Lydia Jane Blencowe 1859, Lambeth

→ Lydia Jane Blencowe (1859, Lambeth J.Q. ) → Wellington, New Zealand. Arrived: 1892.

Note: 11 Jan 1892 Arrived Wellington from London on Ionic, travel party husband Alex McKay, 30, Lydia Jane McKay (nee Blencowe), 29, and Alex McKay, age 5

Lambeth

The eldest of five girls born to a Glass House builder, Charles Blencowe and Jane’s Simon’s, Jane was from a line of skilled artisans Blencowe’s who lived in London. It would seem the girls were educated, and two sisters were career teachers. Unlike many of the Blencowe emigrants, Jane would have been in a working-class home, but with a steady income and well above the poverty line. In the 1881 census, she was 24 at home and not working; her father had transitioned careers to be an advertising agent, so commercial activity was very much in the blood.

The man she would marry had also come from a family well versed in trade. Alexander McKay was the son of a journeyman jeweller, and all his siblings were in trades.

In 1881, the McKay family were living in Chisholm Road, Hackney; all the children had grown up and were employed as Dressmakers, Purse Makers, except Alexander McKay, the junior, who was a Clerk in a bookkeeper’s office.

However, in 1882, Alexander McKay senior, born in 1824, emigrated with his wife and some of his children to New Zealand. He was accompanied by his sons, John, age 25, William Edmund, age 19 and daughter, Jessie, age 20

A brave and adventurous thing to do at the age of 58 years, leaving a comfortable life in England. Even more adventurous was Alexander Senior’s decision to go to the remote Northland of New Zealand and start farming in the midst of a large forest in Kaiata. Here, Alexander applied for a land grant of 150 acres from the government and began farming (most likely gum digging).

The McKays prospered in Kiatia, and this news reached Alexander junior, who was still a clerk in a bookkeeping business and possibly had met Lydia Jane Blencowe in her mid-twenties. They married in 1886, and a son, Alexander Charles, was born in 1887.
In 1891, at the next census, the couple were living at 25 Wilna Rd, Earlsfield, Wandsworth. Alex is a bookkeeper, and they have a son, Alex 3 years old

The Voyage

The couple with son Alexander Charles embarked on the ship IONIC from the Royal Albert Docks, London, on 26 November 1891, arriving on 11 January 1892, in Wellington, New Zealand. After discharging cargo and passengers in Wellington, the Ionic arrived in Auckland on the morning of Monday, 18 January 1892. The vessel travelled via Tenerife (arrived 3 December), Cape Town (arrived 19 December), and Hobart (arrived 6 January 1892).

Conditions: A heavy easterly gale was encountered shortly after leaving Plymouth, but the remainder of the voyage across the Southern Ocean was marked by fine weather. The total steaming time from Plymouth to Wellington was approximately 42 days.

In Auckland, they may well have rested a day or so after so long a voyage, and perhaps a family member travelled down to meet them; the most likely way they got to the family in Fairburn, Northland was.

The Northern Steamship Company ran regular services (often weekly) from Auckland to the northern ports.

• The Route: They would have boarded a steamer (such as the Clansman) at the Auckland wharf.
• Destination: The ship would travel up the east coast, typically stopping at Russell (Bay of Islands) and Whangaroa, before reaching Mangonui, which served as the primary port for the Fairburn and Kaitaia districts.
• Duration: Approximately 20–24 hours at sea, depending on weather and cargo stops.

Fairburn

Before they arrived in 1892, father Alexander McKay, 1824 and family had arrived in 1882 and been granted land in 1889, which was likely three sources of potential income

• Timber, the famous Kauria hardwood
• Pastoral development, Livestock and Crops
• Kauri Gum, ancient fossilised tree resin prized for making jewellery, etc. Note given Alexander McKay senior was a jewellery maker, I wonder if his main interest was in moving to this area.

Fairburn was a remote spot, the community was small, and a local school existed, and supplies were to come from Mangonui; most goods would have been shipped up the coast from Auckland.

