Bennett, Mary Jane (c. 1816–1885)

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Bennett, Mary Jane (c. 1816–1885)

New Zealand lighthouse keeper. Name variations: Mary Jane Hebden. Born Mary Jane Hebden, c. 1816 (baptized Dec 11, 1816), at Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire, England; died July 6, 1885, at Dacre Banks, Yorkshire, England; dau. of William and Mary Hebden; m. George White Bennett (seed merchant and lighthouse keeper), 1840 (died 1855); children: 5.

Immigrated to Wellington, New Zealand (Feb 1840); assumed lighthouse duties after husband drowned; became 1st keeper of permanent lighthouse in New Zealand and only woman to hold that position (1859); returned to England with children (c. 1865).

See also Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (Vol. 1).

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