MORTON, Ellen Christine née BELL
Born 1891; died 12 November 1918; buried 14 November 1918; age 27
Nellie, as Ellen was known, left four young children when she died after a day’s illness in 1918. Although she left a husband, father to her children, they were raised in an orphanage and thought their father was dead.
Nellie was born in June 1891 in Peckham, (Camberwell) South London, only daughter of Daniel and Eliza Olive BELL (née DELASALLE) (i). Daniel, a local man, a licensed victualler’s pot man, maintained beer supplies in a public house, while Eliza was a laundress (ii).
Nellie had five brothers. In 1901 the two eldest, Herbert (21) and Charles (19) had left home (iii). Meanwhile Albert (15) was working as a stationer’s warehouseman and Henry (12) was a scholar. Nellie was 10 and her youngest brother William was 7.
By 1911 Nellie’s father and mother were accommodating just Henry Thomas, who at 23 was a tea packer, and William Robert at 17 who was a porter in a fancy goods bazaar.
Little is known about Nellie’s schooling or how she met her future husband, a local man, Arthur MORTON (b1885). In January 1911 she got married when she was 20 and he was 26, in Camberwell. In March they emigrated to New Zealand.
Born 1891; died 12 November 1918; buried 14 November 1918; age 27
Nellie, as Ellen was known, left four young children when she died after a day’s illness in 1918. Although she left a husband, father to her children, they were raised in an orphanage and thought their father was dead.
Nellie was born in June 1891 in Peckham, (Camberwell) South London, only daughter of Daniel and Eliza Olive BELL (née DELASALLE) (i). Daniel, a local man, a licensed victualler’s pot man, maintained beer supplies in a public house, while Eliza was a laundress (ii).
Nellie had five brothers. In 1901 the two eldest, Herbert (21) and Charles (19) had left home (iii). Meanwhile Albert (15) was working as a stationer’s warehouseman and Henry (12) was a scholar. Nellie was 10 and her youngest brother William was 7.
By 1911 Nellie’s father and mother were accommodating just Henry Thomas, who at 23 was a tea packer, and William Robert at 17 who was a porter in a fancy goods bazaar.
Little is known about Nellie’s schooling or how she met her future husband, a local man, Arthur MORTON (b1885). In January 1911 she got married when she was 20 and he was 26, in Camberwell. In March they emigrated to New Zealand.
Nellie and Arthur Morton around 1911
Arthur was the youngest of the 10 children of Fanny and Hastings Morton, a master bleacher and dyer of Peckham, Camberwell (iv). He had five brothers and four sisters born over 21 years. His mother died in 1910 (v), just the year before his own marriage.
When Arthur married and departed for Wellington, he left his father, who was retired, at home at 58 Crofton Road with four unmarried daughters and one son (vi). Arthur’s occupation is not known as he was not present for the 1911 census. His youngest sister married a New Zealand soldier and came to live in Wellington after WW1.
Nellie, who was pregnant, and Arthur were probably assisted migrants when they departed London on 2 March 1911 on the ship Tainui, arriving in Wellington on 18 April 1911 after travelling third class. Arthur gave his occupation as ‘farmer’.
Their first child, Arthur, was born shortly after their arrival but was premature and lived only 3 days. He was buried in the Karori Cemetery (in Public section, plot 54M on 25 April 1911) but the plot wasn’t paid for and the baby’s remains were later disinterred and buried between the rows of existing headstones.
When Arthur married and departed for Wellington, he left his father, who was retired, at home at 58 Crofton Road with four unmarried daughters and one son (vi). Arthur’s occupation is not known as he was not present for the 1911 census. His youngest sister married a New Zealand soldier and came to live in Wellington after WW1.
Nellie, who was pregnant, and Arthur were probably assisted migrants when they departed London on 2 March 1911 on the ship Tainui, arriving in Wellington on 18 April 1911 after travelling third class. Arthur gave his occupation as ‘farmer’.
Their first child, Arthur, was born shortly after their arrival but was premature and lived only 3 days. He was buried in the Karori Cemetery (in Public section, plot 54M on 25 April 1911) but the plot wasn’t paid for and the baby’s remains were later disinterred and buried between the rows of existing headstones.
Burial place of baby Arthur Morton, born 1911
Public section, plot 54M
Public section, plot 54M
On 17 October 1912 a second son was born and named Arthur Robert. He was followed by Herbert Daniel on 29 September 1914 (known as Bert), and Ellen Christina (Molly) on 17 March 1916. A further son named William Hastings, later known as Bill, arrived on 13 April 1918.
Nellie and Arthur made their home in Te Aro, living for a time at 8 Francis Place (vii) off Tory Street in 1914. Arthur worked as a driver.
Nellie and Arthur made their home in Te Aro, living for a time at 8 Francis Place (vii) off Tory Street in 1914. Arthur worked as a driver.
