Emelie Klee
Early Days
Emelie Klee born in France on 19 May 1872, was Victor and Emelie’s only daughter. She was 3 years old when the family arrived in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, aboard the Wennington on 18th May 1875.
When her brother Albert died in 1897, Emilie spent some time caring for his daughter Myrtle.
Marriage to John McGill
(Source: photocopy of family photo)
On 18th May 1899, Emelie married John Horace McGill, labourer. The marriage certificate shows that they were married at the house of Victor Klee, Grange Street, Dunedin.
A year later, John and Emelie had a son, Sidney George Victor McGill.
Death of John
Before their son Sidney was a year old, John McGill died on 11 November 1900. The death certificate shows that he died of “bone disease”, presumably cancer.
Marriage to William Drummond
In 1908, at age 32, Emelie married William Grubb Drummond who was then about 62.
This was William Drummond’s second marriage. Previously, on the 1st January 1869 he had married Maria Jane Cunningham at St. Michaels Church,
Christchurch. They are known to have had a least two children; Frederick William Drummond (born 7th November 1869) and Thomas Henry Drummond (born 20 April 1872).
Death of Sidney
Further tragedy occured for Emelie, when at age 16 their son Sidney, a drapers assistant, died on 3 January 1917 in Dunedin Hospital, New Zealand. Sidney’s death certificate shows that he died of tuberculosis.
Later Years
At this time, nothing else is known about Emilie’s married life as Mrs Drummond.
William Drummond died on the 17th September 1930, aged 84, and is buried in the Waitati cemetery.
At age 78, Emelie died on the 2nd February 1951 in Waitati, Dunedin, New Zealand.