Smyth/Archer
Family Graves
The Smyth Family c. 1926
3. John Smyth - Kath's
grandfather - came from Dublin to Omahina, Waverley, as a farm
worker about 1911.
8. Mary Ann Smyth (née White) Kath's grandmother - joined him in 1913 with her brother John White, 6-year-old May, 4-year-old Kitty, and her husband's sister Ellen Smyth.
10. Maureen (May) Smyth - Kath's aunt - born Dublin 1907 - Sacred Heart College, St John's Hill - then family governess up Whanganui River. Later head cook at Jubilee Old People's Hospital, Upper Aramoho.
9. Kathleen (Kitty) Smyth - Kath's aunt - born Dublin 1909 - Sacred Heart College, St John's Hill - Registered Nurse, Palmerston Nth, Napier earthquake, Belverdale Hospital.
5. Ellen Smyth (Aunty Nell) - Kath's grandfather's sister.
1. John White (Uncle Major) - Kath's grandmother's brother - bank clerk in Dublin - he was the gentleman escort for 5, 8, 9,10 when they sailed from Dublin on the steamship Ruahine in 1913.
2. Eileen Smyth born 1914, Kath's aunt, was the family's car driver, housekeeper, cook, vege gardener and dairy farmlet manager (hand-milking 3 cows and selling the cream). She also push-mowed all the lawns.
4. Breda (Molly) Smyth - mother of John, Kath and David, born 1916 - married Dave Archer.
7. John (Johnny) Smyth - Molly's twin brother - born in 1916 - spent 6 years in the front lines of North Africa and Italy fighting Germans (and in hospital - wounded 3 times) - then married Mary Crawshaw (Aunty Mary)
5. Sheila Smyth (Aunty Sheila) - born 1917, worked in JJ McCaskie's, sewing oilskin raincoats, then married Ray Bourke (Uncle Ray), a dairy farmer at Rangiwahia.
8. Mary Ann Smyth (née White) Kath's grandmother - joined him in 1913 with her brother John White, 6-year-old May, 4-year-old Kitty, and her husband's sister Ellen Smyth.
10. Maureen (May) Smyth - Kath's aunt - born Dublin 1907 - Sacred Heart College, St John's Hill - then family governess up Whanganui River. Later head cook at Jubilee Old People's Hospital, Upper Aramoho.
9. Kathleen (Kitty) Smyth - Kath's aunt - born Dublin 1909 - Sacred Heart College, St John's Hill - Registered Nurse, Palmerston Nth, Napier earthquake, Belverdale Hospital.
5. Ellen Smyth (Aunty Nell) - Kath's grandfather's sister.
1. John White (Uncle Major) - Kath's grandmother's brother - bank clerk in Dublin - he was the gentleman escort for 5, 8, 9,10 when they sailed from Dublin on the steamship Ruahine in 1913.
2. Eileen Smyth born 1914, Kath's aunt, was the family's car driver, housekeeper, cook, vege gardener and dairy farmlet manager (hand-milking 3 cows and selling the cream). She also push-mowed all the lawns.
4. Breda (Molly) Smyth - mother of John, Kath and David, born 1916 - married Dave Archer.
7. John (Johnny) Smyth - Molly's twin brother - born in 1916 - spent 6 years in the front lines of North Africa and Italy fighting Germans (and in hospital - wounded 3 times) - then married Mary Crawshaw (Aunty Mary)
5. Sheila Smyth (Aunty Sheila) - born 1917, worked in JJ McCaskie's, sewing oilskin raincoats, then married Ray Bourke (Uncle Ray), a dairy farmer at Rangiwahia.
Aramoho Cemetery, Whanganui
Breda Theresa 'Molly' Archer
Née SmythBorn 25 July 1916
Died 5 Dec 1989, aged 73
and
David Hugh 'Dave' Archer
Plot is 3 rows west of the fountain.Born 10 Nov 1918
Died 12 Nov 1989, aged 71
W.O.II. D.H.Archer, 48975, 32nd LAD, NZ Ordnance Corps, 2nd NZEF, in Fiji.
