Following a family line from County Antrim to Seadown
c.1838–1911
Farming families
Seadown
Family research places Ellen Gardner’s birth around 1838 at Ballyeaston in County Antrim, Ireland. She is identified as the daughter of farmer James Gardner and Mary Jackson. No baptism or civil record has yet been attached to confirm those details.
Ellen travelled from London to Lyttelton aboard the Mermaid, leaving in October 1864 and arriving in January 1865. That voyage is documented, but Ellen has not yet been securely identified on the surviving passenger list. Her name may have been misspelt.
By 1868, Ellen was recorded in family research as a domestic servant living in Christchurch. She married William Frederick Clarke at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on 8 April that year. The couple later lived at Leeston and Ngapara before settling at Seadown by the early 1890s. They raised nine children. Ellen reportedly died at Timaru Hospital in December 1911, aged 73, and was buried with William at Timaru Cemetery.
Her profile is presently most useful as an honest history hunt. It shows how one woman’s name can connect Ireland, Christchurch, North Otago and South Canterbury, while also demonstrating how much family history can depend on one unverified ship entry.
Read the existing WuHoo story: Finding Ellen Gardner: My Sixth-Generation Connection to New Zealand