Alexander and Lydia certainly lived in the Fairburn area for several years, records show both Daughter May Lydia 1893 and son Donald John 1894 born in the Kaitia area. Alex, a “farmer”, and Lydia are recorded in Fairburn in the Electoral Register for 1896. and residence from 1901

While the exact duration of Alexander McKay Junior’s time digging and trading kauri gum remains unrecorded, his occupation shifted definitively by the turn of the century. By 1900, he had established a storefront in Fairburn. Armed with a sharp eye for commercial bookkeeping, he quickly recognised a lucrative opportunity to expand his footprint by intertwining two distinct business interests.

• Buying Kauri Gum from diggers and reselling
• Bringing supplies in bulk to the remote township and retailing them

Moved to Mangonui 1901

In 1901, Alex McKay, storekeeper, leased the property on Beach Road opposite the Mangobui Wharf. This was recorded thus: Lease No. 1883 Date: February 15, 1901, at 2:14 PM Transaction: Henry Littleproud leases the property to Alexander McKay of Mangonui, Storekeeper.

It would appear that the McKays moved their family after February 1901 to Mangonui. They are still shown in the 1905 Electoral Register as resident in Fairburn, and Alex has the occupation of storekeeper, there, so maybe in the first few years, they ran two stores. The source for the date 1901 is the property document in the Gallery below. An NZ Historic Buildings article also details the Wharf Store building, its ownership and the history of the centre of Mangonui.

This 1904 Advertisement attests to the Mangonui Business. Note the store is at this point on Beach Rd.

1908 Ownership of Beach Rd Property

In June 1908, Alexander McKay acquired the property, the records don’t specifically say Henry Littleproud, and it may have been it was from Henry Littleproud’s estate.

There was a commercial building across the road from the McKays ‘ property. The building was owned and leased by Councillor Richard Wrathall. The article below, from 1909, indicates the tenant was in trouble with his rent and was being told to remove his goods. This is just before Wrathall sold his building to Alex Mackay, source Kaye Dragicevich, Northland, runs Northland History on Facebook

Wharf Store (over the water ) 1910

These ongoing leasing issues for Richard Wrathall may have been the catalyst for Alexander McKay to purchase or lease the store across the road from his present business and move the operation there.

As the two sons grew up, the eldest, Alex Charles—known to locals as “Dick”—became a boatman. He acquired a launch to transport goods around the coastal towns of Northland, establishing himself as a vital link for local commerce. A defining moment in his seafaring career occurred very early on. In January 1910, while acting as the primary shipper for the flax produced at Messrs Bannerman and Stobo’s mill, Dick encountered treacherous sea conditions on what would prove to be a disastrous trip, ultimately losing his launch to the waves.

The News story

Reported 21 January 1910 “Coming out of the Aurere on Saturday morning, heavily loaded, it appears that “Dick” McKay’s launch shipped a large sea and in consequence thereof, the batteries being swamped and the current short circuiting, the boat became unmanageable, Noticing the predicament in which the launch was taken Norman Wyles, in the Dawn, went to McKay’s assistance, the Dawn being on voyage from Taipa to Mangonui. McKay anchored but lost his mud-hook, and though the Dawn tried to tow him. The launch went ashore on the main reef outside Otangi. As a result, we are advised that “ Dick ” McKay’s boat is a total wreck and that there is no chance of salvaging anything but a few fittings. The Dawn, which went to McKay’s assistance on Saturday, eventually put into Taipa and, on trying to reach Mangonui on the Saturday night’s tide, fouled her propeller with the seaweed in the mouth of the river and is now ashore on the sandbank at the entrance. The Dawn will probably be floated on tonight’s tide. The accident to “Dick” McKay’s launch means that the local flax-mill will be dependent—for carriage of flax—on its own twin-screw boat and the Dawn, and this may seriously handicap Messrs Bannerman and Stobo’s mill.

