Jessie is surely one of my favourite relatives. She was obviously a person who thought about things and didn’t accept mediocre. She was born in Dunedin, Otago in 1863 and in 1886 married Henry Crawley. This did not go well, but instead of following the Victorian norms, she sought and was granted a divorce from him in 1891. Sadly, this was fodder for the media of the time and the commentary can be imagined.
She married Robert Garrett in 1896 and the couple had 4 children together.
Please refer to an article by her grandson Malcolm Garret in 2018. Sadly Malcolm has died, but the article remains here.
The Garretts raised all their kids in the house above. Jessie died in 1950 and her husband, Robert, died in earlier in 1939. They are both buried in Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill, Southland. There are numerous family in the grave-site.
The children of Jessie and Robert are as follows.
| 1897 | Phillip William | Died | 1967 |
| 1898 | Robert Harold | Died | 1941 |
| 1901 | Stella Bernicia Janet | Died | 1988 |
| 1904 | Sylvia Esther | Died | 1987 |