The Descendants of John BLYTH circa 1790.

Emily married Major John ANGELO [11884] [MRIN: 5210] on 01 Oct 1858 in Amritsar West Bengal India.

12. William Henry BLYTH [10268] (William Edward², John¹) was born in Sep 1843 in Dinapur Bihar India and died in 1924 in Oruru Auckland New Zealand at age 81.

General Notes: Born Dinapore, India. Known as Harry. His mother died in 1849 when he was 6 yrs old, and the children were sent to their Aunt Amelia and Uncle George BLYTH where they remained for a couple of years. They were not happy times, so their father arranged for them to be sent down to Agra to live with Mr & Mrs HUNTER, great friends of the family, and where their elder Sister, Emily, already lived.

Harry went to a boys' school in Agra.

One of his happiest memories was a visit to the Taj Mahal, that 'wonderful dream in marble', and he often described to his daughter the wonderful lace-like screens in carved marble around the tombs. Also the inlaid flowers of precious stones and the fairy like domes and merinettes of the temple. He saw it by day and also by night in the brilliant moonlight when it looked ethereal, and one of their friends, a girl witha lovely voice, sang a beautiful song beneath the dome, and her voice rose higher and higher and filled the dome and sounded like the voice of an angel. It was music he never forgot.

When he was 13, William Henry left India to go to school in England, his father going down to Calcutta with him to see him safely on board. At Calcutta Harry was put under the care of a Mr & Mrs Frazer who, with their son, were also going to England. The 2 boys, near of an age were nice companions for each other, and at Cape Town they thoroughly enjoyed themselves among the luscious grapes and other fruit. This trip took 3 months, and when they arrived in England they were met with the appalling news of the Indian Mutiny.

In London Harry first went to Islington High School, and later to the Blackheath Proprietary school, where later on, his brother Herbert joined him. They lived with a Mrs Valentine, an old friend of the family.

When Harry had completed his education, his father came to England on furlough, and arranged to take him for a trip to New Zealand of which he had heard great things, and his tutor, Mr H Selwyn, hearing he was going to NZ, gave him an introduction to his cousin, Bishop Selwyn, Bishop of NZ. Unfortunately the Bishop was leaving Wellington just as Harry landed in Auckland, so they never met, and the letter of introduction is still in the hands of the family.

They came to NZ in the 'African', and their first sight of NZ was of theThree Kings Islands. After staying in Auckland a short time, father and son came north by coastal steamer, either the 'Rowena' or 'Ivanhoe', and stayed with Rev. Duffus and his family at Mangonui. From there they purchased a Maori guide 'Purn', a brother of the Chief Nobel Firaakarean of the Rarowa tribe at Kaitaia, and he took them to the Kaitaia Mission Station, to the home of Mr & Mrs William Gilbert PUCKEY.

It was pouring with rain and they were wet and cold, and it was a cheering sight that met their eyes for the curtains had not been drawn,and the warm glow of both firelight and lamplight streamed out, and it was a happy family scene they saw of the elderly couple and their handsome family of boys and girls around them.

They received a kindly welcome from the hospitable missionary and his family, and it was here that Harry and his bride to be met for the first time - William Henry and Margarita Jane PUCKEY. Harry's father was a fine tall man, very genial and a thorough English gentleman, and his young son was very handsome and just 19, and Margarita a sweet and pretty girl of 18.

They finally reached Whangarei, and Harry's father was charmed with the country he called 'Britain of the South' and he determined to come and live in NZ. He bought land for himself and his two sons at Paranui in the Oruru Parish, Mangonui County, NZ.

Harry stayed with a Mr Richardson at Whangarei to learn farming, and here turned to India to settle up his affairs. He went by way of Tasmania and called on his Blyth cousins, and then on to India. Then a bank in India dissolved and closed down, and he lost a lot of money, and he had to keep on with his work then for more years.

Eventually he went onto his own land in Mangonui Councy which he called 'Blythsdale' at the suggestion of his sister, Mrs Angelo.

He became engaged to Margarita PUCKEY, and they were married at Kaitaiachurch on 19 Dec. 1866 by her uncle, Rev. Joseph MATTHEWS. They lived at Blythsdale for some years, then moved to Wharncliffe which he father had bought from Mrs HUNT (originally for his son Herbert). He also bought Hikuranga Hill (an extinct volcano) from the Maoris.

Harry farmed there for some years, but there were no markets for his produce and there were no roads but only a water worn track over a high broken range, and he finally began teaching school at Oruru, and rode back & forth over the range to school and back, but it was a wearing life, and a lonely one for his wife and 3 little ones, Eva, Val and baby Mary while he was away, so he took them all to live in Oruru and let the farm to settlers for grazing.

