Jane Thompson McRae

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Jane Thompson McRae (Middlebrook) (1849 - 1935)

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Mill Bridge, Yorkshire, England (United Kingdom)
Death: November 10, 1935 (86)
20 Kiwi Road, Devonport, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand
Place of Burial: Glen Eden, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand
Immediate Family:

Daughter of John Middlebrook and Ellen Middlebrook
Wife of James John McRae
Mother of John Roderick McRae
Sister of Ellen Middlebrook; Benjamin Middlebrook; Elizabeth Hardy; John Middlebrook; Samuel Middlebrook and 2 others

Find A Grave ID: 253586385
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:

About Jane Thompson McRae

Jane Thompson Middlebrook is quite a mystery woman. She was aged 13 when she arrived in New Zealand with her parents and 6 siblings Her father's untimely death would have occurred when she was 17 and it was not long after this, in 1868 she apparently married James John McRae a Tasmanian Scotsman who had emigrated to New Zealand with his brothers some years earlier. I say apparently, as there is no definitive proof as yet that any marriage took place,There is no official registration that can be found in New Zealand and in fact until late in 1868 James John was still married to his first wife in Tasmania. His divorce only becoming legal that year. However the book McRaes to New Zealand by Molly Acres states Jane was married on 18 May 1868 in Auckland and then again in July 1869 in Tahiti. Again there is no evidence of a trip to Tahiti by either Jane nor James at this time. Jane and James had 7 children . The first, Amelia in January 1869 in Tararu Creek Thames. ( Again there is no proof of these facts, as strangely there are no official birth records for Amelia nor her younger sister Ellen. Amelias birth location is taken from her marriage certificate. The second child Ellen Margaret was also apparently born in Thames in 1870 but we have no records at all for her birth, nor for her death. Subsequent children are born at various locations but are officially recorded. It appears at some point Jane and James became estranged. He clearly is not living with Jane when she is writing from her residence in Opua to James' brother Welsh in 1887 and in one of those letters Welsh gives Jane an address for another McRae brother, Hector. In 1890 Jane marries Hector. ( On the marriage certificate she states she is a spinster however James is most definitely still alive at this time, because his death records state he died in 1894 in Helensville after falling on the wharf and hitting his head). For the most part it appears though that Jane lived an independent life as there are few electoral roll records where Jane and Hector appear in the same area. Jane moved around a lot, and owned property in various streets in Auckland- at one point living in Cobden Street next door to her mother. Later her mother moved in with her in her boarding house in Arkles Bay Whangaparaoa ( this is where Ellen died in 1915). Later she moved to Devonport where she owned at least 2 properties and it is here at her home at 20 Kiwi Road Devonport that in 1935 that she died aged 86. Source: Lauren Bavin via https://laurenbavin.wixsite.com/middlebrookfamily/jane

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Jane Thompson McRae's Timeline

1849
February 9, 1849
Mill Bridge, Yorkshire, England (United Kingdom)

Name: Jane Thompson MIDDLEBROOK
Registration Date: 1849
Quarter of the Year: Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration Place: Dewsbury, Yorkshire West Riding, England
Volume: 22
Page: 36

Source: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.

April 13, 1849
St Giles and St Mary, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Name: Jane Thompson MIDDLEBROOK
Record Type: Baptism
Baptism Date: 13 Apr 1849
Baptism Place: Pontefract, St Giles and St Mary, Yorkshire, England
Parish as it Appears: Pontefract, St Giles and St Mary
Father: John MIDDLEBROOK
Mother: Ellen MIDDLEBROOK

Source: West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records.

1871
December 13, 1871
Duke Street, Newtown, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

NZ Birth Registration Number (1872/13343) - John Roderick McRA, Mother Jane, Father James John.

Lauren Bavin originally shared this on 5 Aug 2014 via Ancestry
1935
November 10, 1935
Age 86
20 Kiwi Road, Devonport, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

NZ Death Registration Number (1935/22045) - Jane Thompson McRAE, Age at Death 86 years.

McRAE.—On November 10, at her residence, 20 Kiwi Road, Devonport, Jane Thompson McRae, beloved wife of the late James McRae; aged 86 years.
Source: New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22265, 13 November 1935, Page 1.

November 11, 1935
Age 86
Waikumete Cemetery & Crematorium, Glen Eden, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

Cremated and ashes scattered on the 12th November 1935.

New Zealand Society of Genealogists Incorporated; Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand Cemetery Records