William Henry Welham
William Henry & Ellen Margaret

William Henry Welham - ( b. 22/2/1886 Waipori, Otago d. 21/04/1958 Wellington), was a grandson of Nathan Welham and eldest son of Henry Samuel.

He married Ellen Margaret Egan (b. 31/10/1881 Longridge- d. 28/4/ 1953 Dunedin) on 23/06/1908. 

Ellen's parents were: James Egan -born 1851 in Tipperary, Ireland and

Mary Egan (nee Kenny) born 1856 in Tipperary Ireland.

 

William Henry (right) with his brother Alf
Ellen Margaret & sister Mary
Ellen Margaret (right) with sister Mary.
William Henry Welham

They had 5 children:

Ellen - b. 26/07/1908 -  d. 4/12/1991.

She married  Andrew  McCammon (b. 14/01/1902) on

 

William Henry - b. 20/09/1909 Mataura  – d. 2/09/1991.

He married Agnes Jane (Gladys) (b. 14/06/1910 - d. 8/04/1986)) on 14/03/1941

James - b.12/04/1912 -  d. 28/08/1986.

He married Elizabeth Brown (b. 18/08/1921- d 1994) on 21/06/1942.

Cecil – b.2/12/1913 - d. 16/04/1973
He married Maisie M.B. Fisher (b 13/01/1917 – d.  ) on 21/01/1944.



Daniel b.24/4/1915 - d. 19/08/1995

He married Christina Ness (b.22/12/1924 – d.     ) on 02/11/1946.

 

 

William & Ellen's children. Photo taken at Waikouiti, South Island about 1916. From left: Danny in pram, Bill, James, Cecil & Nell.
Letter from Samuel Welham to James Welham 1972.
Excerpts from letter written to James Welham ( son of William Henry) from Samuel Welham (youngest brother of William Henry). 12th June, 1972.

......... I remember going to your place up the Waimumu Rd - (it would have been sometime around 1912) At the time your father was rabbiting and may have also been selling mutton from the Mataura Freezing Works around Mataura. I remember it was about that time he had a van which opened to the back - two doors. He seemed to have a variety of jobs when I was young. About the time my Dad (Henry Samuel) died, he and his brother Nathan had a bakery business in Mataura.  Then you were on a dairy farm up towards .............
I have only faint memories of things at this time as I was only 5-6 years of age. I do remember faintly the "Drag" which seated about 12 - 14 passengers and was drawn by 2 or 4 horses, and a rubber tyred gig which was hired by the Doctor and no doubt others. Your Dad and Nath helped my father in the driving of these vehicles.
In those times your Dad and Nath used to go in for heavy weight lifting with Ewen Cameron and no doubt others.  I had a photo of them at one time - I'm afraid of endeavouring to explain the reason for your birth certificate showing Waimumu. 
Kaikorai Primary School
William and Ellen's children began their schooling at Kaikorai Primary School after they moved to the farm at Brockville in 1917.
Ellen, William and James began on 1/10/1917 after transferring from Fairfield Primary School. Cecil started on 3/02/1919 and Daniel on 26/04/1920 once they turned 5 years old.
Farming at Brockville, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Written by Daniel (Danny) Welham  - great grandson of Nathan Welham.

 

Farming at Brockville (Dunedin, N.Z.)

I understand that we shifted there in 1917.  Then, a small holding of 42 acres. About a dozen dairy cows and a small mill run covering several suburbs

Apparently it was a continual struggle for my mother (Ellen Welham, nee Egan b.31/10/1881 Balfour, Southland N.Z )and she and my father (William Henry Welham b. Waipori, Otago, N.Z.) separated about 1925.

Secondary education was not possible for any members of our family for financial reasons.  My mother was left with five children to support in any way possible.  Early in the depression years of the early 1930’s she took in some boarders – young ladies who worked at the Roslyn Mills.  She and Nell worked long hours with this project with limited reward.

