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I have his marriage certficate. he was 44 in 1918 so he was definitely born in 1874. Sarah.
William, son of W Stevenson of Washdyke, last school Timaru Public,
last day 4/8/1893, destination Timaru Main School
There are probates for a, Jessie Mitchell Stevenson, 1955, of Albury and Timaru; William Stevenson (Carswell, near Timaru) 1919 and William Stevenson, Albury, 1947. These probates are all held at Archives New Zealand - Christchurch Branch.
Timaru High Court Probate Files
CAHY CH145 77/62 STEVENSON Colin Leonard - Timaru 1962 1962 Chch ?
CAHY CH145 3042 STEVENSON Mary - Levels 1929 1929 Chch *
CAHY CH145 7017 STEVENSON William - Albury 1947 1947 Chch *
CAHY CH145 1474 STEVENSON William - Carswell near Timaru 1919 1919 Chch *
CAHY CH145 490 STEVENSON William Alexander - Washdyke 1913 1913 Chch
CAHY CH145 222/61 STEVENSON William Frederick - Timaru & Fairlie 1961 1961 C ?
William was a farmer at" Arndyne" Albury
Hello John, 15 July 06 Sorry to be so late replying, but I had to write to a cousin who resides near Mt. Nessing to see if she could provide any information at all on "Ardyne". A reply has now been received. People called, Taylor, had the farm years ago, and then it was sold to, Cunninghams, then later to Groundwaters in 1972. The house was burnt down due to an electrical fault 12-15 years ago. It is situated on Chamberlain Road, Albury. Sonia didn't know the acreage, but it still being farmed. Also, you may like to know that the Albury School 125th Jubilee is being held next Waitangi Day ( February 2007). Just a little snippet of data which may be a little assistance to you. Regards, Marina Christchurch.
HI John – just back yesterday so your timing is perfect. I had a really successful trip. There were a lot of people there who knew both my mother and my grandfather. One guy in his 80’s told me he did Williams vege garden from the age of 7 ( everyone called him Bill ). All the people from the farms adjacent to Ardyne who remember growing up with my mother and playing with her as children were there as well. There were also people there who helped them pack up and leave when they moved to Timaru and the guy who bought Ardyne off my grandfather. He was a little vague and couldn’t quite remember whether Bill was still alive or not at that point. He said he bought it in 1948 but he couldn’t be too sure about that. Anyway there was also a guy there who has documented all the local history and he had all the maps showing all the farms. Ardyne was marked.
So off I went to go and find it – got completely lost, driving down gravel roads with no markings, hadn’t seen a sole for an hour and suddenly a car appeared, woman stopped and asked if I was lost. Told her I was looking for a farm that used to be in the area called Ardyne and blow me down she said – Oh I own Ardyne ! I had taken a wrong turn and was miles away from where I should have been. Couldn’t believe I ran into her!. She put me right and I managed to find it. There is nothing there but it is still intact as the original property and still known as Ardyne. The Groundwaters who own it are long time local residents over many generations and they own another property in the area where they live, they just use Ardyne for grazing deer. I spent some time wandering round, it was very pleasant and very peaceful spot. You can easily see where the house and graden was. The old out buildings form Williams time are still there and the gates etc.
I also found my maternal great grandmothers house in Timaru. That was the house Jessie grew up in – would have been quite a shock to have married William and moved to Ardyne – her house in Timaru is quite beautiful - a big mansion looking out over Caroline Bay – and then she moved to the middle of nowhere to a little farm house. The photo I thought might be Ardyne definitely isnt. The locals told me all the houses were built around the same time. In 1903 the large station at Albury was forcibly split by the government into smaller parcels and a ballot was held. William won one of the ballots and hence Ardyne. Everyone settled around the same time and builders came up form Timaru and built all the houses at the same time – all plain square boxes apparently . There was one guy who thought he might have a photo but wasn’t sure – the current owners didn’t have any photos.
I then went searching for Carswell – I couldn’t remember if you had located it. Spent the day at the Timaru Archives. I found all the information about the original split of the Levels station into smaller parcels – similar to Albury. Great grandfather William would have won a ballot presumably to get the Carswell property. I couldn’t find the maps and farm names however.
When I got home I found something that referred to where the farm was – next to a train station, the name of which I cant recall at the moment, – so if I so desire I could make another trip armed with that information and see if I can locate it – wouldn’t be too hard I suspect if I can find the old maps of where the train went.
I also couldn’t find William and Jessies grave – did you find it? I found Jessies mothers grave in the Timaru cemetery across the other side from where gg grandfather willams was. Ran out of time to go back to the council to search the records again.
I will send some photos of farm with a separate email
I am confined to home for at least 3 months now as I have submitted my passport for my French visa – here’s hoping!
Sarah 13 Feb 2007
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Abt 1873 - Abt 1947 (~ 74 years)
