William Bryant
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Original information:
William Bryant (1818-1901), at 83, is the oldest person in the photo. He and Ann (1828-1904) were three years married in 1850. They are one of two married couples in the photo. At first he worked on the Bridle Path and the Sumner Road. Then he resumed his trade of shoemaker in Lyttelton. He lived most of his life in Lyttelton, where he and Ann celebrated their golden wedding in 1897.
He died in May 1901. Ann died in 1904, aged 76. They had at least 13 children, only six of whom survived to adulthood.
Readers’ response:
William and Ann were married at Chatham Parish Church in Kent, England, on December 25, 1847. The fathers were John Bryant and John Robert Bond, both labourers (the entry is under Bryans, not Bryant).
William is reported to have been born in Belfast, Antrim, Ireland, c. 1818.
William and Ann and their two children, William (b. 1848) and Sarah (b. 1850), were initially to come on the Sir George Seymour but were transferred to the Randolph. The couple had eight more children in Canterbury − Emma Elizabeth (b. October 25, 1852; m. John Thomas Harris); Charlotte Margaret (b. 1854; m. George Manson); George Frederick (b. and d. 1855); John Robert (1860-1863); Arthur David (b. 1864; m. Elizabeth Gleazer); John Daniel (1867-1868); Charles Alfred (b. 1868; m. Sarah Ann Risely); and Selina Mary (b. 1870; m. William George Slater). 1
Footnotes:
1. Janet Connochie, unpublished family history