early as 1870, Alex had been in a court case against Helen's father involving a "bride cake". It does not appear there was a breach of contract as such, but what was really happening is anyone's guess!
From the time of her marriage, life was reasonably affluent for Helen. The biggest tragedies were the loss of her daughter Kate, who was died of scalding as a toddler and Stanley, who passed away from diphtheria two years later. By the beginning of the 20th Century, Helen was the mother of a daughter and five strapping sons, two of whom became All Blacks. At the time of Alex's death in 1919, she was living comfortably in a freehold cottage in Devonport, a ferry ride away from the centre of Auckland where she had landed as a child. She passed away there aged 79 in 1924.
Helen Riley, the Irish soldier's brat, born mere months before the potato famine, had indeed been very lucky.
I always believed that Helen was the first European child born at Himitangi near Foxton as that is what my grandmother, Marcia, believed. In fact, Marcia was wrong. Helen was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1845 into a poor Catholic family. Those three facts were potentially a death sentence for Helen as from September that year, potato blight had mysteriously occurred initially around Dublin and before long Ireland was in famine.
However, Helen's family had an escape route. In 1841, Helen's father Francis Farrell Riley had enlisted in the 65th Regiment of Foot at Plymouth. On 20 September 1846, the family embarked on a new life from Gravesend, England on the Sir Robert Peel. They arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on 4 January 1847. Where Helen stayed at that time is unclear as the regiment fought first in the Bay of Islands and later at Wanganui. By 1849, Francis had bought his discharge from the army, reputedly because his wife, Catherine, had saved the seven pounds required by taking in washing. The Rileys settled at Turakina near Marton where Francis, a bit of a rogue, was initially a contractor though eventually ran a store and the Shamrock Hotel.
Although Helen no longer had famine to fear, there were other hazards. At this time, Maori and European settlers had taken up arms against each other because of land. Helen spent many nights hiding without lights in the bush with her mother, brothers and sisters. Meanwhile her father posted sentries around the town to protect them from marauding Maori who they believed would murder them in their beds.
By 1874, Helen was married to Alex McMinn, a Protestant from the other side of the tracks. His father had been a doctor near Belfast and Alex was well educated. She was also the mother to at least one child and Alex was registered as the father. I've always wondered if religion was the reason why they took such a long time to marry. As early as 1870, Alex had been in a court case against Helen's father involving a "bride cake". It does not appear there was a breach of contract as such, but what was really happening is anyone's guess!
From the time of her marriage, life was reasonably affluent for Helen. The biggest tragedies were the loss of her daughter Kate, who was died of scalding as a toddler and Stanley, who passed away from diphtheria two years later. By the beginning of the 20th Century, Helen was the mother of a daughter and five strapping sons, two of whom became All Blacks. At the time of Alex's death in 1919, she was living comfortably in a freehold cottage in Devonport, a ferry ride away from the centre of Auckland where she had landed as a child. She passed away there aged 79 in 1924.
Helen Riley, the Irish soldier's brat, born mere months before the potato famine, had indeed been very lucky.
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