There is little material about Helen/Ellen other than the the school record above, but that changes when in 1918, she marries Alfred Leslie DABINETTE. The marriage certificate states that Ellen’s parents are John and Mary BROWN of East Taieri.
Between leaving school in 1894 and marrying in 1918, Helen/Ellen had a child in 1906 named Mary Gillespie BROWN – more on her later.
There was only 1 child out of the union between Ellen and Alfred, namely Marjorie Dorothy DABINETTE, born 1921. Ellen and Alfred lived at Inch Clutha, which is a large island in the Clutha River – it is referred to as Stirling now.
Helen and Alfred are buried next to each other in Balclutha Cemetery, Otago.
Ellen passed in 1954 and is buried at Balclutha Cemetery, alongside her husband. There are many DABINETTEs buried there with a variety spellings.
With Mary’s passing in 1936, only the younger daughter, Marjorie, is reflected in the mother’s death certificate.
Mary had the following children:
| 1906 | Mary Gillespie Brown | Died | 1936 |
| 1921 | Marjorie Dorothy Dabinette | Died | 2002 |
Children of Ellen Brown
Mary Gillespie Brown
I have found very few mentions of Mary G BROWN. Note the parent as Mary Gillespie BROWN and the address given as ‘Silverside’. Those two markers indicate John and Mary Brown – her grandparents.
It appears in 1918, that the grandmother (Mary) is dealing with Mary’s schooling, but with her passing, it would appear that the grandfather, John, took over the role, as can be seen from the following.
It is interesting to note the variable birthdates on the APWs. Mary was born either in 1907 or 1908.
In 1925, Mary married James William BENNET in Dunedin. They lived at various addresses around central Dunedin and Mary and James had 7 children before Mary’s passing. It appears that Mary’s passing coinciding with the birth of her last child, Raymond.
Mary is buried in Anderson’s Bay Cemetery, Dunedin in an unmarked grave. In the newspaper of the time, Mary is remembered by her Aunt J BROWN, living at “Silverside”. That would be Jeannie, who was living in her parent’s home at the time. That is the only proof of Mary’s connection to the Brown family, other than School APWs.
James would remarry shortly afterwards, and spend a lot of time in and out of court and jail.
Marjorie Dorothy Dabinette
Marjorie would marry Edward Patrick MOYLAN in 1946 and the couple would have 5 children together. She would end her days in Invercargill, Southland New Zealand in 2002.