After some years they left Oruru for a school in Russell. That was when Caroline was a baby. Then Edward (Teddy), Annie and Minnie. They then left Russell, and lived first at Waihaha then at Tangiteroria on the Northern Wairoa.

Harry had taught school for 20 years, and came back to the farm when his eldest son, Valentine, was grown up, and his eldest daughter, Evelyn Matilda was about to be married. She married Alan Leslie ALLAN of Hawkes Bay, and they were married in the church at Mangonui on 30 August 1893.

Will filed 5 May 1924 in Auckland Ct - Settler of Oruru. Probate No.BBAE 1569 17165/24 - Auckland Archives.

William married Margarita Jane PUCKEY [10269] [MRIN: 4720], daughter of William Gilbert PUCKEY [11855] and Matilda DAVIS [11856], on 19 Dec 1866 in Kaitaia Northland New Zealand. Margarita was born on 20 Oct 1844 in Kaitaia Northland New Zealand and died in 1930 in Mangonui Northland New Zealand at age 86.

+ 26 F i. Evelyn Matilda BLYTH [10267] was born in 1868 in Mangonui Northland New Zealand, died on 04 Aug 1956 in Hastings Hawke's Bay New Zealand at age 88, and was buried in Havelock North Cemetery Hawke's Bay New Zealand.

27 M ii. Alfred William Valentine BLYTH [11890] was born in 1871 in Mangonui Northland New Zealand and died in 1941 in Kaitaia Northland New Zealand at age 70. Another name for Alfred was Val.

28 F iii. Mary Sarah Louise BLYTH [11891] was born in 1874 in Mangonui Northland New Zealand and died in 1959 in Mangonui Northland New Zealand at age 85.

29 F iv. Margarita Alice Caroline BLYTH [11892] was born in 1878 in Mangonui Northland New Zealand and died in 1952 in Dunedin Otago New Zealand at age 74.

+ 30 M v. Edward Walter John BLYTH [11893] was born in 1880 in Bay of Islands Northland New Zealand and died in 1952 in Huntly Waikato New Zealand at age 72.

31 F vi. Annie Elizabeth Maude BLYTH [11894] was born in 1884 in Bay of Islands Northland New Zealand and died in 1960 in Mangonui Northland New Zealand at age 76.

32 F vii. Minnie Henrietta BLYTH [11895] was born in 1888 in Mangonui Northland New Zealand and died in 1971 in Mangonui Northland New Zealand at age 83.

General Notes: Herbert Blyth became an actor instead of the lawyer his father wished him to be. He took the stage name of 'Maurice BARRYMORE' and, in America, married Miss Georgina DREW, she also being an actress, as were many in her family.

Herbert and Georgie, had 3 children - Lionel Herbert, Ethel Georgie, and John (Jack). When they, too, went on stage, they took their father's stage name of Barrymore.

The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, Online, states:-
U.S. theatrical family.
Maurice Barrymore (orig. Herbert Blythe; 1847–1905) made his stage debut in London before moving to New York City (1875), where he adopted Barrymore as his stage name. He joined Augustin Daly's company and in 1876 married Georgiana Drew, of the theatrical Drew family <article?eu=388408>. Their eldest child, Lionel Barrymore (orig. Lionel Blythe; 1878–1954), became a leading Broadway actor in plays such as Peter Ibbetson (1917) and The Copperhead (1918), then moved to Hollywood in 1926, where he appeared in films such as A Free Soul (1931, Academy Award) and Grand Hotel (1932). Famous as a character actor, he made some 200 films, including 15 Dr. Kildare pictures. His sister Ethel Barrymore (orig. Ethel Blythe; 1879–1959) appeared in London in Peter the Great (1898) and on Broadway in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1901). She opened the New York theatre named for her in 1928 in The Kingdom of God and later starred in The Corn Is Green (1940). She appeared in more than 30 films, including None but the Lonely Heart (1944, Academy Award) and The Spiral Staircase (1946). Their brother John Barrymore (orig. John Blythe; 1882–1942) was acclaimed in plays such as Justice (1916), Richard III (1920), and especially Hamlet (1922). His films include Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) and Dinner at Eight (1933). An alcoholic, he was known for his flamboyant behaviour. John's granddaughter Drew Barrymore (b. 1975) first won notice at age sevenin the film E.T. (1982).

33 M i. Lionel Herbert BARRYMORE [11897] . Another name for Lionel is Lionel BARRYMORE.

34 F ii. Ethel Georgia BARRYMORE [11898] . Another name for Ethel is Ethel BARRYMORE.

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The Descendants of John BLYTH circa 1790.

Third Generation