Legacy of Ann Williams

Where is Ann..? I've been on a whale hunt... to learn about a chapter in the South Canterbury Jubilee History that was written in 1916... it's a thick, heavy, dense book that smells of that old library decaying animal glue that binds the pages. I'm lucky that my dad Geoff has a copy because they are pretty rare... It's full of nuggets of history and the whaling chapter is really interesting... and now with so much more information available online and people's research, there are interesting stories to find and share...

Ann Williams (nee Mahoney) Born 1823 Cork Ireland – Died 1860 Timaru New Zealand. (Thought to have Married Sam, in Australia Ballatat 1850? Sam was there hoping to strike it rich the Australian goldfields). She was Samuel Williams first wife.

She and Sam moved to Timaru, New Zealand after living in Ballarat Australia around 1856 and became among the first permanent European settlers in Timaru. It was recorded that she lived in Timaru for 16 years, but doing the math, I think it is 6, where she raised her family with Sam in a cottage on a beach at the foot of George Street. They lived in a daub cottage on the beach on Geroge Street, and according to Archdeacon Harper’s 1857 journal, they constituted the entire white population of Timaru at the time, along with their daughter and son who Harper baptized. Ann Williams played a foundational role in early colonial Timaru in a very rugged and isolated period of settlement as Pākehā settlement Pākehā women. Ann worked with her husband to host and accommodate early travellers and dignitaries such as surveyors, government officials, and association leaders who stayed at their modest home before proper inns existed. Their cottage later became a lodging house and general store, providing food and shelter to settlers and officials in difficult conditions.

Samuel Williams and his wife adapted their cob cottage into a general store and boarding house, hosting many notable travelers, such as: Henry Sewell (Agent for Canterbury Association), Dr. Rayner (Temuka Road Board and Provincial Council member), Charles Torlesse and Samuel Hewlings (Surveyors), Mr. Woollcombe (First Magistrate). Early travelers recalled the high prices and rough conditions—simple meals and sleeping on blankets on the bare floor or rough bunks. In April 1858, Williams officially applied for and received a publican’s license.  At the time, there were only four licensed accommodation houses in the Timaru district: John Giles at Orari, Joseph Deans at Arowhenua and Henry Cain and Samuel Williams in Timaru. Williams had already been running a public house before obtaining his official license.

"In March 1859 section 20 of Rhodestown was sold for 24 pounds 1 rood and 8 perchesto Sam Williams." The deed is dated 13 September 1859 and shows the position of the hotel - the first in Timaru. It was included in the sale of the section. Willias also had a landing place further south fronting section 15 on which stood the Rhodes wool store. This landing was used infrequently. When Williams vacated to move to teh Timaru Hotel, it was occupied by Captain Scott, Rhodes' Brothers Ageng. In 1867 it passed into the hands of S S Griffin who retained it unti l1872, when it was sold for fourteen pounds and demolished to make way for commercial progress. Its such a shame the cottage wasn't retained for its legacy and built history.

She died 1860, aged 36, after collapsing in the doorway of Timaru's first hotel, that they owned, Timaru Hotel. The Club Hotel was rebuilt on this site after a fire.

She had two children, her daughter Rebecca Williams was born in Ballarat Australia 1854. Died February 13 1896, buried in Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch.

Her son William was born September 22, 1856 in Timaru New Zealand. Died July 10, 1936 in Greymouth, New Zealand.

Her death left Sam with young children (Rebecca was about 6 years old and her son William was 3), and within a year he remarried 1861 Mary Ann Gardner who was 25 years younger than him, I think she was around 16 year old at the time, and was their governess. They had a child together, a step sister for Rebecca and William. In his later years, Williams suffered due to a younger second wife and personal struggles with alcohol. Sam Williams was seen as one of the last living links to the early days of the whaling and Māori coastal trade era in New Zealand. Sam died aged 66 in 1883 and is buried in the Timaru cemetery with a headstone erected by his friends. 

Samuel Williams had lived in Timaru earlier as a whaler for two seasons. He was the "boat-steerer" of the crew; they set up boiling pots at the head of Caroline Bay and Patiti Point. After the Weller Brothers went bankrupt, Williams went to work for Messrs Rhodes at Kaituna station on the Ellesmere side of Banks Peninsula. When the station was overstocked, he recommended moving into South Canterbury, leading Rhodes to invest in that area. The first sheep were brought to the Rhodes "Levels" station in 1851.

