George Lipsey (1846 - 1913)

Born 1846 in County Leitrim, Ireland

Husband of Ema Mokena (Morgan) Lipsey — married 1880 in New Zealand

Descendants

Died 2 May 1913 at about age 67 in Lipsey Park, Te Aroha, Waikato, New Zealand

Biography

Born to parents Anne Faris & Thomas LIPSEY

George Lipsey (1846-1913), pioneer settler of Te Aroha, Hauraki, New Zealand. He was reportedly the first white settler in Te Aroha. George Lipsey was involved in the founding and laying out of the township of Te Aroha, in opening up the land for the goldfield, and, because he married Ema, the daughter of Mokena Hou, was involved with the Maori owners of the land on which Te Aroha was built.

February 13, Sunday. I preached at St. Mark's, Te Aroha, morning and evening, and at the latter service held a Confirmation. There was a good congregation in the morning, and an overflowing one in the evening. The site of the church, which is very central and convenient, was the gift of the Maori wife of Mr. Lipsey, the daughter of the late Chief Mokena Hou (Morgan).

In 1878, George Lipsey (of Co. Leitrim, Ireland) built the first Hot springs Hotel at Tairua for his father-in-law [Te Mokena Hou]. The Thames Advertiser commented, ‘The hotel, if well conducted, will be a great boon for persons seeking these springs for their health-giving properties’. By 1879, the Thames Advertiser recorded three hotels at Tairua: ‘the Hot springs Hotel kept by Mokena, the Waitoa Hotel at the landing place kept by George S O’Halloran and the Te Aroha Hotel kept by Mr Missen’. By 1880, regular river boat services plied between Thames and Paeroa, with a coach service from Hamilton to connect with the train from Auckland. In 1880, gold was discovered on the slopes of Te Aroha mountain and the Tairua goldfield was proclaimed in November 1880. The township of Tairua was surveyed on part of the Mokena whanau’s land and the population increased rapidly in the boom conditions of a new mining town. In 1881, the hot springs reserve of 20 acres was gazetted as a recreation ground under section 44 of the Land Act. Some of the pressure on Government to develop the amenities of the hot springs reserve had come from George O’Halloran, the former storekeeper at Omahu who, by 1880, had also acquired Mokena’s Hot springs Hotel, put in a road to the springs and a ferry across the Waihou River. ‘As a speculation in 1877 Gerald O’Halloran applied for a title to a block of 115 acres of freehold land some two miles from Paeroa on the way towards the mines. This was granted through the Maori Land Court on 5th May 1881. A family called Turner were 'invited to occupy and develop the land with a view to buying it.

George died in 1913 aged 67. He was survived by two sons and four daughters. ^[1] He was interred in Te Aroha Cemetery.

Sources

1. ↑ Death news item: Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 106, 5 May 1913, Page 6 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19130505.2.61

• Published histories
• NZ BDM Indexes
  • Marriage - Reg no. 1880/2738 for Emma Morgan, bride, and George Lipsey, groom
  • Death - Reg no. 1913/1592 for George Lipsey age 67
• Death Notice - New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15296, 8 May 1913, Page 1. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19130508.2.2.2
• News items on death:
  • Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9489, 12 May 1913, Page 5 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MS19130512.2.19
  • Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 106, 5 May 1913, Page 6 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19130505.2.61
  • Thames Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 14517, 7 May 1913, Page 4 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS19130507.2.20.2
  • Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 21 May 1913, Page 5 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAG19130521.2.23
• Cemetery Transcription - "New Zealand, Cemetery Transcriptions, 1840-1981," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGGQ-Y1LZ : 8 September 2019), George Lipsey, 2 May 1913; citing Death, New Zealand, New Zealand Society of Genealogists, Auckland
• Probate - "New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Probate Records, 1843-1998," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK9V-VC3B : 16 January 2021), George Lipsey, 1913; citing , Hamilton Probates - Second Sequence, 1910-1953, record number 300, Archives New Zealand, Auckland Regional Office; FamilySearch digital folder 007097493