Note - the spelling of Mongonui or Mangonui seems to have been interchangeable in newspaper and other records over this time. My spelling will also change between the two depending on the source I'm quoting.
Update: January 2024. There is now verifiable evidence that the photo of the woman with the firearm is someone completely different - not a known family member at all. See this post for further information, but I'll leave the original research as written because the story of finding her is just as interesting.
Ella has been the least known of the children of Charles and Pourewa (Margaret) Cossill. I am including all known research, including anecdotal and unconfirmed information and speculation (indicated as such) in the hope that through trying to confirm or deny it, we may end up finding more of her story or match it to any facts as they arise.
The earliest information seems to have come from pre-internet word-of-mouth sources, or Neva Clarke McKenna's book Mangonui: Gateway to the Far North (1994) which includes some of the first referenced information about the Cossill family. I'll try to match any anecdotal information to its earliest known source, with much of this coming from research done by Cossill family researchers Debbie Herbert and Carl Cossill who visited or contacted descendants and collected stories and photos along the way. Both have kindly handed on to me their research to date. Please leave a message or use the email option (scroll down panel on the right) if you want to suggest any corrections or if you can add further information on the sources of photos or other anecdotal details. This is a work in progress, and the aim is to get it as factual as possible.
In Nigel Cooper's book Nga Uri o Pourewa - A Pakeha family discovers its Maori ancestry (2005), he includes a copy of the registration of Pourewa's death in 1884 - under her married name of Margaret Cossill. It states she had 4 daughters still living at the time of her death (aged 48, 46,44, and 40) and one son aged 42 years. That gives approximate birth years of 1836, 1838, 1840, and 1844 for the girls (no names were given) and 1842 for the son (which could only be Richard).
Ella was Pourewa's first-born child, in 1836, deduced by process of elimination of the known or likely dates and ages of the other siblings. This has also been confirmed by Debbie Herbert's research of microfiche records from Kaikohe some years ago (sighted but not copied). Ella's birth year of 1836 and baptism in1838 are recorded in Debbie's (2004) family tree in Nga Uri o Pourewa. Ella is included as a daughter of Charles and Pourewa in a family tree by Dorothy Cooper (1980s) which was also included in Nga Uri o Pourewa. (Note - Ella's details "ran hospital / married Naysmith" are incorrect and had been confused with other descendants - but it was a start!) Also note there is some speculation that Charles Cossill may not have been Ella's father (Herbert research), likely based on the probability that she was born before they were married. This will never be known, but for all intents and purposes, we can assume he was the father. The timing of Charles and Pourewa's marriage may possibly have been more to do with the availability of a minister wanting to tidy up the moral turpitude of Englishmen in de facto relationships with Maori women than Charles deciding to do the decent thing by his partner and child. Or it could have been a bit of both.
Debbie Herbert's research gave Ella's birthplace as Mangonui and that (anecdotally) as a young girl she was taken to America and ended up staying there. Another story is that Ella was a young baby when Charles and Pourewa married. If Ella's year of birth is accepted as 1836, and we know that Charles and Pourewa's wedding date was definitely October 1836, then Pourewa was either heavily pregnant or Ella had already been born by the wedding day (the latter a more likely scenario). Debbie Herbert also had a story that Ella had married and had four children, and that the boy in photo (below) was her son.
In the absence of any further information, there had been much speculation about what happened to Ella. A photo believed to be of her holding a machete (it was actually a bayonet) and firearm has been widely circulated, but there is no supporting evidence to prove it is her. It would have to have been taken in the earliest days of non-studio photography in NZ to fit her timeline (see below). Also there is a photo of a woman and boy which is believed to be Ella and son and is likely to be authentic as it came from researcher and author Neva Clarke McKenna for her book.
 |
| Believed to be Ella Cossill. (Photo from Debbie Herbert collection, source unknown) |
 |
| Believed to be Ella Cossill and son (Photo from Debbie Herbert collection from Neva Clarke McKenna. ) |
And then earlier this year I received a message from New Zealand historian and novelist Joan Druett, who specialises in maritime history with a particular interest in women in whaling. She had found my research on Charles and Pourewa on this blog site and matched it with some of her research on a woman called Sarah Gorsell, and this became the key that unlocked information we would never have otherwise discovered. And so the story of "Ella" unfolded:
Somewhere along the line our Ella was known as Sarah, and her surname has been written a variety of ways including Gorsell, Carssell, Corsell and Corsil. The evidence clearly supports that Joan Druett's Sarah Gorsell is the same person as our Ella Cossill. Let me explain:
An article in an 1893 New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA, newspaper stated that a reporter had made an unusual discovery while looking over some old documents in the town clerk's office in Fairhaven. He found a "curious marriage contract" drawn up by Captain Ira Lakey, commander of the Fairhaven ship Arctic. The article said that in Australia, a sailor [since identified as the chief mate Charles A Evans] had "secreted" a woman on board, and by the time the captain had found out, they were too far out to sea [to return]. After discussion with the ship's officers, it was decided to marry the sailor and the woman. Captain Lakey performed the ceremony on March 12th, 1856, and drew up the document which was the one eventually found in the town records by the reporter.
