Mary Anne Perrett
This month we feature Mary Ann Perrett, born 1855 in Manningford Abbots, Wiltshire, a daughter of John Perrett (1820-1863) and Anne Berrett (1825-1857). Mary Ann married Edward Barnett Hancock, 1876 in Wandsworth, London, a little after Florence, their first born child, was born in Jersey in 1875. Their second child, sickly John, was born in 1876.
Mary Ann and Edward left England in November 1876 on the ‘Nemesis’ to Melbourne, with little Florence and John, and from there they came to New Zealand on the ‘Albion’ and arrived there in Jan 1877. Little John died aboard ship, just about 2 days out of New Zealand and was buried on their arrival. They settled in Christchurch where they remained for the rest of their lives. Mary Ann died in 1904 and Edward lived on until 1923.
Mary Ann’s grand-daughter, Leanna Menchi (1501) writes, “I wondered why they didn’t settle in Australia, as Edward’s two older brothers were settled there by then. I understand that Mary Ann may have been employed by some other member of the family in London, as a milliner or seamstress or in some other serving capacity and may have not been accepted by Edward’s brothers. At a later date they moved to New Zealand and both died there in 1904. Anyway, my father always referred to her as “my mother of blessed memory.”