Arthur Morton and his sister Florence as children
Called up for military service in WWI, Arthur was placed on the second division of the army reserve roll in 1916–1917 but did not see active service. He listed his occupation as a cab-proprietor of 15 Sages Lane (at the back of Martin Square) (viii). It was from here that Nellie and Arthur’s oldest son started school on 5 February 1918 at Mt Cook Infants School, at the top of Taranaki Street.
Other than driving, Arthur worked at other enterprises to support his growing family. His grandchildren remember being told by their own dad Arthur (b 1912) that he had helped his father deliver milk by horse and cart in Wellington (ix). From a base in Sage’s Lane, it would have been very convenient to collect milk each day from the main milk depot in Tory Street for onward delivery on a milk round in the city.
Arthur had an enduring memory of his mother’s beautiful long dark hair that he sometimes brushed for her.
In 1918 Nellie succumbed to influenza while the family was still living in Sage’s Lane. She died suddenly on 12 November of pneumonia and influenza, which she had had for just 1 day. The epidemic was still reaching its peak; it is not clear whether Nellie had medical attention beforehand as none is recorded on her death certificate. This might have been because of the pressure of work on Dr H Faulke, who was called in to certify her death.
Many people died in the Te Aro area and not all those affected were able to be taken to one of the temporary hospitals set up to look after flu victims.
Nellie and Arthur’s children were just 6, 3, 2 years, and 7 months old (x).
The children were in care by 27 November 1918. On 27 November 1918 the Evening Post reported:
Epidemic Elsewhere
The matron of the Convalescent home Oriental Bay wishes to acknowledge with thanks donors for...clothing for MORTON children from:
Dr Gunn, Mrs J W Anderson, Mrs Barrie Martin, Mrs H Lattey, Mrs Spence, Mr Latham, Mrs Robinson, Mrs M H Browne, toys, books, Christine Browne, books
The children were later put into the Presbyterian Orphanage in Berhampore. Arthur junior’s Berhampore School admission record showed he was living at the orphanage on 4 February 1919. His previous school had been Mt Cook.
How Nellie’s children fared in the orphanage is unknown. It is believed the youngest, Bill, was fostered by a family in Khandallah.
Other than driving, Arthur worked at other enterprises to support his growing family. His grandchildren remember being told by their own dad Arthur (b 1912) that he had helped his father deliver milk by horse and cart in Wellington (ix). From a base in Sage’s Lane, it would have been very convenient to collect milk each day from the main milk depot in Tory Street for onward delivery on a milk round in the city.
Arthur had an enduring memory of his mother’s beautiful long dark hair that he sometimes brushed for her.
In 1918 Nellie succumbed to influenza while the family was still living in Sage’s Lane. She died suddenly on 12 November of pneumonia and influenza, which she had had for just 1 day. The epidemic was still reaching its peak; it is not clear whether Nellie had medical attention beforehand as none is recorded on her death certificate. This might have been because of the pressure of work on Dr H Faulke, who was called in to certify her death.
Many people died in the Te Aro area and not all those affected were able to be taken to one of the temporary hospitals set up to look after flu victims.
Nellie and Arthur’s children were just 6, 3, 2 years, and 7 months old (x).
The children were in care by 27 November 1918. On 27 November 1918 the Evening Post reported:
Epidemic Elsewhere
The matron of the Convalescent home Oriental Bay wishes to acknowledge with thanks donors for...clothing for MORTON children from:
Dr Gunn, Mrs J W Anderson, Mrs Barrie Martin, Mrs H Lattey, Mrs Spence, Mr Latham, Mrs Robinson, Mrs M H Browne, toys, books, Christine Browne, books
The children were later put into the Presbyterian Orphanage in Berhampore. Arthur junior’s Berhampore School admission record showed he was living at the orphanage on 4 February 1919. His previous school had been Mt Cook.
How Nellie’s children fared in the orphanage is unknown. It is believed the youngest, Bill, was fostered by a family in Khandallah.
Possibly taken in the Berhampore Presbyterian Orphanage, Nellie’s well-cared-for children.
From left they are Ellen, Bert, and Arthur Morton.
(With kind permission of Marion Hoult, granddaughter of Nellie and Arthur Morton)
From left they are Ellen, Bert, and Arthur Morton.
(With kind permission of Marion Hoult, granddaughter of Nellie and Arthur Morton)
Their father never remarried. The children had been led to believe that they were orphaned and only discovered their father had been alive since their mother's death after he died in 1956.
Electoral rolls show that Arthur continued to live in Sages Lane in 1919, at number 10. However, by 1928 he was working as a labourer and living at Palmer Head in Wellington. In 1949 he was living at 4 Moa Point Road. When Arthur died his ashes were interred with Nellie.
Electoral rolls show that Arthur continued to live in Sages Lane in 1919, at number 10. However, by 1928 he was working as a labourer and living at Palmer Head in Wellington. In 1949 he was living at 4 Moa Point Road. When Arthur died his ashes were interred with Nellie.
Arthur Morton, left, at Moa Point with a friend and their horses
The children kept in close contact with each other throughout their lives. Ellen who did not welcome being called ‘Molly’, was taken to Australia by the matron of the orphanage as a pre-teen. The matron, as a single person, was unable to adopt her but brought her up.