Eileen Smyth, "Aunty Eileen"
Born 23 Nov 1914Died 29 Jul 2002, aged 87
and
Ellen Smyth, "Aunty Nell"
Eileen's father's sister
Born 1884 near Dublin, in IrelandDied, 1 May 1953, aged 69
Kathleen Smyth, "Aunty Kitty"
Born 1 Jan 1909Died 20 Aug 1980, aged 71
and
Maureen Smyth, "Aunty May"
Born in Dublin, 7 May 1907Died. 27 Apr 1991, aged 83
Aramoho Cemetery
Plot 213; Aramoho, Roman Catholic Lawn C, 4
May's life story Aunty May song
Fay Dorothy Stimpson my
cousin
Aunty May's daughterBorn 14 Jan 1936 at Palmerston North
Adopted by Annie and Cyril Crisp
Died 19 July 2021, aged 85, at Summerset, Whanganui East
Fay's birth-mother and foster-mother lie side-by-side in the cemetery.
Annie Agnes Crisp
Fay's foster-mother
Born c. 1896
Died in the nearby Jubilee Home, 27 Aug 1979, aged 83.
May was the head cook at Jubilee until 1967.
John Joseph White, "Uncle Major"
The older brother of my grandmother, Mary Ann Smyth.
Uncle Major, aged 80
Born Ireland 1868
Died. 12 Dec 1959, aged 92
Plot 107; Aramoho, Public Lawn B, 2
Herbert John 'Bert' Archer, "Grandad"
Born 1880 at Lower HuttDied at Mangamahu in 1967, aged 87
Ashes in the Aramoho cemetery Rose Garden, plot D14
My grandfather was born and bought up in Lower Hutt, became a surveyor marking out farms in the Whangamomona district, (and carrying a revolver for protection! We had a play with it when we were kids, until the police came and took it away.)
He married and started farming at Wangamomona, then in 1913 he bought the “Family” hotel at Mangamahu, had an affair with a housemaid, divorced, got rid of the housemaid and married my grandmother and had a son and daughter.
He used the hotel as collateral to buy the Mangamahu store, was called up to fight in France in 1918, but never sailed, bought a solid tired truck in 1919 to deliver stores to farmers and started carrying wool to Whanganui in return. That grew into a fleet of 2 lorries and a small delivery truck, and his son, my dad, took over the running of the trucks when dad returned from WW2 in 1946.
Grandad, now aged 66, retired to a small scrub-covered farm 5 km up the Mangamahu Creek Road and cut scrub, looked after sheep and grew vegetables there for the next 15 years. When he was 81 he came to live with dad and mum at Mangamahu.
Margaret Jessie 'Maggie' Archer, "Granma"
Née ElmsBorn c. 1880 at Paeroa, South Canterbury
Died 26 Jun 1946, aged 66
Ashes taken by the funeral director
Late residence Mangamahu
Occupation, hotel proprietess
Minister Rev. Brash
Place of death, Braemar Private Hospital, Wanganui, of cancer.
Waverley
Cemetery
John Smyth
Father of May, Kitty, Eileen and John Smyth, Molly Archer and Sheila Bourke.Born Ireland in about 1875
Died 1936
Mary Ann Smyth "Nannie"
Née Whitethe mother of May, Kitty, Eileen and Johnny Smyth,
Molly Archer and Sheila Bourke.
Born Ireland in about 1875
Died 1947?
Their gravestones need cleaning, repainting and photographing
John, May, Kitty and Mary-Ann Smyth, Dublin 1911
Clifton Cemetery, Bulls
John Smyth, "Uncle John"
WWII
44515
Molly's twin brotherBorn 25 July 1916
Died 28 August 1977, aged 61
Is there still no bronze memorial plate on this grave honoring his service in WW2? He was away for 6 years, always in the front lines of the 8th Army's 2nd NZEF infantry as they advanced across North Africa and up Italy, and also patrolling at night in front of the front lines. He was wounded 3 times and in hospital for 18 months, including 6 months after the war for shell shock. Can someone please post his photo on this online cenotaph website HERE ?
and
Cathleen Mary Smyth, "Aunty Mary"
Née CrawshawBorn 29 April 1927
Died 17 Dec 2013, aged 86
Johnny
& Mary's wedding 1947
this photo needs updating
Could someone please mark where his grave is,
and send me the modified photo?
Block D, Row E, Plot number 135
Feilding
Cemetery
Sheila Marie Bourke, "Aunty Sheila"
Née SmythBorn 22 Dec 1917
Died 2 Aug 2007, aged 87
Raymond Basil Bourke, "Uncle Ray"
Born 16 Dec 1917Died 17 Feb 1994, aged 76
Web
page put together by John
Archer, July 2023