George, known as “Victor” was born on the 13 June 1873 at Stafford, West Coast, New Zealand. Victor is my great great grandfather and the first of his family to be born in New Zealand. I can only imagine how it felt to grow up at the end of a gold rush in a very remote place with sandflies during the day and mosquitos at night. That would have been hard for all the kids.
Victor was a bright person and sat Scholarship exams in 1887, but missed out. The message is clear though, he had a sharp mind.
Victor was not raised a farmer, but he married the youngest daughter of one. They were married in Gebbies Valley 19 Apr 1906, but were not living there at that time. At some point before 1912, George and his bride Eliza Ann Wheeler established themselves at Camerons/Kumara, which is where the road to Arthur’s Pass meets the State Highway 6 on the West Coast. I am not sure if he was farming or labouring as there are numerous articles describing his job as Surfaceman on the railway line between Greymouth and Hokitika.
Charles was the the last child and he was born in 1918 at Camerons. At some point after that, the family moved to Church Farm at Gebbies Valley, Canterbury. Eliza’s mum was ageing so potentially they moved to Gebbies Valley to look after her, before her passing in 1922.
An alternative oral history talks to no one wanting to take on the farm at Gebbies Valley when Matthew and Ellen had either passed or were getting old. Perhaps Victor and Eliza felt they had to take it on? There are artefacts around the oral history that cover a poem Victor wrote, where he was obviously unhappy about leaving the coast to become a farmer.
| Child | Born | Married | Children | Died | Notes |
| Ellen Catherine | 28 Jul 1907 | 6 May 1930 | 3 | 8 Jan 1967 | Radford |
| George Matthew Victor | 27 Feb 1909 | – | – | 21 Nov 1930 | – |
| Harold Edwin | 12 Aug 1911 | 14 Oct 1938 | 2 | 12 Jul 1995 | Hamilton |
| Charles Arthur | 11 Jul 1918 | 02 Jun 1945 | 4 | 04 Apr 2003 | McQuade |