Mary Agnes Bleasel - New Zealand :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy
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Mary Agnes Bleasel - New Zealand

Journal by jamo761

Mary Agnes is my husband's Gt Gt Grandmother, and the following is information I have found with the help of ngairedith. I'm still looking for information, so if you have corrections or additions to this page, please add a comment to let me know.

Mary Agnes BLEASEL
Born: ~1856 in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand
Baptised: unknown if she was baptised or christened
Died: 06 July 1 1933 in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand
Buried: 08 July 1933 Te Henui Cemetery, New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand

Mary Agnes was born to parents John Bleasel (also spelling Blesel, Blesil) & Elizabeth Cotter (could also be Cottier) in approximately 1956. Records conclude that she was born in New Plymouth, but at present I can not find a source document to prove this. It is likely that she was not registered. Mary's parents and the location of her death came from the funeral record obtained from W Abraham in New Plymouth.

John BLEASEL
Born: ~1820 in Lancahsire, England
Baptised: unknown if he was baptised or christened
Died: 09 Feb 1865 in Taranaki, New Zealand
Buried: unknown where he is buried

John Bleasel was a Gunner in the Royal Artillery, born about 1820 in Lancashire, England occording to 1851 Census record. It is likely that John was posted to Ireland where he met his wife to be. With their first daughter born in Cork, Ireland, I imagine they were married in Ireland, maybe Cork between 1838 & 1842. This is yet to be confirmed. Can not find John in the 1841 England cesus, it is likely that he is in Ireland. Also need to find his enlistment record to find out when he joined the Royal Artillery.

Elizabeth COTTER
Born: ~1819 in Co Louth, Ireland
Baptised: unknown if she was baptised or christened
Died: 1883 in Taranaki, New Zealand
Buried: Te Hunui Cemetery, New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand

Elizabeth's maiden name could also be COTTIER, it is hard to read the writing on the funeral record for Mary Agnes.

In the 1851 Census he and his family were living at 51, Soldiers Cottages, Charlton, Greenwich, Kent
John Blesel married 31 1820 Gunner R Artillery Lancashire, England
Elizabeth Blesel married 32 1819 Co Louth, Ireland
Alice Blesel Daughter 9 1842 Cork, Ireland
Elizabeth Blesel Daughter 5 1846 Scholar New Brunswick, N A
James Blesel Son 3 1848 Frederick Toon N A
John Blesel Son 1 1850 Woolwich, Kent

John & his family came out to New Zealand likely in 1860. A War record shows he was in service in the Taranaki Wars between 1860 and 1864. Therefore my current theory (thanks to Ngairedith) is that he and & his family came to New Zealand on board a ship carrying Military personel. It is noted in the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, that British troops came to New Zealand as early as 1855, but the Taranaki Maori Wars didn't start till 1860. This could be why his record shows 1860 t0 1864 in Taranaki. The record also shows he was in the 3rd Bat 12 Bde, so not entirely sure which regiment he was in, maybe the 12th.

A military record has John passing away in Taranaki on 09 Feb 1865, there is no record on the online NZ BDM website to verify this.

I found a burial record for Elizabeth Bleasel in 1883, she is buried at Te Henui Cemetery. There is an NZ BDM record for her, will order death certificate in the future, hopefully this will provide her parents names.

Back to Mary Agnes

She married Atkinson Joseph Clarke in 1874 and they had the following children Assuming all children were born in New Plymouth, but this is just a guess

John Atkinson Clarke b 1877 d 1952
Michael Edward Charles Clarke b 1879 d 1955
Mary Elizabeth Ann Clarke b 1881 New Zealand
Edward Francis Clarke b 1883 d 1960
Archibald Bernard Clarke b 1884 New Zealand (My husband's Gt Grandfather)
Norah Clarke b 1886 New Zealand
Agnes Stella Clarke b 1889 New Zealand

Mary died on 06 July 1933 in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand.

Still looking for information about John BLEASEL & ELIZABETH COTTER, ie birth records, marriage records. I doubt the shipping passenger list will be available as they would have come into the country on a boat carrying military.

Surnames: Bleasel Clarke Cotter
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by jamo761 Profile | Research | Contact | Subscribe | Block this user
on 2012-08-19 23:32:27

jamo761 , from West Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand, has been a Family Tree Circles member since Jul 2012.

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Comments

by ngairedith on 2012-08-20 05:16:48

hi jamo,

If they arrived that early into New Zealand and settled in Taranaki if is probable that John Bleasel came over with the 65th Regiment of foot to help fight in the Taranaki war
I will have a look

Elizabeth Bleasel died 16 May 1883 (born 1819) and is buried in Services Area Block C Plot 77 at Te Henui, cemetery, New Plymouth. John isn't, in fact Elizabeth is the only Bleasel buried in New Plymouth, none in South Taranaki either

by jamo761 on 2012-08-20 06:14:19

She isn't the only one, her daughter Mary Agnes is there too, but she is buried as a Clarke.

