Vera Myrtle May TURNER [Patricia MAHONEY]

1903 - 1968  (64 years)

• Name	Vera Myrtle May TURNER
  Known As	Patricia MAHONEY
  Birth	31 Aug 1903	Napier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand   [1, 2]
  Gender	Female
  Occupation	1922  [1]
  	Waitress, Hawera, Taranaki
  Residence	1931	Hastings, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand   [3]
  Convicted	13 Feb 1934	Napier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand   [4]
  Sentence	13 Feb 1934  [4]
  	3 years probation and prohibited from drinking for assault and causing bodily harm.
  Convicted	21 Apr 1937	Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand   [4]
  Sentence	21 Apr 1937  [4]
  	Return to court if called in next 2 months for breach of probation
  Convicted	18 Jun 1937	Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand   [4]
  Sentence	18 Jun 1937  [4]
  	1 years probation for wilful damage
  Death	1968	Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand   [2, 5]
  Person ID	I20933	NZ Genealogy Project
  Last Modified	23 Aug 2024

  
  

  Family	Herbert Johann NIETHE [John Herbert],   b. 12 May 1900, East Oxford, Canterbury, New Zealand d. 05 Jun 1975, Hastings, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (Age 75 years)
  Marriage	16 Oct 1922	Hawera, Taranaki, New Zealand   [1, 6, 7]
  Divorce	21 Aug 1930	Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand   [8, 9]
  Family ID	F7271	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	10 Sep 2024

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 31 Aug 1903 - Napier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand Marriage - 16 Oct 1922 - Hawera, Taranaki, New Zealand Divorce - 21 Aug 1930 - Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Residence - 1931 - Hastings, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand Convicted - 13 Feb 1934 - Napier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand Convicted - 21 Apr 1937 - Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand Convicted - 18 Jun 1937 - Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand Death - 1968 - Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  BIOGRAPHY Vera Myrtle May Turner According to NZ birth registers, Vera Myrtle May Turner was born in 1903, the youngest daughter John Frost and Gullette Torine Turner. John Frost Turner (1856-1935) was born in Yorkshire and immigrated to New Zealand in 1865. Gullette Torine Halvorsen (1844-1924) was from Norway and immigrated to New Zealand in 1873. The family lived at Puketitiri where John worked as a bullock driver. Puketitiri is 56 km (35 miles) north west of Napier in Hawkes Bay, beyond Rissington and Patoka. Vera was adopted as Gullette would have been 59 years old when Vera was born in 1903. A family tree on ancestry.com indicates that John and Gullette Turner were Vera's grandparents, and she was the daughter of Bessie Harriett Turner (1884-1928). Based on the marriage licence application at Hawera in 1922, Vera had been living in Hawera for five months before her marriage to John Herbert Niethe. She had been working as a waitress. John, a 23 year old labourer, had been in the Hawera district 12 years since his parents and family moved to south Taranaki from Canterbury. According to Electoral rolls the couple initially lived in Auckland where John worked as a labourer (1925), and subsequently (1928) John's parents, sister, and a brother and wife moved in with them. According to a report of John and Vera's divorce in 1930, Vera encouraged John to apply for a position in Hawkes Bay, but abandoned him. MARRIAGE BONDS SEVERED SIDELIGHTS upon unhappy marriages and domestic disruption were presented in the Supreme Court today when undefended divorces were heard by Mr. Justice Herdman and Mr. Justice Smith. The petitions listed for hearing numbered 77, the majority being based on desertion and mutual separation. WIFE SOLD THE FURNITURE When John Herbert Niethe (Mr. Hall Skelton) proceeded to Hawke's Bay at the request of his wife Vera Niethe, to take up a new position, his wife stayed behind and sold up the furniture and went away. He had not found her until lately and on the grounds of desertion, a decree nisi was granted. Source: Sun (Auckland), 21 August 1930, Page 10. John did move to Hawkes Bay, reported as a labourer in Havelock North in the 1935 Electoral Roll. He remarried in 1936 and lived in Hawkes Bay for the rest of his life. Vera moved to Hawkes Bay and was living in a Hastings Hotel by 1931 according to the Electoral Roll. In 1934 Vera was working as a domestic in Napier but was convicted of assault and causing bodily harm, resulting in a sentence of 3 years probation and prohibition from drinking. Six months later a warrant was issued for her arrest for failing to report to her probation officer. She avoided detection until 1937 when she was arrested in Wellington using the alias Patricia Mahoney and working as a domestic. She was convicted for breaching her probation, but only required return to court in the following 2 months if called, presumably if police were unhappy with her behavior. She was back in court before the two months were up, this time charged with willful damage and sentences to another years probation. After 3 months she again failed to report to her probation officer and a warrant was issued for her arrest in September 1937. She was arrested 18 months later in Waipukurau using the assumed name Mrs. Forsythe. I have been unable to locate details of Vera's death but family trees on ancestry.com indicate she died in 1968 at Wellington.

  
  

• Sources

  [S1184] Peter Nash, Auckland, NZSG Kiwi Collection v2.0 - Hawera Marriages, (New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc.). [S2275] Gael Ramsey, Ancestry.com - Public Member Tree - Turner Family Tree, (Ancestry.com). [S614] NZ Electoral Rolls, 1853-2010, (Ancestry.co.uk.), none. [S1209] NZ Police Gazettes, 1878-1945, (Ancestry.com). [S1310] speedfreakcookie, Ancestry.com - Public Member Tree - Denise Cooksley Family Tree, (Ancestry.com). [S1320] Sean Rooney (seanrooney41), Ancestry.com - Public Member Tree - SR Family Tree, (Ancestry.com). [S642] NZ BDM - Historical Records - DATES, (Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington, New Zealand). [S2004] Archives New Zealand Online - Divorce File, (Archives New Zealand, https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz). [S719] Papers Past - New Zealand Herald, (Papers Past - National Library of New Zealand), none. MARRIAGE CONTRACTS. PARTIES SEEK RELEASE. COURT GRANTS DIVORCES. About 50 petitions for divorce were heard by Mr. Justice Herdman .and Mr. Justice Smith in the Supreme Court yesterday, and in almost every case decrees nisi, to be made or moved absolute after the expiry of three months, were issued. .... Desertion was successfully pleaded as ground for the issue of a decre nisi in the cases of ...; John Herbert Neithe (Mr. Hall Skelton) against Vera Neithe; .... - Published 22 August 1930, Page 14