Ebenezer and Ellen Fitness nee Wells
Ebenezer Fitness was born on 8th or 9th of August 1843 at Sevenoaks in Kent. At the time of his birth his father George was registered as an agricultural labourer. Ebenezer came to New Zealand with his parents George and Jane Fitness nee Hunnisett on board the 'Eden' in September 1850. Ebenezer celebrated his 7th birthday on board the ship.
The family spent time in New Plymouth, and then purchased land in Karaka, nearby where other members of the Fitness family were settling. However they soon moved further north into Auckland, where the family became closely associated with the Wellesley Street Baptist Church and the Baptist Tabernacle in Queen Street. Ebenezer trained as a cabinet maker and joiner with the Kauri Timber Company. Ellen Lydia Wells was born at Saxmundham in Suffolk on 26th February 1848. Her father Samuel [James?] Wells, his wife Francis and 7 of their 8 children are listed as passengers on board the 'Hanover', which sailed to New Zealand in 1862. The Illustrated London News of 7 June 1862 notes that immigrants departing on the 'Hanover' and 'Matilda Wattenbach' were an organised group comprising ''chiefly members of different Nonconformist bodies'' who were taking up the NZ Government offer of a 40 acre grant to each fare paying emigrant. Those passengers who settled at Port Albert, on the Kaipara Harbour became known as Albertlanders. Ellen married Ebenezer as the home her parents in East Street, Newton on 8th February 1870. The marriage notice in the NZ Herald read ''FITNESS - WELLS - On February 8m at the residence of the bride's mother, Newton, by the Rev. O.H. Cornford, Ebenezer Fitness, son of the late George Fitness, to Ellen Lydia, fifth daughter of the late James Wells, late of Saxmunham [sic], Suffolk, England.'' Ellen and Ebenezer were two of the 20 foundation members of the Mt Eden Baptist Church. Ebenezer was also a member of the Friendly Society and Foresters Lodge. After an accident forced Ebenezer to stop work for the Kauri Timber Company, the family moved and he set up business as a cabinet maker in Opunake. Later the family bought land in Pihama, which was developed with the help of son Charles. They went on to own farms at Normanby, Eltham and Ngaere. Ebenezer and Ellen retired to Auckland, before taking up a small farm at Wiri, and finally moving to Drury. The New Zealand Herald ran an obituary for Mrs Ebenezer Fitness after her death on 12th October 1927, just three months after her husband who died 18 July 1927. The obituary reads: An old resident of Auckland district, Mrs. Ebenezer Fitness, died at the residence of her son, Major C. G. Fitness, Grey Lynn, aged 78 years. Her husband died only three months ago at Drury. They had been married 57 years. Mrs. Fitness was born at Saxmundham, Sussex, England, in 1840, and arrived in Auckland with her parents by the ship Matilda Wattenbach in 1862. She was one of a family of six daughters and one son. The sisters have all survived Mrs. Fitness, their ages ranging from 77 to 88 years. Mrs. Fitness was married in 1870, and at various times lived at Taranaki, Wiri, Drury, and in Auckland. The following children survive: Mrs. S. Hamilton (Pukekohe), Mrs. J. Askew (Inglewood), Mrs. H. Harrison (Stratford), Mrs. Q. Jennings (Westport), Mrs G. W. Carter {Cambridge), Major Fitness (of the Salvation Army, Auckland), and Messrs. F. Fitness (Gordon ton) and T. W. and R. E. Fitness (Putaruru). Both Ebenezer and Ellen are buried in the Symond's Street Cemetery in Auckland. |
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