Mary Yeudall

The advent of the future New Zealand matriarch Mary Yeudall upon the word stage was heralded by the Galston OPR thus:

'Yeudall - Mary, daughter of Abram Yeudall & Jane Forsyth in Titchfield Street was born 17th Septr & baptized 4th November, 1849.'

According to family lore collected by Christine James from her grandmother Grace Howie Yeudall and great-aunt Jean Park, Mary was one of a set of twins but her sibling died of tetanus as a child. If this is true, there is no confirmation of it in the Galston OPR, which records Mary's birth and baptism without any reference to her twin. Elizabeth and Isabella were recorded as their parents' second and third children respectively. It is always possible that the twin died at some time prior to Mary's baptism, which did not take place until six weeks and six days after her birth.

Mary, at the age of just eight years of age, lost her mother, Jean Forsyth, in 1858. In 1861 she was a scholar, aged eleven, living in Barr Street, Galston, with her father Abram Yeudall and step-mother Grace Yeudall MS Kay.

She was heard from again seven years later, when, aged eighteen, she gave birth to an illegitimate son, Abram Yeudall, at Barr Street on the 27th of January 1868, at 4h 20m p.m. Mary was now a domestic servant. No indication was then given as to who the father might be. Mary was illiterate, and William Bell the Registrar witnessed her X mark.

Abram Taylor, a grandson to the head of the household, Abram Yeudall, appeared on the 1871 census, and was aged three. This is presumably a reference to the same boy, and the surname under which he appears in this connection can be taken to be that of his reputed father. At this time, Mary was living in the household of William Lennox, a farmer, at Bruntwood, Galston. She was a domestic servant, unmarried and aged 21. In the same census, the man whom she would shortly marry, Archibald Park, was also 21 and a farm servant to John Paterson, 81, a farmer of 100 acres at Middle Ashyard, Galston. Mr Paterson's household also included his wife, a dairymaid, a female general servant and another farm servant. Archibald's place of birth was entered as Irvine.

Mary Yeudall, a dairy maid (spinster), aged 21, resident at Bruntwood, Galston, married Archibald Park on the 9th of June 1871 at Barr Street, Galston, after Banns according to the forms of the Established Church of Scotland. Archibald was a ploughman (bachelor), also aged 21, resident at High Ashyards, Galston. His parents were John Park, a cotton weaver, and Agnes Giffen. The ceremony was performed by Robert Stirling, Minister, and the witnesses were Thomas Stewart and Isabella Yeudall.

Again according to the family lore collected by Chris James, Mary and Archibald lived in a loft above the stables on the Duke of Portland's estate where Archibald was employed.

Archibald and Mary had a daughter, Jane (known as Jeannie), on the 29th of August 1871.

A son, Archibald, followed on the 16th of August 1874. He was born at (Piviroch?) in the District of Riccarton. Archibald senior was designated as a farm servant, and signed the birth certificate as informant with an 'X' mark.

The absence of Mary, Archibald, her son Abram and their daughter Jane from subsequent UK records is accounted for by the fact that the family emigrated to New Zealand, sailing from Glasgow to Otago on board the ship Nelson on the 1st of October 1874. The total cost of forty pounds and ten shillings was borne by the New Zealand government. Archibald and Mary were both stated to be twenty-four years of age, while 'Abraham' was six and Jane was two. Archibald was designated as a farm servant from Ayrshire. One unresolved difficulty is that the passenger list makes no mention of Archibald junior, who had been born six and a half weeks previously.

Chris James supplies the following information concerning the next phase of the Park family's career:

'They settled on the South Island at Flag Swamp, Goodwood, near Waikouaiti, Otago. Archibald leased land and milked cows. He specialised in Ayrshire cows and judged at the local agriculture and produce shows. Mary was a very kind and capable woman, she was also an excellent baker and won many prizes. She was also a great help to her neighbours by attending people who were sick, also helping at time of births and deaths.'

A further daughter, Agnes, was born at Hawksbury Bush, New Zealand, on the 27th of July 1880. The place of registration was Waikouaiti. Agnes's father, Archibald Park, was now a labourer, aged 30. His birthplace was entered as Irvine, Scotland. Mary's age was entered as 29, though in fact she was almost 31. Her place of birth was entered as Galston, Scotland.