 |
| Declaration of marriage by Charles Evans and Sarah Corsell P.7 The Evening Standard - Feb 8 1893 |
 |
| Wedding vows of Charles Evans and Sarah Cossill P.7 The Evening Standard - Feb 8 1893 |
 |
| Approximate location of on-board wedding of Charles A Evans and Sarah Corsell |
The following men on board signed as witnesses of the contract of marriage and the solemnisation thereof: Ira Lakey, Peter Butman, Albert Lewis, Joseph B Bucklin, Amasa Holbrook, James T Holt, Henry Lord, Andrew Page Wood, and John Perkins. The ring mentioned in the pledge was made by the crew from a silver coin. Note: Ira Lakey was a jeweller before he was a whaling captain, so it is plausible that he could have contributed towards its creation one way or another.
The newspaper article states that the woman was taken on board "at Australia", so I tried to trace the movements of the Arctic through shipping intelligence published in both New Zealand and Australian papers. I found the article below in The New Zealander, 6th February, 1856 and I also found it copied to the Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 15th February, 1856.
If Ella /Sarah boarded in Australia, it would have added another mystery to the story, but it is more likely that she stowed away from Mongonui, New Zealand, where the ship called and sailed prior to January 31st, If the Arctic returned - as its intentions stated in the shipping intelligence notice - she could have boarded when (and if) the ship arrived in Mongonui on 20th February before sailing for America - but I have found no evidence of the ship returning to New Zealand in February 1856.
There's not a lot of room on a whaling ship, but the chief mate Charles Evans most likely had his own small cabin, enabling the concealment of Sarah. By the wedding date, March 12th, the ship was east of Tasmania, as indicated in the map above, probably on its way home to Fairhaven, America as intended. And so, Sarah stayed on board the Arctic for the remainder of the voyage after her marriage.
Note that Sarah is recorded as Sarah A Evans in her vows. It's the only time I've seen an "A" in her name and it would statistically be likely to stand for Ann. Her sister Maggie, who married Henry Rosieur, had a daughter also called Sarah Ann. Coincidence? There's no mention that she signed her name or added a mark, but it's unlikely she would be literate. Doing the maths from her year of birth, she would have been 20 at the time of her stow-away.
I have found the following record of their marriage, obviously entered after Charles Evans and Sarah returned to port in Fairhaven. Note that the correct date of marriage is entered to the left (March 12), but I have found the date May 29th incorrectly given as the date of marriage in Family Search records (which are notoriously unreliable, but helpful as a starting point). Also note Sarah's surname as Corsell and the apparent later addition of the "A" to Charles' name. I can't get access to the archives of the New London Weekly Chronicle without paying - and I wonder if there would be any information in that notice that could add to our knowledge, though it's probably the same as the other publications in which the notice appeared (see blow).
 |
| From (familysearch.org) Index to marriages, New London Weekly Chronicles A-Z |
 |
| Marriage notice in the Salem Gazette - 27 May 1856 Source: MyHeritage.com [online database], MyHeritage Ltd. |
The ship returned to Fairhaven by May 22nd, confirmed by the inclusion of Sarah Evan's name under the heading Passengers of the May 22nd,1856, edition of the Boston Courier.
In the Arctic, at New Bedford, from Ochotsk Sea, Mr John Perkins, late first officer of ship Natchez of New Bedford; also Mrs Sarah Evans (wife of Mr Evans, first mate of Arctic).
 |
| The Boston Courier - 1856-05-22, page 3 |
Also Charles Evans' and Sarah's marriage notice appeared in the May 23rd edition of the Boston Courier (see timeline below). There are several court cases reported in various Massachusetts papers in May and June 1856 where Ira Lakey is the defendant in cases involving flogging members of his crew on his previous command of the Syren Queen and for libel, This further confirms the time frame of the Arctic's return to Fairhaven.
On return, Ira Lakey left his command, and Charles A Evans was recorded as the captain of the Arctic in 1856. Clearly his stowaway bride and pop-up onboard wedding had not reduced his chances of promotion.
According to the New Bedford Whaling Museum data base, the Arctic, commanded by Charles A Evans, departed the port of Fairhaven MA on 22nd July 1856, its recorded destination the Pacific, and Sarah accompanied him. Further records indicate the Arctic ventured into the Indian Ocean. (See article below.)