Ellen Morton, b1916, photo taken in Wellington
Ellen later married George Fairchild TODD and lived in Melbourne.
Nellie and Arthur’s daughter Ellen Morton at her marriage
in Melbourne to George Fairchild Todd in 1941
in Melbourne to George Fairchild Todd in 1941
Brothers Arthur and Bert managed farms together in the Manawatu. Bert died in 1935, at 20, from an eye disease. Nellie’s youngest son Bill married and lived in Lower Hutt, Palmerston North, and Auckland.
Unformed grave of Ellen Christine Morton née Bell in Church of England 2 section, plot 27 E
and the burial place of the ashes of her husband, Arthur Morton, who died 27 April 1956
and the burial place of the ashes of her husband, Arthur Morton, who died 27 April 1956
Researched by Philippa Parsons (granddaughter of Florence Morton and great niece of Arthur Morton) and written by Philippa Parsons and Jenny Robertson
(i) Eliza’s father Robert Delasalle 1823-1886 in an Ancestry family tree https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/13629146/person/12504382176/facts was a bootmaker born in Clerkenwell according to the 1861 England census, while his wife Mary Ann 1819-1867 was born in Gloucestershire and in 1861 worked in a chandler’s shop. Nellie’s mother Eliza was born in Islington.
(ii) 1901 England census
(iii) We can be confident that they had not died as the 1911 census required women to state the number of living children they had given birth to as well as the number dead. Nellie’s parents stated they had six in the former category.
(iv) Hastings Morton was born about 1839 in Newington, Surrey according to https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/24365187/person/26093555969/facts and died in 1917 at 40 Grove Lane, Camberwell.
(v) The probate calendar shows Fanny Morton of 58 Crofton Road, Camberwell, Surrey left effects worth £3629.18.11d.
(vi) The three other unmarried sisters worked as a costume and mantel designer, a milliner, and as a bookkeeper. Although there were two older sisters at home, with their father Hastings Morton 72 and retired, it fell to Alfred at 32 to fill in the census return. Maud predeceased her father in 1917 dying on 4 June while Hastings died on 24 July that year.
(vii) Named in memory of an ardent temperance worker Hon Francis Fraser MLC who lived there according to Fanny Irvine-Smith The streets of my city page 201.
(viii) Sages Lane was named after Mr CG Sage a sail-maker who had established a Sunday School later taken over by St John’s Church according to Fanny Irvine-Smith The streets of my city, page 199.
(ix) With thanks to Arthur Morton’s (b 1912) daughter Marion Hoult by email dated 12 July 2017 to Philippa Parsons.
(x) The age given for the baby on Nellie’s death record was 2 but this cannot be right as NZ BDM birth records show he was born in April 1918, so was around 7 months old. Ellen Christine Bell was also recorded as Ellen Christina Bell. She named her only daughter Ellen Christina and her name in Births, Deaths & Marriages was given as Ellen Christina but her birth in England and her death certificate state Ellen Christine Morton.
(i) Eliza’s father Robert Delasalle 1823-1886 in an Ancestry family tree https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/13629146/person/12504382176/facts was a bootmaker born in Clerkenwell according to the 1861 England census, while his wife Mary Ann 1819-1867 was born in Gloucestershire and in 1861 worked in a chandler’s shop. Nellie’s mother Eliza was born in Islington.
(ii) 1901 England census
(iii) We can be confident that they had not died as the 1911 census required women to state the number of living children they had given birth to as well as the number dead. Nellie’s parents stated they had six in the former category.
(iv) Hastings Morton was born about 1839 in Newington, Surrey according to https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/24365187/person/26093555969/facts and died in 1917 at 40 Grove Lane, Camberwell.
(v) The probate calendar shows Fanny Morton of 58 Crofton Road, Camberwell, Surrey left effects worth £3629.18.11d.
(vi) The three other unmarried sisters worked as a costume and mantel designer, a milliner, and as a bookkeeper. Although there were two older sisters at home, with their father Hastings Morton 72 and retired, it fell to Alfred at 32 to fill in the census return. Maud predeceased her father in 1917 dying on 4 June while Hastings died on 24 July that year.
(vii) Named in memory of an ardent temperance worker Hon Francis Fraser MLC who lived there according to Fanny Irvine-Smith The streets of my city page 201.
(viii) Sages Lane was named after Mr CG Sage a sail-maker who had established a Sunday School later taken over by St John’s Church according to Fanny Irvine-Smith The streets of my city, page 199.
(ix) With thanks to Arthur Morton’s (b 1912) daughter Marion Hoult by email dated 12 July 2017 to Philippa Parsons.
(x) The age given for the baby on Nellie’s death record was 2 but this cannot be right as NZ BDM birth records show he was born in April 1918, so was around 7 months old. Ellen Christine Bell was also recorded as Ellen Christina Bell. She named her only daughter Ellen Christina and her name in Births, Deaths & Marriages was given as Ellen Christina but her birth in England and her death certificate state Ellen Christine Morton.