Following a Timaru daughter to Waimate
1863–1936
Woollcombe family
Jaquette Mary Woollcombe was born in Timaru in 1863, the daughter of Frances Anne and Belfield Woollcombe of Ashbury.
She later married and became Jaquette Mary Bradshaw. Cemetery and genealogical records place her death at Waimate on 6 January 1936 and her burial in Waimate Old Cemetery. These details should still be confirmed through the civil death registration and the official cemetery record. (findagrave.com)
Her movement from Timaru to Waimate connects two prominent early South Canterbury household histories, but very little has yet been found about what Jaquette herself did after marriage.
The present WuHoo story links her with a rose said to have been given to Effie Studholme when Effie arrived at Te Waimate in 1860. That attribution cannot be correct as currently written. Jaquette was born in 1863, three years after Effie’s arrival. (wuhootimaru.co.nz) (findagrave.com)
The original account may have named Mrs Woollcombe, which would more plausibly refer to Jaquette’s mother, Frances. It may also have referred to another woman or to a later gift. The original memoir or family source must be checked before the rose is connected with any particular person.
This correction does not remove Jaquette from the story. It gives the research a clearer direction.
Who did she marry? Where did the Bradshaw family live? Did she participate in church, education, charitable work, farming or business in Waimate? Did correspondence survive between her and her sisters Laura, Katherine or Frances?
At present, Jaquette’s importance lies in recovering an individual woman from a family narrative in which the father’s public offices and the sisters’ better-documented work dominate.
She can be securely placed in Timaru and later Waimate. What she contributed there remains the question the next records need to answer.
Read the WuHoo story: The Cuddy, the Women and the Gifted Rose
Sources
Jaquette Mary Woollcombe Bradshaw cemetery record
Provides the reported 1863–1936 dates, parentage and Waimate burial. It is a secondary source requiring official confirmation. (findagrave.com)
WuHoo: The Cuddy, the Women and the Gifted Rose
Provides the rose and Waimate research leads, but also contains the chronological error that must be corrected. (wuhootimaru.co.nz)