in this list of Wellington residents in the 1866 Almanack there is a Mrs Bills, Settler, Tinakori Rd and a J. Bills, a Carter in Tinakori Rd
- I am going to assume at this early stage of research that they were husband and wife, (although there were other Bills living in Tinakori Rd at that time) BUT, one step at a time ...

so we need to find a Mr & Mrs J. Bills of Tinakori Rd, Wellington

You also want to find William Frederick Bills and his wife Florence ?
- no Florence found (at this early stage) but your great, great, great grandparents Frederick BILLS & Mary Ann HAYES also lived in Tinakori road

They were VERY early settlers of Wellington arriving on the CLIFTON 17 Feb 1842

- Frederick is on the Wellington Jurors list of 1843
- he fell down a bank and drowned in the Tinakori creek on 1 July 1865 after leaving Dixon's public house that night. He was aged 51
- Mary Ann (1817-1885) later married Samuel SIGNAL in 1868

He had a son JAMES BILLS (1841-1911) so this may be the J Bills. James married Louisa KEY in 1864 so this seems a very likely J. & Mrs Bills in Tinakori Rd in 1866 (they later moved to Otaki)

He had a son Frederick William Bills who married Charlotte Eliza DOWSETT

he had a daughter FLORENCE Bills (1861-1925) who married William Henry BALLINER and later married John JONES in 1903

Are you perhaps thinking of this Florence ???

I will continue to research for a time and see if we can come up with anything else

thankyou my friends
I will go to the nz BDM later on,
Ngairedith, according to the Otaki historical book vol3 1980 pg 39, William Frederick and Florence Bills, the parents of James, Frederick and Mary Ann are buried in the Bolton Street Cemetery, Wellington. A fourth child (son) of william and Florence went to America.
I think they must be in an unmarked grave, as i cant find them. Also the Clifton couple with a child sounds very much like the very three children of William and Florence does it not? I have found these:


Duke of Roxburgh
Ship: 417 tons
Captain: James Thomson
Surgeon Superintendent: Francis Healy
Sailed Plymouth 5th October 1839 - arrived Port Nicholson 8th February 1840
"The 'Duke' made the third vessel of the fleet to reach Port Nicholson, and by that time the foreshore at Petone had became a busy locality. Tents were supplemented by shanties of various descriptions, but some of the whares put up with the help of the Maoris were of a more ambitious character, and so well built that they lasted several years. Round about this somewhat incongruous camp-settlement the belongings of the settlers were scattered, and as there were by this time about 500 white people ashore the scene was decidedly animated."
White Wings Volume One - Sir Henry Brett
Notation on the passenger list:
"Arrived at Plymouth 4:00pm Friday 27th September '39. Sailed 5th October 1839."
Name
Age
Occupation
Comment
Cabin Passengers
Bills
W
................................
and 2 yrs later:

Clifton
Ship: 820 tons
Captain: Cox
Surgeon Superintendent: Joseph Hamilton Smyth
Sailed London October 2nd 1841 - arrived Wellington February 17th February 1842?
Sailed Isle of White October 3rd 1841 ??????

???steerage
Bills
Frederick
27
Ropemaker & Labourer
Mary Ann
24
James Richard
6 mths
.................
nothing on Florence
somewhere in all this is Susannah Bills who married into my Allan Carmont family.Her parents: Frederick bills and Mary Ann Hays.
Susannah Carmont (nee Bills) b.abt 1847, d. 1890. m.at 18 yrs old,Wellington, they had 5 girls and 4 boys, but dont know if she had any bro. sis. Her mother married Samuel Signal after Frederick died,and this sounds like the Frederick you just mentioned ngairedith. I do have all that info from the internet.
any help i can get will be great to unravel the mystery ha
Regards Sheshe

That information in the Otaki journal is inaccurate, ie. no Florence, and no son who went to America. One son Thomas died in NZ and his wife and family subsequently went to Australia however. Our family is definitely Frederick and Mary Ann, arriving on the Clifton with baby son James, who was my GGGF. I don't think that W Bills is connected to the same Bills family. One of Frederick's brothers, Thomas Bills, came out in 1856 with a daughter Sophia Jane. He died in 1868 and is buried in Bolton St. Sophia susbsquently married Robert Cole Furness. Frederick and Mary Ann Bills had another six children, including Susannah, born in Wellington before Frederick drowned. You don't by any chance have any photos of Mary Ann Hays/Bills/Signal do you? There are several photos of daughter Mary Ann Bright nee Bills at the Alexander Turnbull library.
Regards,
Jo