Frances Poole (Alexander (but born Williams))

Frances' grave records that, on her death in October 1942, she was 71 years of age, which puts her date of birth at about 1871/2.

Family history has had it for many years that Frances was the grand-daughter of one William Alexander, sawmiller of Kawakawa and Mere Toepi (aka Mary Toby), of the Rawhiti hapu of the Nga Puhi. It has been suggested that her parents were Henry And Ellen Alexander, of Kawakawa.

In fact, research now establishes that Frances was born to Mere Topi, of Te Kapotai hapu of Nga Puhi. At birth, Frances was named Mihi Pane by Mere. Her father was Thomas Williams, publican of the National
Hotel in Kawakawa, bigamist and son of the Australian convict Barnard Williams. The Williamses left Kawakawa while Mere was pregnant and do not feature in her life story again. Frances acknowledged Thomas Williams as her father on her marriage certificate when she married James Godfrey Poole.

The explanation for the fact that family tradition does not match the records is that Thomas Williams was already married to Elizabeth Kennedy. The baptism certificate for Mere's child gives her name as Mihi Pane. Although Thomas Williams is recorded as the father, baptism certificates did not require signatures in those days and it is impossible to know whether Thomas was present, or whether he acknowledged paternity or even whether he knew of the child's birth, though it is probable that he knew of Mere's pregnancy.

Mere then married William Alexander, a widower storekeeper of Kawakawa in May 1873, already pregnant to him. Little Mihi Pane's half-sister Isabella would be born in September 1873. On marrying Mere, William then raised Mihi Pane as his own daughter, calling her Frances Alexander.

Mere and William Alexander had five further children, including Isabella, between 1873 and 1888. Sadly, in the Northern Advocate of 21 February 1891, there is a report of the death of William Alexander's "second eldest daughter" Isabella. Isabella had been baptised on 9 September 1873, according to the Anglican baptism records for Kawakawa and was the eldest daughter (indeed, the eldest child) of William and Mary. With Frances having been informally adopted by William, however, she would have been known as the eldest daughter, relegating Isabella to being the second eldest daughter, consistent with the Northern Advocate article.

This does join up the various dots, except for the family recollection that 'Mary Toby' and William Alexander were Frances' grandparents. But perhaps that was something of a smokescreen to cover the fact that William was raising a child not his own. The misunderstanding might also have arisen from the fact that Mere Topi's own mother was also called Mary Toby.

Jean Hedges' excellent work on Anglican Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths in the Bay of Islands 1840-1899 has filled in several holes. Frances' birth records have been elusive until now because she was baptised on 28 June 1872 as Mihi Pane Williams, with her parents recorded as Thomas and Mere of Kawakawa.

Mihi Pane would have been about one year old when William Alexander took her into the family and gave her the name Frances. She never knew any other father.

It is proper to regard Frances as having been adopted by William Alexander, even if informally. The identity of her real father was known to her though, because on her marriage to James Godfrey Poole in 1890, she recorded her parents as Thomas Williams and Mary Williams (nee Toby).

In terms of establishing that Thomas George Williams was the natural father of Mihi Pane (Frances) it is significant to note the following:

1. In the crucial years 1871-1872, the electoral rolls do not disclose any other Thomas Williams living in Kawakawa.

2. One month after Mary Toby's child Mihi Pane was baptised, Elizabeth Williams gave birth to a child as well. The following year, she and TGW left Kawakawa for Auckland.

3. TGW had already committed bigamy when he married Elizabeth Kennedy in Australia. Probably unknown to her, his first wife, Agnes Henderson, who he had married in Sydney on 15/3/1841 did not die until a month after TGW married EW on 17/7/1852 in Melbourne.

4. There is only one other Thomas Williams mentioned in connection with Kawakawa that I have been able to find, and he seems an unlikely candidate. That TW was one of three men who signed on to work at the Kawakawa Coal Mine in late 1870. They signed on at Thames. They then reneged on the contract, unhappy with the money, and the Mine had them prosecuted for breach of contract. They were convicted by two JPs in the Magistrates' Court in Auckland in January/February 1871 and sentenced to a month's hard labour. That was overturned on appeal, however. There is no further mention of the fate of that Thomas Williams and I cannot find any record to say that he even went to Kawakawa at all.