Tragically, Charles A Evans died 3 months later on the 29th October (see article below) when he fell overboard and was fatally injured in the attempted rescue. The crew attempted to bury him on St Paul Island - an uninhabited volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, but the sea was too rough to attempt it, so he was preserved in a double coffin and "stored" until the ship returned to Mongonui the following January. Whaling historian Joan Druett confirmed that burial at sea was not considered ideal, according to religious standards of the time, so efforts were made to preserve important corpses for burial on land - even though storage conditions were seldom ideal.
 |
| New Zealander, Volume 13, Issue 1128, 7 February 1857, Page 2 |
 |
| Estimated location of Charles A Evans' death (Indian Ocean marker) and location of St Paul Island where the burial attempt was made. (Google Maps). |
It's interesting to note that the article about his death says Charles and his [unnamed] wife married from this place [Mongonui] 8 months before - which would have been April, but this does not fit with the marriage at sea story. Just in case there was another twist to the tale, I checked the New Zealand register of births, deaths and marriages and could find no evidence of any land-based marriage between the couple. Perhaps it was a "cover-up" or mistaken information. It's interesting to note that the marriage did not seem to be recorded in Sarah/Ella's home country but was widely published in Charles' home state.
It is also interesting to note the pomp and ceremony that was involved in Charles Evans' funeral. I wonder if this was in recognition of the Cossill's standing in the local community, or of the recognition of the esteem that either Charles' Evans or Ira Lakey may have been held? Maybe everyone may have just liked a good ceremony after all the other hardships involved in whaling. It would certainly seem that any indiscretions between Ella/Sarah and Charles Evans were smoothed over, forgiven or kept quiet. And I wonder where the grave actually is? It would be interesting to know if there was any marker or evidence still discernable. Being buried a few yards from his father-in-law's door is an interesting final resting place for Charles Evans to say the least. It could be that Evans was known to Charles Cossill from when the Arctic was previously in port in 1856. In Petticoat Whalers by Joan Druett, she notes that Sarah Gorsell was the daughter of a pilot from Mongonui. It could have been one of Charles Cossill's part-time occupations. There are many possibilities. But we now know there is another family grave on the island.
Joan Druett confirms that the ship would have been on its way back to New Zealand anyway to refresh water and food provisions and to transship any oil that had been collected on the way. Consideration for Sarah may have been taken into account for the decision to return to Mongonui over any other port in New Zealand - or it could have been the preferred destination anyway. The Arctic was not planning to return to America for a while yet, and after the funeral, Sarah returned to America on February 2nd on the Jireh Swift which was heading homeward. It's interesting that Sarah would leave her family once again to go to the other side of the world when her husband was buried at her father's door.
So, in the space of less than a year, Sarah had left (run away from?) home in Mongonui, stowed away on a whaling ship, returned to America, left America, returned to Mongonui and then returned to America. What a year! What a gal!
I wonder why she did that?
What happened next?
(Note: there does not appear to have been any indication of a child at this stage.)
Click here for the rest of my research on Sarah Cossill's life.
- Part 2
- Part 3
- Part 4
Ella /Sarah CossillTimeline:
1836 - Sarah Cossill born
1838 - Sarah Cossell baptised (unconfirmed)
1856 - sometime in January: Arctic calls into and sails from Mongonui. Charles A Evans is first mate. Sarah probably stows away.
(February 20: Arctic may have called in to Mongonui - no evidence)
- March 12: Charles A Evans and Sarah Cossell marry on board Arctic
- sometime before May 23: Arctic returns to Fairhaven - with Sarah
- May 23: Charles A Evans and Sarah Corsell's marriage announced in the Boston Courier
- May 27: Charles A Evans and Sarah Corsell's marriage announced in the Salem Gazette
- May 29: Charles A Evans and Sarah Corsell's marriage notice published in New London Weekly Chronicle.
- July 22: Arctic leaves Fairhaven under command of Charles A Evans, accompanied by Sarah.
- October 29 - Charles A Evans dies onboard the Arctic, Indian Ocean
1857
- January 22 - Arctic arrives in Mongonui
- January 24 - Charles A Evans buried on Paewhenua Island
- February 2 - Sarah Evans departs for New Bedford on the Jireh Swift
- February 5 - Arctic departs Mongonui for whaling grounds -
- 1861 - Arctic returns to Fairhaven MA under command of Evans' second in command, Peter Beedman (aka Butman).
Other sources and references:
The Evening Standard - 1893-02-08
Publication title: The Evening Standard
Publication place: New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States
Date: Feb 8 1893
Page: 7
Well done, super sleuth Sherlock Holmes, alias Kay Vincent. Looking forward to reading chapter 2 of Ella's story.
ReplyDelete