Williams oversaw the building of the first house on the beach near the current site of Evan's grain store. He acted as overseer and helped develop several other sheep stations in South Canterbury. He raced over to to the gold feilds in Ballarat Australia where he met Ann, had a child and moved back to Timaru in 1854. Rapid growth and demand for de-pasturing licenses followed; accommodation demand led Williams to charge for lodging and meals. Many old settlers recalled the high prices and basic living arrangements provided to travelers. Eventually, the Rhodes brothers built a small hotel on the site of what became the Club Hotel. Williams took over this hotel and later built another, the Timaru Hotel. George Rhodes farmed until his untimely death from a chill in1864. 

As the first settlers, Ann, a wife and mother, she helped anchor her family during a pioneering phase that involved hardship, hospitality, and hard work. Her early death cut short a life of resilience and service, but she remains a vital part of the story of Samuel Williams and of Timaru’s colonial origins. 

Left: Looking out to the pauper burial area at the Timaru Cemetery. Center:  St Mary's Death Register, Ann is number 12 on the list, November 18 1860. Right: the grave for Samuel Williams erected by his friends. - Photos Roselyn Fauth

Yankie Sam returned with his wife Ann (Ann Mahoney (b. 1823, Cork, Ireland – d. 1860) and their daughter Rebecca to settle in Timaru. The Williams family was one of the very early European pioneers to live in the area, and Sam and Ann were parents to the first recorded birth of a European baby in the area. (His cradle was a gin crate, see if you can find the juniper berry crate at CPlay, which is a wee nod to their son, William Williams, Timaru's first European babe).

The cased and coloured ambrotype pictured here. ... shows Rebecca and William Williams, the children of one of our earliest settlers Samuel and Ann Williams. Rebecca Hobbs born 1854 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, and died 1856 buried in Linwood Cemetery, Christchurhc. It would have been a relatively rare and expensive item for a working man like Sam. His story, which also mentions his son William Williams, born 1856 in Timaru, was the first European child born in Timaru and used a gin crate as his crib. - South Canterbury Museum 3438. 

"Lately, travelling by rail from Christchurch to Timaru, I met two who were greatly taken with the prosperous appearance of the country. I told them that fifty years ago the place was a mere lonely wilderness of grass, and that all they saw,—farms, houses roads, villages, townships, was the work of a handful of people, who to-day do not number 30,000 in South Canterbury. "Difficult to believe" was the response, "they must be a grand lot of workers." Machinery accounts for much, but the fact remains that here men do more than at home; wages are higher, there is always the chance for all of making money and rising in the social scale." -  Archdeacon Henry William Harper 1894. July 1st. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Letters_from_New_Zealand,_1857-1911/Letter_18

A ship crate at CPlay Caroline Bay Playground featuring juniper berries. This is a nod to Ann and Sam, Rebecca and William Williams whose His cradle was a gin crate. (We didn't think alchol reference in a playground was a great idea, so we went with juniper berries to be more subtle!) - Photograph Roselyn Fauth

Their home was a small cottage on the beach, next door to where the landing services building is today. The cottage was built by George Rhodes as his first home with his wife Elizabeth, who, with his brothers, established an enormous sheep station The Levels, and acquired a lot of land, including all of Timaru's CBD. See if you can spy the plaque on the Landing Services Building.

Here you can see the boat launch at the foot of George Street, the Landings Service Building and beside, in the center the Rhodes cottage. Section from Hocken Snapshop hocken.recollect.co.nz/24023

First edition of the Timaru Herald was printed in the Williams kitchen on George Street - June II 1864 - Vol 1 No 1 I haven't been able to confirm if it was the kitchen of the Hotel or the cottage. But the cottage was still standing at the time the edition was printed. 

Medinella Fauth points to the plaque on the Timaru Landing Services Building - Photo Roselyn Fauth

When the Williams family vacated the cottage to move into the Timaru Hotel, it was occupied by Captain Scotte, the Rhodes’ business agent. In 1867, it passed into the hands of S. S. Griffin, who held it until 1872, when it was sold for fourteen pounds and demolished to make way for a commercial building.

Ann Williams lived with her husband, Samuel Williams, in a daub cottage on Caroline Bay beach in Timaru, gifted to them by George Rhodes. There, she raised her family, including their son William, the first white child born in Timaru in 1856, who slept in a gin case and was christened by Archdeacon Harper. As more settlers arrived, Ann and Samuel converted their cottage into a general store and accommodation house, offering shelter to travellers. This became the foundation of Samuel’s career as a hotelkeeper, officially beginning with Timaru’s first publican’s licence in 1858. 

In 1859, at 42 years old, Samuel Williams was one of the first three men to board the Strathallan to welcome Timaru’s new settlers, alongside Mr. Woollcombe and Captain Cain. A diary from that day recounts how immigrant women, sunburnt from washing clothes on the beach, sought help from “Old Sam’s,” where Ann Williams, described as a kind Irish lady, offered them a mystery remedy in a pannikin—suggesting they rub a little inside and outside, advice they half-followed. By 1860, Samuel opened Timaru’s first permanent hotel, the Timaru Hotel (now the Carlton Hotel), in a building erected by George Rhodes, with Williams owning the furnishings.

