Joseph Stanleigh McAven was born in Stockton, Durham in 1887, and grew up in Thornaby-on-Tees.
Beatrice Hilda Derham was born in the Isle of Wight, 1882. (Sorry I dont have a photo of Beatrice as a young lady.)
Joseph was a Civil Engineer and Beatrice was one of the Head Housekeepers at Osbourne House, a Summer Palace for 80 year old Queen Victoria on the Isle of Wight, at the time they met. We have no information about which University Joseph originally attended nor where he gained his experience. We also don’t know why Joseph was in the Isle of Wight.
Queen Victoria passed on 22nd January 1901. That event may well have released Beatrice from her royal service obligations, because immediately after that, Joseph and Beatrice decided to get married. They were wed on 8th April 1901 (by then Beatrice was 3 months pregnant). They had their first child Stanleigh, on October 18, 1901.
Because of the confidence Joseph had in securing engineering work, and requests for his expertise in NZ, they decided to start a new chapter and emigrate to NZ in 1907, sailing on the “SS Rippingham Grange” to Wellington. They settled in Napier.
Joseph and Beatrice had 6 children in total, Stanleigh, 1901, Estelle, 1903, Huia, 1908, John (Jack) 1910, Maureen, 1915, and Barbara (Beau) in 1920.
They travelled a lot because of Joseph’s Engineering projects. As a family, they returned to England in 1909. It was because some of Joseph’s projects had concluded or put on hold.
Due to the request to come back to take over the completion of the Grafton Bridge building project in Auckland, Joseph returned on his own to NZ in 1910.
Joseph was Chief Engineer responsible for completing the building of the Auckland Grafton Bridge, in 1910. It was an innovation at the time; using a pioneering reinforced concrete arch bridge, boasting the world’s largest single span when completed in 1910, connecting the city centre with Grafton. Joseph was previously representing Louis Gustave Mouchel of the Ferro-Concrete Company of Australasia (who was responsible for the first building stages in 1907 – 1909). This company went bust entirely due to disagreements with Auckland Council and the project stalled. Then Joseph was called back independently, to be solely responsible to complete the project.
Was it a mere coincidence, that two weeks after the assassination, on 10th July 1914, Beatrice and the children embarked on the ship “Remuera”, to depart England, and join Joseph in Napier to live permanently? Did they have inside knowledge or hear rumours about what was about to unfold a few weeks later? We may never know; but it was certainly a “timely” move to get out of “Dodge City”. And fortunately for Joseph, during the war, New Zealand Civil Engineers were able to apply for exemption from armed service, if they were doing work essential to infrastructure.
Joseph worked all over New Zealand and was responsible for the engineering of lots of noteworthy buildings. He worked on Kings Wharf and Queens Wharf in Auckland, and the Auckland University College building. In the 30’s he was a structural Engineer working with restoration projects after the Earthquake in Napier. He also had a businesss in Whangarei, and worked there for a while as Engineer for the Whangarei Harbor Board. He built the Auckland Shortland Street flats and lived there for a while.
In summary, Joseph moved around the North Island a lot, starting from 1907 until 1946; living in Wellington, Napier, Whangarei and Auckland.
In 1949, Joseph retired. Beatrice and Joseph moved to St Heliers Auckland, where they remained until they both passed.
Beatrice passed away in 1958 and Joseph passed away in 1960.