Another son, John, was born in 1884, but the precise date is at present unknown.

Archibald Park

Archibald Park senior, a farmer, usually resident at Oamaru, died on the 6th of February 1927 at the Public Hospital, Oamaru, aged seventy-eight years. His place of birth was entered as Irvine, Scotland and he was stated to have been in New Zealand for fifty-two years. He was buried in Oamaru Cemetery on the 8th of February 1927. The causes of death were entered as:

'Strangulated hernia and senility - 14 days
Heart failure - 3 days'

Mary's maiden name was incorrectly rendered on Archibald's death certificate as 'Yendall' and although the date of her death is presently unknown it appears from the entry 'no widow' that she had predeceased him. Archibald had three sons (aged 56, 52 and 43) and two daughters (aged 54 and 45) still living. These were presumably Abram; Archibald; and a third son, John, whose precise date of birth has yet to be established; Jane and Agnes.

The following further details concerning the lives of Archibald and Mary's various children are supplied by Chris James.

Mary's first son, Abram, who had been born illegitimate in Galston, Scotland in 1868, appears to have inherited certain key characteristics from his Yeudall relatives. According to Chris James:

'Abram used to say that he was on every committee but the Mother's Union. He smoked a pipe and wore a cap. He loved to go to the dances and danced until he was in his eighties. He was an elder of the Presbyterian church. When Abram lived nine miles from Waikouaiti he used to go to Dunedin once a week with things to sell – horse hair, butter, eggs etc. People would give him things to sell for them. Then he would bring back orders for them from Dunedin. Two horses used to pull his cart. He married Sarah Muldrew, with whom he ran a small grocer's shop in Waikouaiti and later a butcher's shop. Abram was also Mayor of Waikouati and that is where many of the family lived for a couple of generations. There is a Park Street named after him.'

Jeannie married James Wright, with whom she had two children.

It is reasonably well established that the Archibald who later surfaced in New Zealand was the same person who had been born in the District of Riccarton, Ayrshire. This would appear to be evidenced by the fact that an extract of his entry in the register of births was obtained on the 4th of April 1938. According to information supplied by Chris James, Alexander Park junior married Mary Jane Violet Crawford on the 30th of April 1902 in New Zealand and had eight children. He worked on the railway at Weston then retired to Oamaru.

Agnes fell in love with a young man, who was a Roman Catholic. However, even although Agnes was carrying his child, her father, Archibald Park, of strict Presbyterian persuasion, would not consider giving his consent to marriage. In consequence, Agnes's illegitimate son, William Matthew Park, was born on the 8th of December 1896 at Maori Hill, Dunedin. Agnes was sixteen at this time and was resident at Hawkesbury, Otago. William's father, whose identity was not even acknowledged on the birth certificate, left New Zealand and settled in Australia, returning many years later as an old man. Agnes's mother, Mary, no doubt drawing upon her own experiences as an unmarried mother half a world away and almost three decades before, was highly supportive towards her daughter during this difficult time. Agnes, who was always deeply attached to her mother, eventually recovered from her romantic misadventure and married John Galbraith, with whom she had one child, a daughter, Jean. Agnes was in her forties when Jean was born.

Archibald and Mary raised their grandson William as one of their own family and he always lived a happy life with them. William later married his Scottish cousin Grace Howie Yeudall.

John married Dolly Duncan. He was a farmer at Crookston. John and Dolly had three sons, one of whom, Eion, was killed during World War II.

There was one further addition to Archibald and Mary's household. Mary had a friend, a Mrs Newlands, who died c. 1904 leaving five children. One of these was Nellie, then aged eleven. William and Nellie were quite close in age and Archibald and Mary took her in and raised them together, bringing them up as brother and sister.

Nellie Newlands told Agnes's daughter, Jean, about her half-brother when she was an adult. Jean reacted positively, as she had always wanted a sibling. Jean then realised that William's daughter Mary Yeudall Park, whom she had been raised to regard as her cousin, and with whom she was on very friendly terms, was actually her niece.