Thomas Brandon Wooster b. 6 May 1841 Rotherhithe, Surrey d. 26 Mar 1910 Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

1841 - 1910 (68 years)

Name	Thomas Brandon Wooster
Birth	6 May 1841	Rotherhithe, Surrey [1, 2]
Gender	Male
Emigration	26 Dec 1856	London [3]
	Vessel Name: Lady Hodgkinson Port of Departure: London Port of Arrival: Sydney, New South Wales
Immigration	30 Mar 1857	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia [4]
	Vessel Name: Lady Hodgkinson Port of Departure: London Port of Arrival: Sydney, New South Wales Voyage Arrival Date: 30 Mar 1857 Origin Location: Southwark
Immigration	3 Sep 1863	Auckland, New Zealand [5]
	Ship: Kate Sailed From: Sydney
Death	26 Mar 1910	Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand [6]
Burial	Waipawa Cemetery, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand [7]
	Area Hadley - Block L - Plot 17 [7]
Person ID	I01253	Great Wooster Tree
Last Modified	30 Nov 2022

Father	Henry Featherstonehaugh Wooster, b. 28 Sep 1807, Bermondsey, Surrey d. 1872, Camberwell, Surrey (Age 64 years)
Mother	Henrietta Rose Brandon, b. 02 Aug 1813, Paradise Row, Rotherhithe, Surrey d. 05 Aug 1899, Peckham, Surrey (Age 86 years)
Marriage	18 Feb 1837	St James, Bermondsey, Surrey [8]
Family ID	F00436	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Mary Beatrice Ridley, b. 27 May 1855, Wrotham, Kent d. 20 Aug 1935, Hastings, New Zealand (Age 80 years)

Marriage 13 Oct 1875 Napier, New Zealand [9]

Children

+	1. Henrietta Turley Wooster, b. 09 Apr 1876, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 1967 (Age 90 years)
	2. Thomas Henry Brandon Wooster, b. 03 Apr 1878, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 25 Jan 1886, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (Age 7 years)
+	3. Mary Elizabeth Wooster, b. 14 Feb 1880, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 06 Nov 1935, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (Age 55 years)
+	4. Alice Wooster, b. 26 Jun 1882, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 07 Aug 1955, Hastings, New Zealand (Age 73 years)
+	5. Charles Walter Wooster, b. 06 Jul 1884, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 13 Jul 1949, Napier, New Zealand (Age 65 years)
	6. Samuel James Wooster, b. 01 Sep 1886, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 09 Sep 1915 (Age 29 years)
+	7. Alfred John Wooster, b. 21 Dec 1888, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 11 Jun 1966, Haumoana, New Zealand (Age 77 years)
	8. Stanley Henry Wooster, b. 23 Dec 1890, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 19 Mar 1964, Auckland, New Zealand (Age 73 years)
	9. Thomas Wooster, b. 23 Apr 1892, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 15 Sep 1916, WW1 The Somme, France (Age 24 years)
	10. George Wooster, b. 16 Jul 1894, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 16 Jul 1894, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (Age 0 years)
	11. William Edward Wooster, b. 4 Oct 1895, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 23 Jun 1950, Christchurch, New Zealand (Age 54 years)
+	12. Margaret Charlotte Wooster, b. 31 Dec 1898, Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand d. 05 Jul 1967 (Age 68 years)

Family ID F00457 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 7 May 2018

Event Map

	Birth - 6 May 1841 - Rotherhithe, Surrey
	Emigration - Vessel Name: Lady Hodgkinson Port of Departure: London Port of Arrival: Sydney, New South Wales - 26 Dec 1856 - London
	Immigration - Vessel Name: Lady Hodgkinson Port of Departure: London Port of Arrival: Sydney, New South Wales Voyage Arrival Date: 30 Mar 1857 Origin Location: Southwark - 30 Mar 1857 - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
	Immigration - Ship: Kate Sailed From: Sydney - 3 Sep 1863 - Auckland, New Zealand
	Marriage - 13 Oct 1875 - Napier, New Zealand
	Death - 26 Mar 1910 - Waipawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
	Burial - - Waipawa Cemetery, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

