The teenage governess whose story moved beyond Timaru
1845–1888
Mary Ann Gardiner, Mary Ann Williams and the reputed wife of James Coles
Mary Ann Gardner arrived at Lyttelton aboard the Indiana on 23 November 1858.
The passenger record lists Mary Ann as 13, travelling with her parents, Henry and Caroline Gardner, her sister Sarah and her brother Henry. Mary Ann and Sarah were entered as having been transferred to the single women’s section. The record does not explain why, and we should not assume that it proves Mary Ann was already employed or separated permanently from her family.
We do not yet know when Mary Ann reached Timaru. Later family research identifies her as a governess in Samuel Williams’s household, caring for the children he had with his first wife, Ann.
Nor do we know whether Mary Ann worked there before Ann’s death or was employed afterwards. The surviving account leaves both possibilities open.
Mary Ann married Samuel Williams at St Mary’s Church in Timaru on 2 March 1861. She appears to have been about 16. Their daughter Emily was born the following year. The original parish marriage entry and civil registration should be checked before every age and spelling is standardised.
The marriage later ended in separation. A family account written decades afterwards blamed Mary Ann, calling her immature, extravagant and deserting. That judgement tells us more about the perspective of its author than it does about Mary Ann’s experience. She was a teenage migrant married to a much older widower, but no surviving letter has yet been located in which she explains her own decisions.
Later research places Mary Ann on the West Coast with James Coles. His will reportedly described her as his reputed wife and appointed her trustee and executrix for their children. The original probate file should be inspected before its terms are quoted as settled fact.
Mary Ann reportedly died in Dunedin on 17 January 1888, aged about 43.
Her contribution cannot yet be measured through public office or a named institution. What her story reveals is the mobility and vulnerability of a young working woman whose labour as a governess, stepmother and mother became absorbed into histories written mainly about the men around her.
Read the WuHoo story: Who Was Sam Williams’ Governess, Later Wife?
Sources
Christchurch City Libraries: Indiana, 1858 passenger list
Confirms the ship’s departure and arrival dates and provides the original passenger-list pathway.
WuHoo: Who Was Sam Williams’ Governess, Later Wife?
Brings together passenger, family, marriage and probate leads while clearly identifying several unresolved questions.