(Isabella) ANN HANNA
(1862-1967)
Ann McKenzie, as the second daughter in Roderick's family, was named
for her paternal grandmother. Years afterwards when she was a young
adult, like Helen and her younger sister Margaret, she took a second
name, that of her aunt Isabella McKenzie. From then on she called
herself Isabella Ann McKenzie - causing many problems for
genealogists searching the records!
She was 11 months old when the
family left Scotland to come to New Zealand. She must have kept her
parents busy as she crawled around the deck on board ship and later
learned to walk during the-three-and-a-half month voyage. Like many
people who came from Scotland as babes in arms or as very young
children, Ann thought of herself as truly Scottish. She knew her
heritage and spoke a little Gaelic.
Ann was enrolled at Takapau
School soon after it opened in 1879 and was in Standard Four when
her parents moved back to Waipawa in 1884. It seems that she left
school at that point, maybe to help her mother or even perhaps to go
into service as Helen had done the previous year. In the 1880s and
the 1890s Waipawa School was praised by the inspector for the
excellence of its programme but even so, many children still chose
to leave before reaching Standard Five as they preferred to go to
work. This may have been the case with Ann who was then 12 years of
age.
By the 1890s she had found employment at the vicarage in
Porangahau. Her employer was Frederick Edward Telling Simcox, better
known as Parson Simcox who, had come to Saint Michael and All Angels
for three years in 1877 and stayed for 43. It was an interesting
household in which to live and work and besides that Helen and
Birley were living nearby.
In 1894 Ann returned to
live with her mother in Kaikora North. In July, Roderickena, her
first child was born. Denie, as the little girl was to be called,
was the first granddaughter to be named after Roderick. Roderickena
was a new form of the name, the usual version being Rodina.
Once Denie reached the
toddler stage Ann's mother often cared for her so that Ann could
return to work. Denie always remembered that she had had many Maori
children as playmates while living at Kaikora North.
While working at Farndon
Ann met Robert Hanna, a widower with three teen-age sons and a
daughter, Elsie, almost the same age as Denie. On January 18, 1899,
Ann and Robert were married at the Registrar's office in Napier.
From the very beginning Ann and Robert had a large "ready-made"
family. Robert was a railway worker and not long after their
marriage he was transferred to Windsor, in North Otago.
Robert, an
Irishman was born in Moher, a small village in County Cavan. It is
believed he came to New Zealand in the 1870s. Until well into the
1880s he worked as a labourer at Meeanee in Hawkes Bay. He had
married Elizabeth Ronalds at Napier in 1889 and she had died in
1897. Robert's father-in-law was a guard on the railways, and soon
after his marriage to Elizabeth, Robert left farming to join the
railways' work force as a platelayer. He was to stay with New
Zealand Railways until his retirement in the 1920s.
Windsor was a
small township 13 miles inland from Oamaru. It had been carefully
planned to serve the Waiareka railway which ran from Oamaru to
Ngapara with a branch line going to Tokarahi. Sections were sold by
auction in 1879 and the first sod for the railway was turned six
months later. However there were stops and starts and it was not
until 1887 that the line was finally finished. The districts served
consisted of several large estates where sheep-farming and cropping
were carried out on a large scale. At harvest time people loved to
watch for the grain train as it passed through on its way to the
granaries. In sheep circles Windsor was known as the home of the
Corriedale, it having been bred there.
When the Hannas arrived in May 1899 they found it to be a
well-serviced township. There was a store with post-office
facilities, an hotel a smithy and of course the row of little
railway houses on their quarter-acre sections just across the street
from the line. The houses themselves were identical, only the garden
bringing a touch of individuality to each property. All their lives,
no matter where they lived, Ann and Robert had a beautiful garden.
The station was at the edge of the town, a very short walk from
Railway Street. There were private homes too, and on a hill,
overlooking the valley, the school.
There was no mention of William, Robert's eldest son, being
with them at that time, but the other two, Charles and Robert were
enrolled at school at the beginning of the second term, and Elsie
and Denie, three months later when they had both turned five. Elsie
already had a second Christian name so now it seemed right for Denie
to be given one too. She was enrolled as Roderickena Margaret Hanna.
