Victor “Albert” Klee

Early Days

“Albert” Klee was Victor and Emelie’s oldest surviving son born in Villeparisis, Seine-et-Marne, France on 11 July 1867. His birth registration birth registration is recorded as Victor Klee, and likewise the passenger list (see Victor and Emelie) showing Victor as 7 years old when the family arrived in Port Chalmers, Dunedin from France aboard the Wennington on 18th May 1875.

Marriage and Family

At age 23, Albert was married in Gisborne on 26 May 1890 to Margaret Mary Fanning, aged 19.

Their marriage certificate shows that Albert was a bricklayer and Margaret a servant. They had one child, Myrtle Annie Klee born in 1894.

On the 9th June 1913, their daughter Myrtle married James Paul Martin in Gisborne. The six grandchildren were Paul, Joyce, Ray, Jeffory, Barbara and Margaret.

Early Death

At the age of only 31, Albert died of cancer at St. Andrew Street, Dunedin, on 6 March 1897. He is buried at the Waitati Cemetery.

Myrtle was cared for by her aunt, Emelie Klee, and her grandfather Victor while her mother Margaret sought work in Gisborne and until she remarried.

In 1897, which is the same year that Albert died, Margaret married Mark James Benson of Gisborne. Following the second marriage Margaret had further children.