Pte. Ewart Teare Sansbury

Ewart Teare Sansbury was born at Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand on 3 August 1893 (reg. 1893/11717). His parents were William Ewart Sansbury (bootmaker, carpenter, JP) and Blanche Sansbury. William Sansbury (the Ewart added later) was born at Rushen in the Isle of Man in 1844. His father was mariner John Sansbury who drowned off Guernsey on 5 January 1867. William lived in South Australia for a time, being brought up on charges of False Pretenses in April 1888, but found not guilty and discharged. It is likely that he and Blanche married in December 1892 as a wife and a child are mentioned when William was adjudged bankrupt at Wellington on 18 November 1893. They lived at Main Road in Lower Hutt, Wellington. William was a Justice of the Peace and in 1903 took his nephew, Dr. John Teare (1865-1948), to court over property in Cuba Street, Wellington. He lost the case, and his nephew returned to Liverpool that same year. Ewart worked as a Clerk for the Public Trustee. During World War I he served with the New Zealand Machine Gun Corps (Service No. WWI 44526). He was wounded at the Somme and died of his wounds at the No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station in France. 25-year-old Ewart was buried in the Bagneux British Cemetery [VI. D. 26.]. There is also a cenotaph to him on a headstone in the Isle of Man at the Kirk Christ Church Cemetery at Port Erin in Rushen. It is not yet known when his mother Blanche died, but Ewart's Military Personnel File states that she was born in London, England, and had died before he enlisted. As she does not appear on any official records, apart from Ewart's birth, it is thought that she died at some stage between 1893 and 1901. Bio by Debbie McCauley (6 October 2024).

Sources

1. Births, Deaths and Marriages Online (New Zealand).
2. Cenotaph: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/....
3. Evening Post (24 June 1903, p. 5).
4. Free Lance (4 October 1902, p. 3).
5. Isle of Man, Baptism Index, 1600-1981.
6. New South Wales, Australia, Criminal Court Records, 1830-1945.
7. New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930.
8. New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Seamen, 1859-1936.
9. New Zealand and World War One Roll of Honour: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~sooty/genealogy/nzefrohSA-SL.html / Ref 15.4.2021
10. New Zealand, Bankruptcy Notices, 1893-1904.
11. New Zealand, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1840-1902.
12. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-2010.
13. North Otago Times (13 June 1903, p. 2).
14. Wanganui Chronicle (25 June 1903, p. 5).