John Willetts, was the 3rd child (of 13 children) of George and Alice Willetts. John was born in Canterbury 1878. He married Alice Peake in 1902; they had 5 children; then Alice died of Spanish Flu in 1918. John then employed a nanny/housekeeper to assist with managing his house and 5 children. Annie Neilson became indispensable, and John (Jock) married Annie in 1919. They proceeded to have 6 children together, Mavis Willetts (my mother) was the last child born 1927.
Jock spent his whole working life as a police constable. For the first years Jock Willetts was stationed in Waitara. They moved to Whanganui while Mavis was growing up. Here is a photo of the family enjoying the Whanganui River back in the 1930s.
In 1943 Jock and Annie moved the whole family to Auckland to retire. They had a Victorian villa near Narrow Neck beach.
After just a few years into his retirement, he passed away 19th October 1946, the same year that Mavis and Huia married. You can read more of Mavis and Huia details on Huia’s Story, and Mavis’s Story.
In the 1970’s Annie moved to a small flat in Milford that was easier for her to manage than the villa, and then in 1989 she moved to a care home near Milford, where she passed away 2 years later at 97, on 31st October 1991.
