WEAVER, William Victor and Mabel Vera née THOMPSON
William born 1887; died 11 November 1918; buried 13 November 1918; age 31
Mabel born 1887; died 15 November 1918, buried 17 November 1918; age 31
The WEAVERs, who were both 31 when they died of influenza a few days apart in November 1918, lived at 3 John Street, Newtown. William died first, on 11 November, and his wife, Mabel four days later, on 15 November.
William’s parents Frederick William (a carpenter, known as Fred) and Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth née LORD had married in 1886 and their first child, William Victor, was born in September 1887. Two more sons and a daughter were born between 1888 and 1901. Growing up in Wellington, William attended school first at Te Aro Infants’ School from 1892 (now the site of the Augusta Apartments – previously the Children’s Dental Clinic) while the family was living nearby in Victoria Place and then Martin Square. William graduated in 1896 to the main Te Aro School (on the same site but accessed directly from upper Willis Street) and left a few weeks later for Mt Cook Boys’ School where he completed his education.
William born 1887; died 11 November 1918; buried 13 November 1918; age 31
Mabel born 1887; died 15 November 1918, buried 17 November 1918; age 31
The WEAVERs, who were both 31 when they died of influenza a few days apart in November 1918, lived at 3 John Street, Newtown. William died first, on 11 November, and his wife, Mabel four days later, on 15 November.
William’s parents Frederick William (a carpenter, known as Fred) and Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth née LORD had married in 1886 and their first child, William Victor, was born in September 1887. Two more sons and a daughter were born between 1888 and 1901. Growing up in Wellington, William attended school first at Te Aro Infants’ School from 1892 (now the site of the Augusta Apartments – previously the Children’s Dental Clinic) while the family was living nearby in Victoria Place and then Martin Square. William graduated in 1896 to the main Te Aro School (on the same site but accessed directly from upper Willis Street) and left a few weeks later for Mt Cook Boys’ School where he completed his education.
Te Aro Main School, Willis Street, c. 1910
Littleburys (Firm). Creator unknown :Photograph of Te Aro School, Willis Street, Wellington. Ref: PAColl-9062
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23174405
Littleburys (Firm). Creator unknown :Photograph of Te Aro School, Willis Street, Wellington. Ref: PAColl-9062
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23174405
In 1900 electoral rolls show the Weaver family living in Hanson Street, Newtown, but by 1911 they were living at 125 Wallace Street, on the border of Mt Cook and Newtown, in one of a series of wooden cottages of similar design, long and narrow (one room wide), built for working families. Their house, well maintained and still extant today, was occupied by Fred and Fanny until their deaths in 1945/46.
125 Wallace Street, 2017
After leaving school William worked as a driver of horse-drawn vehicles. In 1912 he married Victoria Mabel EGGERS (known as Mabel), one of the 12 Lutheran children born in Upper Moutere to German migrants. On 30 April 1914, she gave birth to a son at St Helen’s Hospital in Newtown. They named him Victor Frederick Weaver, but William’s joy was short-lived when Mabel died, three weeks later, on 20 May 1914. Victoria was buried 2 days later in the Public section of Karori Cemetery. Her plot remains unmarked in any way, and has probably never been paid for.
After leaving school William worked as a driver of horse-drawn vehicles. In 1912 he married Victoria Mabel EGGERS (known as Mabel), one of the 12 Lutheran children born in Upper Moutere to German migrants. On 30 April 1914, she gave birth to a son at St Helen’s Hospital in Newtown. They named him Victor Frederick Weaver, but William’s joy was short-lived when Mabel died, three weeks later, on 20 May 1914. Victoria was buried 2 days later in the Public section of Karori Cemetery. Her plot remains unmarked in any way, and has probably never been paid for.