In 1860, Ann Williams passed away, leaving what looks like a profound void in the life of her husband, Samuel Williams. As her grandson later wrote, her death deprived Sam of the stability, sound guidance, and steady influence that his restless spirit and easygoing business habits relied on. Ann had been the heart of their home and the grounding force behind their early success in Timaru, remembered not only as a devoted mother but as a kind and capable woman who helped shape the beginnings of the town.

Register of Deaths, Saint Mary's Church Timaru Parish records of deaths. Ann appears to be listed as number 12, November 18, 1860, 36 years.

William is recorded above. In 1860 Morris Corey and Robert Boubius became the first individuals to be buried in the Timaru Cemetery following a drowning incident off the coast of Timaru. They were part of a group of six experienced boatmen who had emigrated from England to Lyttelton in 1859 and were employed by Le Cren and Cain to work on their landing service at Timaru. The group included John Wilds, Morris Corey, Robert Boubius, Henry Clayson, William John Roberts and John J. Bowles. Boat handling was a perilous occupation and Henry Clayson also drowned shortly after arriving. He was replaced by Phillip Foster, another boatman from Deal.

I thought maybe if I located the graves of people who died around the time that she did, that maybe they were buried in a similar area. timaru.govt.nz/cemeteries/cemetery-search

Burials in the Parish of Timaru Canterbury, N.Z. 1860
No./ When Buried / Name and Surname / Age / Name of Parents or
Husband / Place of Residence / By Whom the ceremony was performed
1 May 15th. 1860 Helena Mary-Ann 15 Months Spencer A. Percival & Marianne Percival (P) Albury Station Geo. Foster
2 May 15th. 1860 Caroline Percival 2 Mo. Spencer A. Percival & Marianne Percival (P) Albury Station Geo. Foster
3 July 11th. 1860 Perriman 3 weeks “ “ Arowhenua Bush Geo. Foster
4 June 29th. 1860 Henry Clayson 23 yrs “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
5 Sep 1st. 1860 Charles Kennedy 25 yrs “ “ Arowhenua Bush Geo. Foster
6 Sep. 2nd. 1860 John Henry Wilson 7 weeks John Wilson (P) Timaru Geo. Foster
7 Sep. 15th. 1860 _ Roberts 7 weeks “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
8 Sep. 24th. 1860 James Day 32 yrs “ “ Arowhenua Bush Geo. Foster
9 October 4. 1860 Henry Fredrick Maslin 7 mon Caleb Maslin (P) Timaru Geo. Foster
10 October 16 1860 Dennis Corey 30 yrs “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster Inscription reads "In Loving Memory Of Morris Clayson Cory, Drowned off Timaru October 6th 1860, Aged 30 years. In the midst of life we are in death. Also Elizabeth Thompson Wife of the Above Who Died March 20th 1913, Aged 85 Years. Reunited after many years. H.B. Hall." His spouse Elizabeth Thompson Cory born 1828 was buried there 1913. Section General, Row 27, Plot 17.
11 October 16. 1860 William Bowbyas [Bowbyes] 33. Yrs “ “ Timaru Geo. Foster
12 Novem. 18 1860 Ann Williams 36 yrs Samuel Williams (S) Timaru Geo. Foster

On a side note... to find Ann, I wanted to find the people who died around the time she did, to see if there was a burial pattern and make a educated guess on her plot. This is the fun when hunting for history, you can easily go on side quests and find gems of info that give insight and context to Timaru's early pioneering lives. I wonder how Ann reacted to the death of the two men, and if she helped their widows and children. 

Morris Corey, Robert Boubius first recorded burials in Timaru cemetery after drowning off Timaru in 1860. A group of six experienced boat handlers who had emigrated from England to Lyttelton, were engaged in 1859 for work on Le Cren and Cain's landing service. The men were John Wilds, Morris Corey, Robert Boubius, Henry Clayson, William John Roberts and John J. Bowles. Being a boatman was a dangerous profession. Clayson drowned soon after his arrival and was replaced by Phillip Foster, also from Deal. - Timaru's boatmen 1852-1886 timdc.pastperfectonline.com/Library/99B7D311-5859-455F-A4F8-681060219260 

Cory was 29 when he emigrated with his wife and four children on the ship the Mystery 1858. The third son, Henry died the same year he was born, and was replaced the following year by another Henry. They had four children by 1854 and 5 when Cory drowned. The Deal Boatmen were on a mission to help the schooner Wellington in a storm with snow and rough seas Corey and Bowbyas drowned. A public fundraising effort was quickly organized, with donation lists placed in local businesses and the Lyttleton Times office, to support the widows and children of the deceased boatmen. The incident highlights both the dangers of early coastal shipping and the bravery of local lifesaving efforts. It also reveals the fragility of settler family life in colonial New Zealand, where such losses could leave families destitute.