His son, Donald John—affectionately known as “Chappie”—naturally gravitated toward the business. Following his service in World War I, Chappie became indispensable to the storefront’s daily operations. He took over primary management after his father’s passing, and it came as no surprise when he formally inherited the property upon his mother’s death in 1933. In total, the store remained in the McKay family’s hands for forty years until Chappie’s son, and the last owner, Donald John’s estate (died in WW2), was wound up and sold.

WW1 and its aftermath

When World War I came to Mangonui, there was a huge patriotic response, and Chappie McKay signed up by travelling to Wellington and joining the New Zealand Infantry. He served overseas for three years and eventually came home in late 1919. 55 of the local men didn’t come home, and their sacrifice was remembered with a new War memorial at the waterfront

It’s assumed that on his return, Chappie took a more active role in the Wharf Store; his father was 65 and ready to retire, whether he did or not, there’s no record of it.

Marriage of Ivy Martha Wrathall and Chappie McKay. In Feb 1921, the two local families active in the local community were brought together when Ivy married Chappie

Alex McKay was very active in local politics. He, his son Chappie and his wife Ivy were on the Mangonui Development Board when it was formed in 1921, when it had a big push to promote Mangonui to the rest of New Zealand as a holiday location or business investment opportunity.

Retirement

When exactly the couple retired is not known, but Alex and Lydia likely retired in the 1920s, and their son Chappie ran the Store. Alex and Lydia relaxed more frequently, it seems, taking trips to Auckland and eventually owning a house in Bayswater.

Death 1927 Alexander McKay

Alexander died on 16 April 1927 in Dargarville, where he was visiting his daughter, May Lydia Irvine.

Timeline

Event	Date and Place	Comments
Alexander Mckay	1855, Clerkenwell
Lydia Jane Blencowe Birth	1859, Lambeth
1861 Census	1869 Lambeth, Surrey	Charles Blencowe 54 Jane Blencowe 19 Lydia Blencowe 1 Mary A Smith 14
Occupation Alex McKay	1871,St James, Clerkenwell, Middlesex	Book Binder
1881 Census	3 Apr 1881, 30 Chisholm Rd Stoke Newington	Alexander Mc Kay 55 Head Journeyman Jeweller Emigrated 1882 New Zealand Mary Fanny Mc Kay 52 Emigrated 1882 New Zealand Margaret Mc Kay 27 Emigrated Dressmaker to USA married Neck Alexander Mc Kay 26 Clerk Bookeepers Emigrated 1892 NZ married Lydia Jane Blencowe John Mc Kay 24 Purse Maker Emigrated 1882 New Zealand Susannah Mc Kay 22 Did not emigrate married Saich Jessie Mc Kay 19 Dressmaker Emigrated 1882 NX married Johnson William E. Mc Kay 18 Pursemaker Emigrated 1882 New Zealand Sarah A. Mc Kay 17 Dressmaker Did not Emigrate
Alex McKay Senior and family Emigrate	1882, Fairburn, Northland, New Zealand
Marriage	1886, London	Alexander Mackay and Lydia Jane Blencowe
Emigrated	18 Jan 1892, Auckland	Alex Mckay Lydia Mckay and Alex Charles Mckay
Birth of Lydia May Mckay	1893, Kaitai, Northland
Birth of Donald John Mckay	22 Feb 1894, Kaitai, Northland
Residence	1896, Fairburn, Northland	Electoral register
Occupation	1896 Fairburn, Northland	Farmer Kauri Gum Digger
Occupation	1900, Fairburn, Northland	Storekeeper
Residence	1905, Fairburn, Northland	Name Lydia Jane McKay and Alexander McKay Storekeeper Fairburn Electoral Year 1905-1906 Residence Place New Zealand District Bay of Islands
Occupation	1901, Mangonui, Mangonui General Store	Storekeeper. Kauri Gum Buyer and General provisions
Residence	1905, Fairburn, Northland	Name Lydia Jane McKay and Alexander McKay Storekeeper Fairburn Electoral Year 1905-1906 Residence Place New Zealand District Bay of Islands Region or Province Northland
Residence	1910, New Wharf Store, Mangonui	Stokekeeper
Death of Father Alexander Mckay	1911, Kaitai, Northland
Justice of the Peace	1922, Mangonui	Alex Mckay
Death Alex Mckay	16 Apr 1927, Dargaville, Northland	On April 16, at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Charles Irvine, Dargaville. Alexander McKay, dearly-beloved husband of Lydia McKay, of Bayswater. late of Mangonui; aged 72 years. Interment at Hillsborough Cemetery tomorrow (Wednesday), at 11 a.m.
Residence	Bayswater, Auckland	Lydia McKay
Death Lydia Mackay	6 Aug 1933, Bayswater, Auckland