The unemployed scheme was operating at this time and we were able to clear an area of bush and so improve the farm in a productive way.  Another source of income was the timber on the property.  Firewood was carted around the local districts and sold for about 14 sacks for one pound.  Many blue gum trees were felled and loads of mine props sold to the local mining firm in Fairfield.  Dispite long hours each day – I suppose we were fortunate that we always had good plain food and a little pocket money sometimes.

As more work became available in the late 1930’s – Cecil and I left the farm – he took on a small cartage business.

After working night shift at the Mill for about 18 months, I moved to Lower Hutt because there was a variety of work available.  Bill and Jim continued on the farm until the war years – then Bill and Gladys carried on.

After the war they wanted to leave, so my mother requested that Nell & Andy  McCammon shift back from Invercargill to run the farm.

After Mum died in 1953 and later Andy died suddenly – it was decided by the family to sell the property to enable Nell to get financial help as she had three sons at Secondary School to support. 

The property was finally sold during 1955.

Welham family farm, Brockville, Dunedin.
Ellen (Nell) Welham with cousin Alan Welham at Brockville farm.
Ellen (eldest child of William Henry and Ellen Margaret) photographed with Alan Welham (her cousin - he was about 10 years old at the time - son of William's brother Nathan)
Farming at Brockville
Advertisements in the Otago Daily Times from 1923 show Ellen Welham advertising for sale:
a young cow -heavy milker (1923)
good cow, at calving (1923)
swede turnips by the ton - at roadside (1936)

Mrs Welham, listed in the Otago Daily Times as an official milk vendor in the City of Dunedin and suburbs, agreed with many other vendors to increase the retail price of a quart of milk from threepence to fourpence, for a period of 12 months from July 1933. (Otago Daily Times 1 July, 1933)
Second form left - Bill, Third from left- Jim.
Draft horses at Brockville
Three Generations
Ellen, eldest son William(Bill), and his daughter Joy. 1945-46?
Family Photograph during WW II
From left back: Bill, Jim, Danny & Ginger. Front Row: Nell & Ellen (mother).
James Welham
Daniel Welham b.24/4/1915 - d.19/8/1995
Danny served with the N.Z. Army Engineers in the Pacific and Middle East, after training at Trentham in the Hutt Valley.

He became a soccer referee and for FIFA refereed Auckland/NZ vs Costa Rica in 1959.
Danny playing goalkeeper for the N.Z Army Soccer team in Cairo. He is in the middle of the back row, wearing a different jersey from the other players.
Your headline
1959 - FIFA referee for Auckland/N.Z.vs Costa Rico. Danny is in the background.
William & Ellen's grandchildren and families
If you are a descendant of William & Ellen Welham and would like a family photograph included on this page, please send it to: jenny@welhamfamilynewcastle.info
Joy Manson (nee Welham) daughter of Bill; and family. Back Row - left to right: Jelena, Andrew, George, Sonia Front Row - left to right: Nikola, Joy, Leni, George (Joy's husband) and George. Photo taken January 2012.
Jenny Richardson (nee Welham) elder daughter of Jim; and family. From left: Mark, his wife Alice holding granddaughter Georgia, Jenny holding grandson Matty, Bruce (Jenny's husband), Claire and her partner Chris Gayen. Photo taken March 2010.

Jenny Richardson 19.04.2019 20:57

Hi Lee,
I can contact my cousin who is Christina’s son, but first please let me know your private email address. Jenny. richobj@bigpond.net.au

Lee eggleston 19.04.2019 00:15

Hi

Does anyone have info on the family of Christina Ness (b.22/12/1924 – ) ? I have 3 Ness lines in my tree, and would be cool if I could link it in. Thx Lee

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Latest comments

17.10 | 23:07

Dear Eliza Welhams.
Hi Eliza my name is Phillipa Salisbury i'm Dorothy Jane Watson's Grand Daughter thank you for posting your family tree

14.10 | 05:21

Obviously we are very distantly related! Which one of Samuel's younger brothers is Lionel Alfred Welham descended from?

07.10 | 06:06

hi we a branch of samuels younger brother with family still in England.Lionel Alfred Welham (deceased father in law) came to Australia just before first war

20.03 | 02:45

No worries. Regards
Lee