Thanks to my late grandfather (DEMPSEY, James William of Upper Hutt, Wellington, NZ) I began to form a small interest in my family roots. The families I am from are:
Paternal side:
- LILLEY, Emigrated from England to New Zealand (see below)
- DOBBY, origins unknown
Maternal side:
- DEMPSEY, Emigrated from Ireland to New Zealand
- CODLING, origins unknown
LILLEY, WILLIAM
The origins of my great great grandfather are traced back to his arrival in New Zealand in 1846:
LILLEY, WILLIAM,Meadowlyn Farm, Waddington. Mr. Lilley is a native of Norfolk, England, where he was born in 1846, and was brought up to farming. He arrived in New Zealand by the ship “Lady Jocelyn,” which landed at Lyttelton in 1875. For that season he was engaged in driving a threshing machine at West Melton, and in the following year went to Waddington. Mr. Lilley bought a team of horses, and carried on contracting in the district until 1885, when he bought the Meadowlyn Farm. This property, which is situated in the southern part of Waddington, was originally part of the Homebush estate, and was taken up by Mr. Bradbury, from whom Mr. Lilley bought it. It consists of 182 acres, of good agricultural land, devoted to mixed farming. Mr. Bradbury broke up a part of it from the native tussock, and the remainder was broken up by Mr. Lilley, who also erected the homestead and outbuildings. In 1900 Mr. Lilley bought another property of 1200 acres in the Oxford district, which is carried on by his sons. Mr. Lilley has for ten years been a member of the Sheffield Road Board, and he is also a member of the Sheffield Domain Board. He held a seat on the Waddington school committee for several years, and was also a vestryman of the Sheffield Anglican church. Mr. Lilley was married in the Old Country, and has a family of four sons and two daughters.
Waddington, (Full article) a now now non-existent farming community in Canterbury has an extensive cemetery. Someone has kindly photographed some gravestones of Waddington Cemetery here.
Records from the Lady Jocelyn show the sailing that William Lilley was on was as follows
Lady Jocelyn (arrived 21/01/1875) in The Lyttelton Times, 22/01/1875, p 2 .
| Sailed: Nov. 3, 1874 | Landed: Jan. 21, 1875 | Captain: Jenkins | Passengers: 80 |
she did not sail to Lyttleton in 1875.
Gravestones from the old Methodist Cemetery, Rangiora.
Other cemetery locations in Waimakariri.
Other Lilleys of Mt. Grey Downs (Loburn/Ashley) may be related. Some Lilley’s may have died during the 1918 ‘flu pandemic. Lilley (first name unknown, of Mt. Grey, Amberley) is listed here.
If anyone has information they want to share about these families, please contact me .