Sophia Anstice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sophia Anstice (née Catesby, 5 November 1849 – 1 August 1926) was a New Zealand dressmaker, draper and businesswoman who started a chain of dressmaking and drapery shops in 19th century New Zealand.[1]
Anstice was born on 5 November 1849 in Marylebone, London, England to Edward Catesby, a carpenter, and his wife Caroline Catesby (Bailey).
On 12 January 1873 Anstice married Edwin George King at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. A salesman for a plant seed company, King was the son of the well-known naturalist George Hoadley King.
On 26 October 1874, the couple traveled to New Zealand[2] as assisted immigrants with their son Edwin and King's younger brother, Henry. They arrived at Nelson on the ship Chile. The King family joined a pioneer party that would settle temporarily at Karamea; this was supposed to last from late 1874 through early 1875. The new settlers would receive inexpensive land in Karamea at a bargaining in exchange for labor on public buildings and public works for the new town.
However, it was a poor deal for the King family and the other settlers; Karamea had infertile soil and was very remote. All the settlers had a difficult time surviving. Anstice and King's second child died just a few hours after birth. They did not have a properly consecrated burial ground to inter the infant. According to the King family records on the burial of their second child: Henry King made a coffin out of a packing case. He then carried the coffin with the infant inside several miles to a cemetery.
In 1876, the King family relocated to a homestead further up the Karamea River that had better soil. They were able to plant seeds that Edwin King had brought from England.
In 1878, the family moved to Nelson. Anstice had her third child there, a daughter Lilian Jane King. During this period, Edwin King senior developed tuberculosis, which disabled him. Antice now became the primary provided for the family. In 1879, her fourth child, Harriet Louise King, was born in Nelson.