From a social
perspective the school was the focal point for the community. Until
1904 when a public hall was built all church services, concerts and
dances were held there. The school-room had tiered seating with long
desk tops. While some infant children might have their feet on the
floor in the front row of the class those in the standards sat in
rows above and behind them much as spectators do in the grandstand
at rugby matches. When the room was required for dancing the tiered
seating would be moved outside until the function was over.
Windsor was a pleasant community
with its store providing another meeting place apart from the school
and the railway station. The two daily steam trains were always a
point of interest. As a platelayer it was Robert's job to repair the
rails and keep the lines straight. Later, while he was still at
Windsor, he was promoted to the position of ganger with
responsibility for a group of surfacemen. They were the ones who
worked with spades and shovels installing the tracks, making tunnels
and keeping everything safe.
The Hannas remained in Windsor for
six years. They may even have had thoughts of permanent residency as
Robert was once an applicant for a farm section. Their first child
Catherine Pearl, was born in Oamaru in 1900 and George, Evelyn Ann,
and Bertha Helen followed over the next two and a half years. The
Scottish naming system was not followed but Ann did remember
brothers and sisters and an aunt when naming the children. Although
Catherine was a McKenzie name it was also the name of Robert's
mother.
One of the fringe
benefits which meant a great deal to the families of railway workers
was the railway pass which entitled the employee and his wife to an
annual trip. In Ann's case it enabled her to make a journey to the
North Island to visit her mother and other relatives. Leaving the
young children in the care of the older ones she set off alone on
her once-a-year holiday. In the 1980s those visits were still
remembered by nieces and nephews who were living in Hawkes Bay and
Apiti at that time.
Charles and Robert
left school and went to work locally and then in May 1905 their
father was transferred to Clinton, in South Otago. It is likely that
they remained in Windsor and from that time on led independent
lives.
Clinton was a thriving township 74 miles south of Dunedin on the
Dunedin to Invercargill line. It was often referred to rather
loosely, as Popotunoa, its old name. With its amenities, its rolling
hills and fine farmland it was a pleasant place in which to live.
The station was known far and wide for its tearooms; the waitresses
wore smart uniforms and the place had an air of refinement not
usually associated with railway tearooms. Home for the Hannas was
another railway house much the same as their previous one.
Elsie and Denie
enrolled at the school and once more there was a change of name for
Denie. This time she was registered as Rodina which was then
shortened to Dina. Catherine, known as Kate, was already of school
age but she was not enrolled until later. After a year at Clinton
Elsie returned to Windsor, perhaps to stay with her brother Robert
who was then 21. Denie, like her cousin Fanny, passed the
Proficiency Examination at the age of 12 but there is no record of
her having sat the scholarship examination and in any case it was a
considerable distance to the nearest secondary school.
After a year at
Clinton the Hannas had another daughter and this time it was
Robert's turn to name the baby. The choice reflected his interest in
politics and his great admiration for Richard John Seddon. This
child was registered as Phyllis Jane Seddon Hanna. When she was a
year old Robert was transferred for the last time. The family moved
to Waikouaiti on the coast north of Dunedin.
Their childhood years
were pleasant ones spent in a happy home where all were well
provided for. It was often easy to lease a small patch of land on
which to keep a few cows. Robert milked a couple. Such animals were
like household pets and seldom needed to be tethered. All that the
milker needed was a bucket and a stool. Ann kept ducks and hens and
with fruit and vegetables from the garden they fared well. She was a
wonderful cook and her raspberry jam in particular was long
remembered for its unique flavour.
