Samuel and Annie Merrick and their seven surviving children
Samuel was the eldest son of Alicia and Richard Merrick, born aboard the schooner the Hirondelle while it was berthed in the Saltwater River in Tasmania. His father had captained the Hirondelle from England to Australia with Alicia his wife on board. The couple had left a one year old daughter, Bessie, back in Ireland with her maternal grandparents Thomas and Elizabeth Mellsop, when they had left for Australia.
Thomas and Elizabeth were also the parents of John Mellsop (who married Anna Maria Speedy and came to New Zealand) - Alicia and John were brother and sister.
Considering the maritime nature of his birth, and that his father was a master mariner, it is not surprising perhaps that Samuel made his living as a marine trader who ran a schooner in Fiji. For many years Samuel traded and delivered produce around the Pacific Islands, although he died in Auckland in 1911. Samuel was a handy tradesman who could turn his hand to a number of tasks and also worked as a carpenter and undertaker.
He married twice; in 1884 to Margaret Anne Bailey but they had no children and Margaret died a few years later.
In 1888 he married Annie Clough and they had eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood. Their first son, Dennis died at birth, and their second son Richard, born in Fiji, joined the Fijian Forces and died unmarried; a fourth son, Stephen Hugh is also thought to have died in Fiji. It appears the family re-located to New Zealand around 1890 and all of the remaining children were born in NZ;
Samuel's dates: Born 15 April, 1854, Saltwater River Tasmania aboard the schooner Hirondelle.
Died 1911, Auckland.
Thomas and Elizabeth were also the parents of John Mellsop (who married Anna Maria Speedy and came to New Zealand) - Alicia and John were brother and sister.
Considering the maritime nature of his birth, and that his father was a master mariner, it is not surprising perhaps that Samuel made his living as a marine trader who ran a schooner in Fiji. For many years Samuel traded and delivered produce around the Pacific Islands, although he died in Auckland in 1911. Samuel was a handy tradesman who could turn his hand to a number of tasks and also worked as a carpenter and undertaker.
He married twice; in 1884 to Margaret Anne Bailey but they had no children and Margaret died a few years later.
In 1888 he married Annie Clough and they had eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood. Their first son, Dennis died at birth, and their second son Richard, born in Fiji, joined the Fijian Forces and died unmarried; a fourth son, Stephen Hugh is also thought to have died in Fiji. It appears the family re-located to New Zealand around 1890 and all of the remaining children were born in NZ;
- John in Auckland in 1890 (he married Olive Macclesfield Trevina and they had two daughters and a son)
- Olive (known as Dolly) born 1893, who married Patrick James Foley and had one daughter,
- Ruth Elinor (born 1894, who married George Graham and had three daughters and two sons;
- Norah Elizabeth born in Coromandel in 1899 who married twice - firstly to Walter Patrick Harkins, with whom she had a son, and then to her cousin Richard Percy Merrick from Masterton with whom she had three sons and a daughter.
- and their final son, Samuel Bernell, born 1904, who married Annie Louisa Parker and had two sons and a daughter. Samuel had a green grocer's shop in Dominion Road, Auckland. The family must have shared time between New Zealand and Fiji because Merrick family historian Kathy O'Neill, reports Samuel had his early schooling in Fiji but was sent to Auckland at around the age of seven or eight and stayed with a Merrick family relative.
Samuel's dates: Born 15 April, 1854, Saltwater River Tasmania aboard the schooner Hirondelle.
Died 1911, Auckland.