The following year William Weaver married again – to another Mabel – Mabel Vera THOMPSON. Her parents, Charlotte Louisa née SIMKIN and Thomas William Thompson had married in New Zealand in 1878 and had a family of six, three boys and three girls, of whom Mabel was the youngest. Mabel was born in Dunedin in 1887 and apart from time her family spent in Temuka in 1890, she seems to have largely grown up in Wellington where she attended Newtown School in 1895 and Wellington South School in 1897. An obituary for Mabel’s father tells us he had come to New Zealand from London as a young man and engaged in various commercial pursuits in different parts of the Dominion. For many years, he worked as a commercial traveller for Messrs W&T Staples and Co (boot and shoe maker). By 1916 Mabel’s father had a bakery in Whakatane where Mabel’s mother, Charlotte, died that year and in 1918 her father remarried and started a new family.
We have no information about Mabel’s employment or interests or how she met her husband before they married in 1915. The couple had no children of their own though presumably it fell to Mabel to look after the pre-schooler Victor. Several of her siblings remained living in Wellington after their parents moved away and kept in close contact with Mabel.
William and Mabel set up home at 3 John Street after their marriage, only a few minutes’ walk away from his family home in Wallace Street. Their address is now occupied, along with other neighbouring sites by a Countdown supermarket.
In February 1918 William had an encounter with the legal system when he was charged in the magistrate’s court ‘for leaving a horse-drawn vehicle unattended, without taking the precaution to chain the wheels’. The penalty was 10 shillings with costs 28 shillings, which must have been an unwelcome expense.
When the flu epidemic started William’s occupation as a driver would have exposed him to infection, particularly if he was dealing in some way with the public. He was infected in the early days of the epidemic, and died at his home on Armistice Day, 11 November. He was buried in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery on the 13th. Mabel was probably too ill to attend the burial. She had been taken to the Alexandra Hall temporary hospital at 56 Abel Smith Street, where she died a mere four days after William. She was interred with him on the 17th in the freshly occupied grave in Karori Cemetery.
In a relatively short time, Mabel seems to have become a valued member of her husband’s family, members of whom inserted In Memoriam notices in the Evening Post until 1924 acknowledging both William and Mabel.
We have no information about Mabel’s employment or interests or how she met her husband before they married in 1915. The couple had no children of their own though presumably it fell to Mabel to look after the pre-schooler Victor. Several of her siblings remained living in Wellington after their parents moved away and kept in close contact with Mabel.
William and Mabel set up home at 3 John Street after their marriage, only a few minutes’ walk away from his family home in Wallace Street. Their address is now occupied, along with other neighbouring sites by a Countdown supermarket.
In February 1918 William had an encounter with the legal system when he was charged in the magistrate’s court ‘for leaving a horse-drawn vehicle unattended, without taking the precaution to chain the wheels’. The penalty was 10 shillings with costs 28 shillings, which must have been an unwelcome expense.
When the flu epidemic started William’s occupation as a driver would have exposed him to infection, particularly if he was dealing in some way with the public. He was infected in the early days of the epidemic, and died at his home on Armistice Day, 11 November. He was buried in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery on the 13th. Mabel was probably too ill to attend the burial. She had been taken to the Alexandra Hall temporary hospital at 56 Abel Smith Street, where she died a mere four days after William. She was interred with him on the 17th in the freshly occupied grave in Karori Cemetery.
In a relatively short time, Mabel seems to have become a valued member of her husband’s family, members of whom inserted In Memoriam notices in the Evening Post until 1924 acknowledging both William and Mabel.
William’s parents died in 1945 (Frances) and 1946 (Fred) and were interred with William and Mabel.
Nothing has been found out about what happened to Victor Frederick Weaver after his father and stepmother had both died when he was still only four years old, but with many family members close by he may have been brought up by his wider family. He was cremated at Karori when he died in 1976.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 21 E
Nothing has been found out about what happened to Victor Frederick Weaver after his father and stepmother had both died when he was still only four years old, but with many family members close by he may have been brought up by his wider family. He was cremated at Karori when he died in 1976.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 21 E