josephgrigg

JOSEPH GRIGG (parents WILLIAM GRIGG and ELIZA SNELL)

b. 25 February 1843

d. c. 1909?

Married KARENHAPPUCH VARCOE (parents JACOB VARCOE and SOPHIA RICHARDS) in St Austell, Cornwall, England on 27 October 1867.

b. 4 August 1846 in Grampound, St Stephens, St Austell, Cornwall, England.

d. 12 January 1920, Palmerston North.

JOSEPH GRIGG

"According to family stories, Joseph Grigg regularly used to give a gold sovereign in the Brunnerton church plate to help out (he was in the Salvation Army).

In 1887 Joseph (assuming Joseph Senior) was recorded on the Electoral Roll for Gremouth (a miner). In 1905/06 Joseph and Karenhappuch and their son Joseph reappeared on the roll for Grey. Joseph Grigg (father) was listed as a labourer, Kerenhappuch as married and Joseph (son) as a miner at Runanga, 25 km north of Greymouth."

Baptism Certificate: St Dennis, Bible Christian Chapel. Fathers occupation: Tinner.

Marriage Certificate: JOSEPH was 24 years old when he married, KEREN-HAPPUCH was 21. JOSEPH was a 'Quarryman in China, Stone work. KEREN-HAPPUCH was a 'liver at home'. They were both resident in St Dennis. WILLIAM GRIGG was an Agricultural Labourer whilst JACOB was a China Clay Laborer. KEREN-HAPPUCH signed the marriage certificate with an 'x'. Susan Clemo and Elizabeth Ann Rowe witnessed the wedding.

There are multiple examples of KARENHAPPUCH's name in most of the documents, and as she was illiterate it doesn't help!

KARENHAPPUCH VARCOE

Meaning of Karenhappuch: This name appears in the bible (Job 42, Verse 14) and was the name of Job's third daughter. Its translation from Hebrew is the 'horn of antimony', a black paint used for eyeshadow.

"She was often refered to by her family as either Kate or Happie.

Her first appearance on the Electoral Roll was for the Grey electorate in 1897.

All the children (with the exception of Israel) attended Brunnerton School, located in Taylorville (from 1885 - 1900). Records suggest that all of them completed Standard 6, leaving school at 13.

She was considered to be a very 'prim and proper' lady, and George's and Emily's children would later say of her that 'she wouldn't say bum to a rosy apple'! She was extremely fastidious, even resorting to taking off her work apron and donning a clean white one while she made her bed! She lived with George and Emily in Albert Street for about a year before she died. On the day she died, the Salvation Army folk said their prayers loudly in the front room of the house

The Grey Electoral Roll for 1911 indicates Karenhappuch, son Joseph, Israel and his wife Bertha, were living in Taylorville at the time.

Karenhappuch moved to Plamerston North c. 1919."1

Birth Certificate: JACOBs' occupation was given as a farmer.

Death Certificate: Ref - 1920/411. She died at 30 Albert Street, Palmerston North, and was a widow. She was 73 years old when she died, and the cause of death was valvular heart disease. Her father was JACOB VARCOE, but her mothers name and maiden name were not written. JABOB's profession was given as a labourer. She had lived in New Zealand for 34 years before she died, and was born in Cornwall, England (the name on this certificate is given as 'Kerenhappuch'). She married JOSEPH in Cornwall, England, when she was 21 years old. Ages of children when she died: M - 50, 39, 34, F - 41, 36.

She is buried in the Terrace End Cemetery, Palmerston North (under the name Keren Happah Grigg). Her address was given as 30 Albert Street, and she was 73 years old when she died. Area in Cemetery: TE; Cemetery block: 51; Plot number: 008. The plot purchaser was George Mutch.