= Link to Google Earth

Pin Legend : Address : Location : City/Town : County/Shire : State/Province : Country : Not Set

Photos » Slide Show
		Woosters of Waipawa The family of Thomas Brandon Wooster and Mary Beatrice Ridley, taken in 1910 at their original house "The Bush". The family are wearing black armbands and is thought to have been taken after Thomas's death.
		Thomas Brandon Wooster Thomas Brandon Wooster with two of his daughters

Documents		Thomas Brandon Wooster & Mary Beatrice Ridley - Marriage Certificate (1875)
Documents		Letter to Charles from Thomas Brandon Wooster A letter from Thomas Brandon Wooster to his brother Charles informing him of their mother's death.

Headstones

Gravestone

Histories » Slide Show		Military
		Thomas Brandon Wooster - Witness (1869) Thomas Brandon Wooster appears in court as a witness in Christchurch.
		Thomas Brandon Wooster Acquitted Thomas Brandon Wooster was acquitted from a larceny charge and the prosecutor severely reprimanded by the magistrate.
		Thomas Brandon Wooster Sues Thomas Brandon Wooster sues for wrongful imprisonment in the above larceny case
		Thomas Brandon Wooster and His Stolen Dog Thomas places an advert in the local papers for his dog "Tweet" to be returned
		Thomas Brandon Wooster and 4000 Sheep
		Thomas Brandon Wooster's House on Fire Newspaper report of a house fire at Thomas Brandon Wooster's property in 1886.
		Thomas Brandon Wooster - Firefighter (1889) Thomas Brandon Wooster assists in fighting a fire at a hotel in Cambridge, New Zealand
		The True Story of Mary Beatrice Wooster (nee Ridley) Mary Ridley from Kent, England aged 18 in 1873 travelled to Napier, New Zealand by ship with her older married sister Charlotte Pollington, husband John and their five children to help with the family on the long voyage. The ship “Invererne” sailed on 21st Nov 1873 from Gravesend and arrived at Napier on 8th March 1874. Passengers – 240 immigrants – 107 days travel; 16 children died from scarletina – in charge Captain Foreman. Mary’s relations: John Pollington 30yrs, Kent, Charlotte Pollington 28yrs, Kent. Children – John 8yrs, Maria 6yrs, Alice 4yrs, Albert 2yrs (died on board) and Martha 1yr. Mary herself, 19yrs, Kent, cook. Mary actually turned 19 later in May. From Napier they all travelled to Waipawa where Mary worked as a cook for the Rev and Mrs Tanner for 18 months to work off her passage, during which time Mrs Tanner taught her many cooking skills. It was during this time that she met Thomas Brandon Wooster who often called in on the Tanners for refreshments during his work time. Thomas was a drover and also a dealer. Mary was very elegant and beautiful with long black hair and bright eyes, was very taken with this handsome gentleman and they were married at Napier on 13th November 1875. After the service they travelled back to Waipawa to Thomas’s home farm, known as “The Bush”. Their marriage certificate was rather strange, only stating Bride – Mary Ridley aged 21yrs, Thomas Wooster 32yrs. No birth dates, no relations, places of birth or family names of parents! Suddenly, after her marriage, Mary added Beatrice as her middle name and severed all connections to her English parents and families for her lifetime. Her granddaughter Evelyn often asked her mother Alice about her mother Mary’s relations and Alice always replied “it seemed my mother had a secret past and refused to discuss it with anyone!” When Thomas died on 26th March 1910 Mary went to housekeep at Clive for Michael Clabby who lived next door to her daughter Margaret Holleron. This man was a lonely bachelor who had nobody to leave his home to and after much persuasion from Mag, who thought Mary would be financially secure, Nary married Michael in 1921. In his youth he had been a champion boxer but lived only 1 year after the marriage. Mary often stayed with her daughters but when she became ill she sent her last two weeks with Alice at 901 Eaton Road and died there on 20th August 1935. Evelyn said that her father and Mary got on so well and they would laugh and joke together, he with a beer and her with a stout. The Mary Ann Ridley Revelation Finally after many years of research and letters to and from England, Mary’s great granddaughter, in August 2007, exactly 72 years to the month, by researching just Mary Ridley came up with her whole family. There were in total eight children of her parents William and Charlotte Ridley (nee Norris), Mary being the sixth child, born 27th May 1855 in Wrotham, Kent, England. It turned out that Mary married Thomas Brandon Wooster when she was 20yrs 5mths, and because she was under 21 and needed her parents’ permission to marry she just put 21 as her age. In those days you could risk jail for wrong data on records and fearing her marriage wouldn’t be valid if found out, she didn’t mention her second name Ann but slipped in Beatrice on the records after that to prevent being traced. This worked well until 72 years later when all was revealed! Mary’s granddaughter Evelyn, aged 94 and the only survivor of that generation, was amazed and excited by these revelations with all the records to back it up. She said it answered many of the questions she had wondered about over the years. Mary’s Life in New Zealand We can’t help but admire this young woman who left her home in Kent, made this long voyage to a new country, coping with her nephew Albert’s death at sea and working hard to pay off her passage. Her steadfast marriage to Thomas was a busy time, raising twelve children, losing Samuel so young and Thomas in action in France. They also made a home for young Tom Slatford, whose mother and four children were murdered by their step-father Roland Herbert Edwards, the first white man to be hanged in Napier jail. Thomas and Mary’s family motto was “Nil Arduum” – nothing is too hard. Both had a driving force and determination to overcome obstacles and their qualities were passed down to their children enabling them to cope with the hard times of the war and depression. Mary must have lived in constant fear that if her true birth date was revealed, her marriage would be null and void!

