Ellen Grace Olive WILEY ^{1 2}

   Another name for Ellen was Ellen Grace Olive BRATTON.

   User ID: P00014468.

  General Notes:

Ancestral File Number:<AFN> 4SZ0-4G
Ruby Bluemel records shows baptized 6 Mar1901 and died 2
9 dec 1915<BR>Blessed 22 Jan 1891<BR><BR>BIRTH: LIFE: Lette
r from Ada to A.O. Wiley 5 Mar 1978. "Mother is still on c
rutches outside but can manage inside with one crutch o
r a walking stick. Progress is slow butshe is progressin
g - the specialist said it could take 15 months to two year
s to be right. Fortunately she can still use her hands t
o good advantage and does lovely handwork. DEATH: Journal e
ntry of A.O. Wiley 19 Mar 1981. "got a letter from Ada Bra
tton informing us that Grace my sister passed away on 25t
h February 1981. She was a very lovely lady, she will be m
issed greatlyby her family, and especially Ada who was he
r companion always. Visited mother (Elmira), she cried whe
n told about Grace. I think we should all realizethat dea
th is a fact of life and very necessary step in mans eterna
l journey. I realize that mother has very tender feelings
, and she thought so much of Grace. Talk given by her daugh
ter Ada Bratton at the funeral service.<BR> In proverb
s we read: "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price i
s far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely t
rust in her.....<BR> It is my privilege this morning t
o pay tribute on behalf of the family toour mother.<BR
> On 7th January 1891 there was born in Carterton, Ne
w Zealand to Robert Maxwell Wiley and his wife Caroline Nil
sson, an immigrant Swedish girl, a daughter whom they name
d Ellen Grace Olive and called her by her second name of Gr
ace.<BR> She was born in horse and buggy days and live
d into the Jet Age and to read of men walking on the moon
. She rode as a small child in one of the first cars to co
me into this country. She lived in the reign of six monarc
hs - two Queens and four Kings and to know almost a score o
f great grandchildren.<BR> She lived in pioneering time
s in this country and faced every sort of hardship and pove
rty.<BR> She bore 8 children - 4 daughters and 4 sons a
nd brought them up during depression days.<BR> She wa
s familiar with hard work from an early age as the eldest l
iving child of a family of ten.<BR> She had little form
al schooling but with her great interest in life and her wi
de range of reading she grew to be a well educated woman.<B
R> She had very skilful hands and delighted in fine nee
dlework and for years to come her children and grandchildre
n will have things of beauty made by her. There are altar c
loths in the Temple made by her hands.<BR> She loved fl
owers and I cannot remember a time when she did not have th
em around her.<BR> She wrote letters - thousands and th
ousands ofthem - to family and friends (some of the friend
s from schooldays.)<BR> I think the family will agree w
ith me when I say that sometimes we thought her unfair in h
er dealings with us, but never were we in any doubt that sh
e loved us.<BR> She knew God and Jesus and walked in vi
rtue all the days of her life. She served the Church wel
l both in the old Mission days and later when we grew a lit
tle larger.<BR> In her old age she was afflicted with d
eafness and later with the result of a broken hip but she d
id what she could - the washing up because she could stan
d that long - the ironing because she could sit to do that.
<BR> She loved people and had a very special placefo
r her own.<BR> Just a humble woman, a wife, a mother
, a grandmother,a great grandmother and progenitor of gene
rations yet to come.<BR> Now one or two intimate glimps
es from her life story in her book of rememberance:<BR
> "I can remember the South African War very well. Som
e of Dad's mates at the sawmill enlisted and one of them ne
ver came back. I can remember Queen Victoria's death and K
ing Edward's coronation and of course Edward VIII's abdicat
ion in favour of his brother George VI.

Ellen married Herbert BRATTON, son of William BRATTON and Sarah Ann MICHAEL, on 29 Dec 1915 in Mokauiti, North Island, New Zealand. (Herbert BRATTON was born on 4 Feb 1883 in Winteringham, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom,³ died on 24 May 1964 in Auckland, Auckland, , , New Zealand ³ and was buried on 30 May 1964 in Auckland, Auckland, , , New Zealand.)