Descendants

Alexander Charles ‘Dick’ McKay was single and a boatman all his life. There are many newspaper stories about events on the water, rescuing people and what he was carrying around the Bay of Island mostlt people, but also goods like Flax he had contracts for. He migrated to Auckland over time, as that would have been a better place for him to conduct his business from (not all the trip involved Mangonui stop-offs)

Sources

• Daphne Austins Blencowes Database
• Ancestry and Family Search
• Papers Past New Zealand Newsprint Archive
• NZ Historic Heritage PDF
• My thanks to Ross Cowie of New Zealand for sending me a copy of the property document for Beach Road.

Research Notes

• Wharf Store Mangonui- Documentation is scarce for this structure, believed to have been built c.1907 just after a period of road reconstruction and reclamation. Richard Theophilus Wrathall applied to the Marine Department in 1907 for a 14-year licence“to use and occupy part of the foreshore of Mangonui Harbour as a site for a building to be used as a warehouse and offices.” The Marine Department reported in 1908-1909 that a plan had been examined and approved for“Mr Wrathall’s house” at Mangonui.
• Background Information –––– Mangonui Store Alexander McKay arrived in New Zealand in 1892, and took up 150 acres at Fairburns. He moved to Mangonui in 1901, leasing a two-storied building next to the courthouse as a dwelling and store, before shifting across to Wrathall’s building from c.1910. His son Chappie McKay is credited with building the service jetty at the rear of the store, “for the convenience of customers who arrived by water, for bringing gum in on the family gumboat, and for berthing his launch, the Merita, on which he delivered orders to as far off as the Wilkin family at Broadies Creek on Karikari Peninsula …When the beachfront road was widened, Chappie McKay was given the contract to build the concrete wall, and with the help of others, was responsible for the planting of the lovely pohutukawas which grace Mangonui village.” Chappie McKay, who died in 1965, so after this the store changed hands, the jetty began to be removed by at least the early 1960s, and it is now a Four Square store. Lisa J Truttman 2016

Beach Road Property

The document below shows all the key dates for the property, and of particular interest, the fact that the property was in McKay ownership for years

• Lease No. 1883 Date: February 15, 1901, at 2:14 PM Transaction: Henry Littleproud leases the property to Alexander McKay of Mangonui, Storekeeper.
• Transfer No. 1450146 Date Produced: June 14, 1908, at 2:36 PM Transaction: A further transfer or adjustment involving Alexander McKay, recorded while he is operating as a local storekeeper.
• Transmission No. 1025626 Date Entered: October 27, 1927, at 11:18 AM Transaction: Legal transmission of the property interests following a death or estate settlement to Lydia McKay of Bayswater, Widow.
• Transmission No. 33415 Date Entered: December 13, 1935, at 2:25 PM Transaction: Legal transmission of estate interests to Alexander Charles McKay of Auckland.
• Transfer No. 261129 Date Produced: December 15, 1935, at 2:00 PM Transaction: Transfer from Alexander Charles McKay to Donald John McKay of Mangonui, Storekeeper. (This keeps the property and the storefront local to the McKay family line in Mangonui).
• Transfer No. 434927 Date Produced: February 18, 1948, at 11:30 AM Transaction: Donald John McKay transfers/sells the property out of the family name to A. M. Ironside Limited.

The property document for the 2-storey property on Beach Rd is posted below.