I'm looking for the birth certificate of my great-grandmother, Olive Laura WOOD (nee BONNEY). I've tried looking on NZ Births Deaths & Marriages, but I can't find any record of her birth. I can't find records of some of her siblings either. I've been tossing around with a few ideas, such as:
- Adoption.
- She was illegitimate.
- She was born with a different surname.
- She was not born in New Zealand.
I was always told that she was born in Invercargill, but her father, Charles Albert Bonney was from Tasmania, Australia so I looked to see if an Olive Bonney was born in Tasmania. Sure enough, there was an Olive Harriet Bonney. I thought she could have been born under a different name, so I looked up Olive THOMSON (including variants Thompson/Tompson/Tomson) and Olive BICKERSTAFF. I chose Thomson as it was her mother's maiden name (incidentally, her mother spelled her name Rosena/Rosina/Rose). However on Olive's marriage certificate, her mother is listed as Rose Bonney (nee Tompson). On Olive's death certificate, her mother is listed as Rosina Bonney (nee Bickerstaff). I think Olive was born in 1898.
If you've managed to follow all that and are still reading, here's what I do know about Olive Laura Bonney:
- RESIDENCES:
- 1919: Waimarino, Bay of Plenty, aged 21.
- 1928: West Auckland, Auckland, aged 30.
- 1935: West Auckland, Auckland, aged 37.
- 1938: West Auckland, Auckland, aged 40.
- 1946: Grey Lynn, Auckland, aged 48.
- 1949: Grey Lynn, Auckland, aged 51.
- 1954: Grey Lynn, Auckland, aged 56.
- 1957: Grey Lynn, Auckland, aged 59.
- 1963: Grey Lynn, Auckland, aged 65.
- 1978: Waitakere, Auckland, aged 80.
- 1981: Waitakere, Auckland, aged 83.
DIED aged 85, 1 AUGUST 1983.
Cause of Death: Carscinoma of Ascending Colon (4 months).
MARRIED Arthur James (known as James) WOOD, 10 DECEMBER 1928, aged 30.
She had two children before she was married with a man name TOUHY (not sure of the correct spelling - pronounced Tui). Those children were named Patricia Estelle Nadane/Nadine & Thomas Charles (Jim). The children grew up thinking that Arthur James Wood was their father. Jim was born in 1925. I don't know when Patricia was born, but I do know that she is the eldest child.
Olive's known/proved siblings (according to my mum) are:
- Constance Sophia Bonney (1892 - 1971)
- Helen Ida Bonney (1893 - 1973)
- Rosena Vivian PHILLIPS (nee Bonney) (1894 - 1982)
- Gladys Eveline Bonney (1894 - ?)
- Annie Thomson Bonney (1900 - 1945)
- Beatrice Bickerstaff SMART (nee Bonney) (? - ?)
If anyone knows of Olive or the Bonney family in Invercargill, please help!