Notes

IGI
----
Thomas WOOSTER
Sex: M

Event(s):
Christening: 1 Aug 1841
Christchurch, Rotherhithe, London, England

Parents:
Father: Henry Featherstonhaugh WOOSTER
Mother: Henrietta

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Source Information:

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Batch number: Dates Source Call No. Type Printout Call No. Ty
P021311 1840-1844 0254538 Film 1235395 Film
P021311 1840-1844 0254538 Film NONE
Sheet:

Sources

[S00055] LDS, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Batch Number: P021311.
Thomas WOOSTER Sex: M Event(s): Christening: 1 Aug 1841 Christchurch, Rotherhithe, London, England Parents: Father: Henry Featherstonhaugh WOOSTER Mother: Henrietta -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source Information: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Batch number: Dates Source Call No. Type Printout Call No. Type P021311 1840-1844 0254538 Film 1235395 Film P021311 1840-1844 0254538 Film NONE Sheet:
[S10942] London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1924 (Reliability: 3).
[S48] The Trove, Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), Tuesday 31 March 1857, page 4 (Reliability: 3).
[S12] New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922 (Reliability: 3).
[S14471] Papers Past, NEW ZEALANDER, VOLUME XIX, ISSUE 1964, 4 SEPTEMBER 1863, PAGE 2 (Reliability: 3).
[S10678] Gravestone Inscription (Reliability: 2).
[S10867] findagrave.com (Reliability: 3).
[S00055] LDS, International Genealogical Index (IGI), Batch Number: M006031.
Henry Featherstonehaugh WOOSTER Sex: M Marriage(s): Spouse: Henrietta BRANDON Marriage: 18 Feb 1837 Saint James, Bermondsey, Surrey, England -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source Information: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Batch number: Dates Source Call No. Type Printout Call No. Type M006031 -1830 0254555 Film 6906260 Film M006031 1831-1835 0254556 Film NONE M006031 1836-1839 0254557 Film NONE M006031 1840-1841 0254558 Film NONE Sheet:
[S1116] Marriage Certificate (Reliability: 3).