Children of JOSEPH GRIGG and KARENHAPPUCH VARCOE are:

i JOHN GRIGG, b. 1868 in St Austell, Cornwall, England; d. 1881 in Moonta of heart disease.

ii ISRAEL GRIGG, b. 1870 in St Austell, Cornwall England; d. April 1936, Palmerston North. Married BERTHA LOUISA ROSS in 1903, b. 1860; d. 1935 (no children). He died 66 Years old and a miner. Buried in the same plot as KARENHAPPUCH (at the same address).

iii ANGELINA GRIGG, b. 25 October 1877, Moonta, New South Wales, Australia; d. 16 January 1933, Palmerston North. Married GEORGE BURROWS on 24 June 1900 in Brunnerton, New Zealand.

iv JOSEPH CORNELIUIS GRIGG, b. 8 September 1880 in Moonta Mines, South Australia; d. 17 November 1957, Palmerston North. Interred 19 November 1957. Lived at 47 Albert Street, Palmerston North. Buried in the Kelvin Grove Cemetery, Area M, Block 013, Plot 40. Arthur Mutch purchased the plot. He became a patient in Awapuni Hospital.

v EMILY KATE GRIGG, b. 27 February 1883 in Cross Roads, near Moonta, South Australia; d. 19 August 1957 in Palmerston North. Married GEORGE MUTCH on 20 August 1903. She was living at 47 Albert Street.

vi JOHN GRIGG, b. 1885; d. 1948. Married JANE CRAWFORD in 1920, b. 1893; d. 1967. Daughter MARGARET GRIGG, b. 1921. (Source: Karin McKenna). Fought in WW1, and worked as a Wellington harbour Board employee (his wife was a war bride from England).

viii JOSEPH GRIGG, b. c1873 en-route to Australia. Death certificate ordered for 1875 in St Austell.

Immigration

Queensland Immigration Index: Joseph Grigg, 29, indented, arrive Rockhampton Oct 24 1873, ex London July 15 1873 on PS Landsborough; Kate, 27; John, 6; Isabel, 4 (Transcription error?); Joseph, born at sea. They settled in the South Australian mining town of Moonta. (Note: Information thanks to Terry Grigg)

On the Public Records Office in Victoria: Mrs Grigg, 27, Israel Grigg, 4, John Grigg, 6, and an infant, 1, went to London in November 1874 on the 'Essex'.

Therefore, this would have to mean that after Karenhappuch emigrated to Australia, she pretty much turned around and came back to the UK. She then would have had to go back to Australia by 1877 in order to be there for the birth of Angelina? Could this be because she was trying to get home before here father died? He died December 1874?

It appears that KARENHAPPUCH and JOSEPH and family relocated to New Zealand around 1885 - 1885. They settled in the South Island (Taylorville).

Census

1871 Census (Link):

55,Menna,1: Joseph Grigg,Head,M,28, China Stone Labourer; Karanhappuch Grigg,Wife,M, 24,Labourer's Wife; John Grigg,Son,U,3, Labourer's Son; Israel Grigg,Son, 1, Labourer's Son; Jacob Varcoe,Boardr,W,62, Pauper broke leg.

Information from Cornwall Family Finders (www.cornwall-online.co.uk/cornwall-family-finders):

"The Bible Christian movement or Bryonites as they were sometimes kown, were a relatively new offshoot of the Wesleyan Methodist Faith which became very popular amongst the Cornish in the late 18th and 19th centuries following the teachings of John Wesley and his followers. Wesley's teachings put the Gospels into much simpler language than had been the case with the traditional Church of England and this found favour with large numberes of ordinary working folk in Cornwall and in other parts of England. William Bryant or O'Bryan (depending on which vereesion of history you look at) was from Luxulyan in Cornwall, just a few miles from St. Dennis and the area where the Varcoe and Grigg families lived and he began a new branch of the Methodist Faith in 1815, calling it the Bible Christian Movement. They were also known as the Bryonites, a title derived from his name. It appears then that the Grigg family of St. Dennis were some of the first to be converted to this new Faith, possibly as early as the 1820's or 1830's.

From a quick look at baptism records it appears likely that John Varcoe was a brother to Jacob, who was in turn the father of Karenhappuch, and that James Varcoe was certainly related in some way, posssibly a cousin to John and Jacob.

Given some of the family names like Joshua, Caleb, Isaac, Abram and so on, it is quite apparent that the family were quite deeply religious as these names, and indeed Karenhappuch herself are all taken from the Old Testament, stories which would have been known and preached each Sunday to these families by their Minister at the Bible Christian Chapel in St. Dennis.

All of the place names which appear on these census pages are still to be found on modern maps of the area and are all within a short distance of each other in the Goss Moor area of mid-Cornwall, now crossed by the main A.30 road.

Where some family members were at the time of the 1851 and 1861 census remains a mystery."

1. Much of the information on this page comes from Michael Howell.

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