In 1864, the Alexandra lifeboat arrived in Timaru to assist when heavy surf made it too dangerous for regular boats. In 1867, the Volunteer Timaru Rocket Brigade was established with the arrival of rockets from England. In 1868, control of the beach was passed to the Timaru Gladstone Board of Works to undertake harbor works. In 1869, Duncan Cameron, a member of the Alexandra lifeboat crew, drowned when the boat capsized.

 The grave of Samuel Williams errected for him by his friends. Timaru Cemetery. General Section, Row 9, Plot 10

Samuel Williams is said to have told George Rhodes about the great tract of sheep country around the old Timaru whaling station. The Rhodes brothers became interested. They came, they saw, they conquered. They took up all the land between the Opihi and the Pareora rivers, and back to the "Snowy Mountains". They bought all the property between North Street and Wai-iti Road and back to Grey Road—practically the whole of the business area of Timaru—180 acres, for £180. Sam Williams also came back to Timaru after whaling, and then mining in Australia to raise his family and work for the Rhodes in Timaru. He became a publican, left the area for a while and returned. When he died it is said he was practically penniless. 

Yellow circle below marks the grave of Samuel Williams, Ann's husband. His headstone was erected by his friends. At the time there would have been a chapel and his grave would have beem behind it.

The 87-year-old chapel at the Timaru Cemetery was demolished in just seven hours after falling into disuse and disrepair. It was believed to have been designed by a French architect named Maurice de Harven Duval. The chapel had not been used for burial services for over 50 years, with the last conducted by Archdeacon H. W. Harper who retired in 1911. In recent years it had been used to store the cemetery's small tractor and other equipment. Structural damage, borer infestation, and weak mortar made most of the building unsalvageable, aside from the iron roof. A proposal after the First World War to renovate the chapel failed due to lack of interest, and a 1935 plan to convert it into a crematorium was rejected. There are no plans to build a new chapel at the site. - Timaru Herald, 20 Apr 1968.

- Timaru Cemetery Chapel Demolished (20 Apr 1968). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 10/05/2025, aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/2037

William Williams grave at Greymouth.

Rebecca Hobbs (nee Williams) geni.com/Rebecca-Hobbs 

Rebecca Williams Hobbs
Birth 1854
Death 12 Feb 1896 (aged 42) Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand
Burial Linwood Cemetery, Linwood, Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand
Plot, Block 27. Plot 115

Family Tree of Samuel Williams

First Generation

• Samuel WILLIAMS

  • Born: ~1817 in USA (?)

  • Died: June 29, 1883, Timaru, New Zealand

  • Married:

    1. Ann MANRY

       • Born: ~1825 in USA (?)

       • Died: November 16, 1860, Timaru, NZ

       • Married: ~1850 in USA or Australia (?)

    2. Mary Ann GARDINER

       • Born: 1845 in England? (Surrey)

       • Died: January 17, 1888, Dunedin, New Zealand

       • Married: March 02, 1861, St Mary’s Church, Timaru, NZ

Children of Samuel Williams and Ann Manry

1. Rebecca WILLIAMS

   • Born: 1854 in Ballarat, Australia (?)

   • Died: February 13, 1896, Christchurch, New Zealand

2. William WILLIAMS

   • Born: September 22, 1856, Timaru, New Zealand

   • Died: July 10, 1936, Greymouth, New Zealand

   • Married: Sarah Ann SHIMPLETON

     • Born: May 31, 1862 in Tasmania, Australia (?)

     • Died: June 23, 1939, Greymouth, New Zealand

     • Married: December 24, 1879, Kumara, West Coast, New Zealand

Children of Samuel Williams and Mary Ann Gardiner

3. Emily WILLIAMS

   • Born: October 07, 1862, Timaru, New Zealand

   • Died: July 23, 1942, Public Hospital, Gore, New Zealand

   • Married: Arthur James GIBBS

     • Born: August 14, 1862, Oamaru, New Zealand

     • Died: October 11, 1938, Gore, New Zealand

     • Married: April 12, 1888, All Saints Church, Dunedin

Other Connected Individual (Spouse of Rebecca?)

• George William HOBBS

  • Born: 1851, Gloucestershire, England

  • Died: January 17, 1912, Christchurch, New Zealand

  • Married: September 26, 1870, Timaru, New Zealand