I believe their MIGHT be two brothers, but can't confirm, William Henry and Charles George... they are both born about the same time.

Re John Bleasel, 65th Regiment is a good place to start and I hadn't thought of that, the funeral record I have for Mary Agnes states that John was an artillery man (only received this tonight). But there is also a mention of a John Bleasel in the 10th Battalion in Australia... obviously might not be the same man. But can't find a death record here in New Zealand for him, so no idea if he died while at war or not.

by ngairedith on 2012-08-20 06:15:15

the known children of Atikinson Joseph CLARKE (1843-1932) & Mary Agnes BLEASEL were:
1877 - 1952 John Atkinson Clarke
1879 - ?? On the 7th May, the wife of Mr ATKINSON CLARKE, Okato, of a son
1881 - Mary Elizabeth Ann Clarke
1884 - 1971 Archibald Clarke
1886 - Norah Clarke
1889 - Agnes Stella Clarke

by ngairedith on 2012-08-20 06:26:34

10 January 1890
The Governor has authorised the issue of New Zealand war medals to the following claimants:
Ephraim COAD
Oliver Cooke SPURDLE
Willim RUNDLE
John SAINSBURY
Robert WHITE
Henry MILLER
William BUCK
James ANDREW
John JONES
Denis MALONEY
Charles SLATER
John BLEASEL

by jamo761 on 2012-08-20 06:36:05

From what I've searched in the Electoral roles for Taranaki, there are two Atkinson Clarke's in 1890s. John Atkinson Clarke whom is a Blacksmith in Okato and Joseph Atkinson Clarke a farmer in Warea. So that at least ties them together.

Also just found
1883 - 1960 Edward Francis Clarke.
1879 - 1955 Michael Edward Charles Clarke

Could you please let me know where you found the children. Mary, Archibald, Norah & Agnes are online on NZ BDM with an easy search, and now I can find Edward, but what about the other two. Ok just found John Atkinson on BDM, narrowing the search a bit and then checking a wider date range with Mary Agnes brings up the 1879 child, but the spelling of Atkinson is incorrect.

Thanks
Megan

by ngairedith on 2012-08-20 07:01:04

in 1897 the following BLEASEL soldiers were transferred from the Permanent Artillery Force to the Police Force (Police Branch of the Armed Constabulary)

the numbers is the length of time served in Artillery prior to transfer

Charles Bleasel - 11 years 1 month 5 days
Michael Edward Bleasel - 7 years 1 month 16 days

by ngairedith on 2012-08-20 07:03:38

there are ALWAYS a GREAT DEAL of misspellings (and even dates for that matter) on BDM, guess it was just the typist/transcriber of the day

by ngairedith on 2012-08-20 07:16:44

on May 16 1928 at Coast Hospital, Sydney, Harry Michael Bleasel (late of Taranaki and Newmarket, Auckland), dearly beloved husband of May Bleasel; aged 48 years

it was Ada May CAMPTON who married Michael Henry 'Harry' Bleasel in 1919
- Harry was a son of William Henry BLEASEL (1855-1905) & Marian HALIDAY (1851-1923)


I am thinking of looking over in Australia for John. He certainly doesn't seem to have died in NZ

by ngairedith on 2012-08-20 07:26:34

in 1927 Michael Edward Bleasel was in Sydney as an ex Chief Warder when he received the Imperial Service Medal for Police, Gaol & Fire Officers

by ngairedith on 2012-08-20 09:02:34

New Zealand BLEASEL marriages

by jamo761 on 2012-08-21 03:54:23

I have found John's death. He died in Taranaki on 09 Feb 1865. I found a military record on ancestry.com with the date of his death. I'm still in the process of chasing up when some of the Bleasel's moved to Australia.

by ngairedith on 2012-08-21 05:03:59

9 Feb 1865 TARANAKI HERALD
... On the 9th instant, JOHN BLASEL (sic), gunner, R.A., aged 46 years

by Bleasel7 on 2013-02-21 01:16:30

John Bleasdale was born in Goosnargh in about June 1819. He joined the royal artillary in 1838 (illiterate). They recorded his name as Bleasel.
He married Elizabeth "Eliza Cotter" on 14/1/1841 in the RC Church at Queenstown (now Cobh) Co. Ire. The name was recorded then as Bleazel.

Elizabeth was the daughter of James Cotter and Elizabeth Bransfield / Prenderville (the gaelic name is Prionnbhiol, and it has many english translations including Prenderville and then later (probably around 1840) in Cork, Bransfield.)

Michael Edward Bleasel is my Great Grandfather.

by fairykate on 2014-07-27 23:38:55

Hi Everyone,
John Bleasel was my great grandfather. His daughter, Elizabeth was born in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. I do have some information, photos, happy to share. fairykate@live.com

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