The youngest of
the children, William, was born in 1908 by which time Elsie and
Denie had left home and were at work, Elsie at the local doctor's
home and Denie further afield but still coming home for holidays. As
George, Kate, Eva, and Bertha passed through primary school they too
went to work. Bertha would dearly have loved to take a design course
at the Technical College in Dunedin but her father did not want her
to travel alone each day by train and so she had to give away that
dream. The year 1915 brought great sadness when Elsie suddenly died
on the eve of her marriage. She was struck with appendicitis and
taken by train to hospital in Dunedin. In order to save her from the
jolting of the carriage during the journey her father made a hammock
which he slung from hooks in the ceiling of the guard's van. He
travelled with her and a few days later made a lonely trip back home
with her body. She was buried in the Palmerston Cemetery.
After leaving
Waikouaiti School Phyllis enrolled at Palmerston District High
School. Until her father retired and the family moved to Palmerston
she travelled to school by train with other pupils each day. After
matriculating she hoped to study at Dunedin Teachers College but due
to the depression no more students were being taken in at that time.
William spent two and a half years at high school and then worked on
the bread delivery cart before going to the limekilns at Dunback
where he remained until enlisting for overseas service in World War
II.
After retiring Ann and Robert lived in their own home in
Palmerston, a cottage on a few acres of land in Boundary Road, later
renamed District Road. They planted a garden and Ann kept hens and
ducks as before. As the adult children married they moved away but
in most cases no further than Otago or Canterbury. Thus as the years
went by there were always grandchildren visiting or staying for
holidays. It was fun to come to this little farm, to fish for eels
in the creek below the house while Granddad sat in the cane chair on
the veranda watching, and smoking his pipe. When the grandchildren
were tucked in bed Ann would sit beside them reading stories. This
she continued to do until her eyesight failed in later life.
Ann had rigid standards
about many things. On washday the copper outside was lit, a little
borax was added to the water and the clothes were boiled and boiled.
Some had to be scrubbed on a wooden washboard before they were
considered clean. In the evenings Ann and Robert would sit in their
chairs on either side of the coal range and sing and sing. They had
beautiful voices. Ann would sing in the Gaelic, sometimes a lullaby.
She would sew and embroider and of course, knit. She made red
flannel petticoats and slippers for all the granddaughters; her
needlework was done in white cotton on fine linen. Her shawls were
light and delicate -the envy of many but she herself was never quite
satisfied because they were not fine enough to pass through her
wedding ring, a test her mother's shawls had always passed.
When World War II
was declared both sons enlisted. George had married and was living
in Hampden at the time. Like many other wives and families Mary and
their daughter Catherine were left to carry on until his return.
William became a prisoner of war in Italy and there were many long
and anxious days waiting for the war to be over. Before that day
finally came Robert died and was buried in Palmerston on 27 February
1944.
Ann continued
living in their home, sometimes having a granddaughter or a
great-granddaughter with her, but with failing eyesight the time
came when she had to move to Dunedin. She lived with Kate until her
death in 1967. Her grave is in the Anderson Bay Cemetery on a hill
high above the sea. Kate is beside her and nearby are the graves of
Denie and Arthur Freeman, and in the Returned Servicemen's section,
Kate's husband, Thomas Tippett and a son Robert. A century after her
marriage Ann McKenzie's descendants numbered in excess of two
hundred.
Ann and Robert's
story is that of two people who had a great love for children and
family life, and whose pleasures were in the simple things around
them. Ann's Scottish heritage was evident throughout and her feeling
for the extended family very real. In a strange way her bedroom
became a kind of shrine to their memories. The walls were lined with
McKenzie photographs, the door was kept closed and only on rare
occasions did a snatched glimpse reveal an inkling of what was
there. On the day of her departure from Palmerston all tangible
reminders were buried in the garden by Ann herself. Seemingly a
chapter was closed.
Ann
(1872-1967)
married Robert Hanna
(c1855-
27 Feb
1944
Catherine Pearl (24 Feb 1900 - 1985)
George (14 May 1904 - 11 May 1974)
Evelyn Ann (9 Nov 19xx- )
Bertha Helen (16 Aug 19xx -)
Phyllis Jane Seddon (11 May 1906 - )
William Henry (29 May 1908 -)
Robert Hanna married Elizabeth Ronalds ( - c.1888) in 1889
William
Charles
Robert
Elsie