Matilda Sheppard

Birth

Matilda Shepherd was born in June 1844 in Staleybridge, Cheshire, England, to parents James Shepherd and Matilda Radcliffe Shepherd. A baptism record exists for a Matilda Shepherd by these parents at St. Peter’s Church in Staleybridge on the 23rd of June in 1844.¹

Marriage

Matilda married John Bardsley in 1863 in Stockport, Cheshire, England.²

In 1871, the English census has Matilda and John Bardsley recorded as living at 98 Manchester Road in Denton township in Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire. Matilda’s birthplace is listed as being in Stalybridge, her age in 1871 was 26. Other household members included Matilda’s husband John, who was 30 years old, and was listed as being a Fur Farmer (if I read that correctly), and his birthplace was Stockport, Cheshire, England. Matilda’s eldest son William Julian Bardsley, aged 5, born in Stockport, Cheshire, England, also lived with them, and they also had a boarder named Mary Sheppard, aged 18, also born in Stockport, Cheshire, England.³

Emigration to New Zealand

In 1876, Matilda, her husband John, and their son William emigrated to New Zealand, they took the Ship Columbus from London to Otago on the 27th of May.⁴

The English Shipping news reported two other passengers with the surname Bardsley - a Jane Bardsley and a John Bardsley Jnr.⁵ It’s not clear if these two are related to Matilda and John, or what the nature of their relationship is, it will be worth looking into, though.

Children

Matilda and John had one son in England before moving to New Zealand:

• William Julian Bardsley was born in Stockport Cheshire, England, in the Oct-Dec quarter of 1865.⁶ William emigrated to New Zealand with his parents in 1876 at the age of 10. In 1897, William married Lucy Jane Jefcoate,⁷ and together they had three children: a son named Ernest Milton Bardsley, born on the 11th of February, 1898;⁸ a daughter named Winifred Jefcoate Bardsley, born on the 13th of February, 1899;⁹ and a daughter named Katrena Rosalind Bardsley, born on the 19th of November, 1905.¹⁰ William passed away on the 25th of May in 1946.¹¹

After settling in New Zealand, Matilda and John went on to have more children - I’m sure about two of them but still need to confirm one:

• John James Bardsley was born in 1878.¹² John married Mary Jane Angus around 1920.¹³ John died at age 46 in 1924.¹⁴

• Maude Bardsley was born in 1883.¹⁵ In 1925, Maude married George Henderson,¹⁶ unfortunately, Maude’s husband George died very young and the two had no children.
• Dan Bardsley was born on the 1st of January, 1889.¹⁷ Tragically, on the 29th of April, 1915, Matilda and John’s son Dan, who was returning home from the Dardanelles, having been invalided home, died at sea during the voyage home at the age of 26.¹⁸

Death

On Saturday the 2nd of September, 1916 around 5 p.m. Matilda, after spending time with her daughter Maude in the bedroom, left Maude and went out to the back of the house. About 5:30 p.m. John proceeded out to the back of the house where he found Matilda sitting on a box with a cut in her throat. An inquest held on the 5th of September determined that this wound was self-inflicted due to Matilda being mentally depressed by the death of her son, killed in action at the front. Matilda was admitted to hospital, but died 3 days later on the 5th of September, 1916.¹⁹ The newspapers report her age to be 70, whereas her official death record reports her age as 72.

Matilda and her husband John are buried in Dunedin Northern Cemetery in Lot 10-11, Block 100, alongside their sons Dan Bardsley and William Julian Bardsley.²⁰

References