| Notes |
- Some doubt about Kitty's second name: was it Louisa or Lyons?
According to her birth registration it was Louisa.
According to her death certificate it was Lyons
According to her marriage certificate it was Lyons.
According to her entry in the 1893 Electoral Roll, it was Lyons. (In fact, she is listed there as Kate Lyons Humphrys)
Did she change it at some time? If so, why? Family connections? It seems more likely that it was Lyons, as that is the name she used as an adult (ie at her marriage, and for the Electoral Roll.)
Family correspondence suggests she was known as Kate.
Did Kitty go to The Ladies' Classical School, Turakina? Given that she was orphaned as a small girl and reared by her various aunts and uncles, it is quite possible that she spent time with her Aunt Anne (McDonell) in the Rangitikei. It is also likely that it was while she was there that she met her future husband, George Herbert Humphrys, who became a cadet on Mr N. Fitzherbert's farm in the Turakina Valley for three years from 1884. In 1887 he visited England returning to NZ the following year, and subsequently purchased 625 acres which he improved, fenced, and grassed, and on which he erected a substantial dwelling. In 1890 he and Kitty were married. [Source of info on GHH: Cyclopedia of New Zealand, Vol,1, Wellington, 1897, pp1289-90]
The Cyclopedia has the following entry for The Ladies' Classical School (p.1336-1337 with picture): Obviously after Kate's time...
"Principal, Reverend John Ross, assisted by Mrs Ross and Miss Christie and Miss Mary Ross. " [NB. The Rev Ross was a Scot who was first appointed to Masterton where he was the first resident minister of the Presbyterian Church for five years {1866 - 1871] before being transferred to Turakina district. In other words, another sound reason for Kitty to be sent to this school - he would certainly have been well-known to the Presbyterian Cameron family.] "The LCS is beautifully situated on the North Western Road, Turakina. It is a large building and occupies a charming situation, nestling among the trees. The building has been from time to time enlarged, so as to afford ample accommodation for fourteen or fifteen young ladies, in addition to the principal, his family, and his staff. Every necessary accommodation in the shape of large and airy bedrooms, comfortable school-rooms, parlors, sitting-rooms, bath, and every convenience required in a large establishment is available. The course of instruction includes English, Latin, Greek, German, French, mathematics, music , drawing, singing, painting, calisthenics, and plain and fancy needle-work. The principal aim is to impart a thorough sound education, whilst the general and physical training of the pupils is carefully attended to, and every effort is made to make the school-life as homelike as possible. The LCS has been established about seventeen or eighteen years, and during this time a large number of pupils have passed through the college, many of whom are now occupying important offices as teachers, and in many other positions of trust and responsibility. The success which has been attained by pupils who have gone up for the university examination has been considerable, and all previous successes have been crowned by the results of the 1894 examinations when a young lady from the college (Miss Flora D Ross) obtained a junior university scholarship, being the fifth on the list for the whole of the Colony, and the first for the North Island, and the first girl in New Zealand to distinguish herself in this way in that year..."
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Barker - Humphrys Family Tree
1866 - 1908 (41 years)
