George Morris Spurdle

George Morris SPURDLE was born in Wanganui in 1872. He became a builder, building homes in Wanganui. George was also a lay preacher in the Methodist Church. He married Marion Field in 1899 and they had five children. In 1913 George was building a house in Wanganui, but the clients were slow in payment and George's credit ran out. When the order came for another house, he decided to buy the timber direct from the sawmill and to pay cash for it. One morning he caught the train from Wanganui bound for the sawmills at Raurimu with a briefcase containing sufficient cash to cover the purchase of the timber. He changed trains at Marton, but did not arrive at the mill and no sign was seen of him again. George's disappearance caused hardship for his wife and family. Marion went back to school teaching and worked very hard to maintain her family. Ill health forced her retirement and she died in 1930 aged 62. The whereabouts of George was unknown to his New Zealand descendants for over a hundred years, but DNA analysis has allowed the discovery of the rest of his story. George left New Zealand, adopted the name George Douglas MORRIS and eventually settled in Washington, United States of America. Source: Chis Korte's New Zealand Genealogy Project.

Sources

1. Chis Korte's Genealogy Blog: 100 Year Mystery Solved – George Spurdle: https://chriskorte.wordpress.com/2020/12/15/100-year-mystery-solved...
2. Chis Korte's New Zealand Genealogy Project: https://cknzgp.net/getperson.php?personID=I577&tree=tree1