Hester Mary Wise – our dear mother
We did a story on Hester last year, mostly because we love the name. But couldn’t find out much about her. And we still can’t!
Although Hester doesn’t appear in the newspapers giving us any hint of her day to day life, we thought that she deserved a bit of a face wash. If you want to see the glamourous new Hester for yourself, she’s on the main road through the cemetery. Follow the map / directions in the link below.
We know that she was born Hester Mary Parker, the daughter of John Parker (gardener) and was living on Old Kent Road at the time of her marriage to John Thomas Wise, at St George Camberwell in 1868.
Hester and John then moved to Wales where John worked as a clerk at the Blaenavon Ironworks before he was lured to New Zealand by the Wellington Gas company where he worked for 20 years before retiring to go farming in the Hutt.
Hester died in 1907 and John in 1909.
They had two sons – Walter Edward and Arthur Henry.
Arthur, his wife Louisa and daughter Melva are also interred in this plot.
