Our Treasure Box
From the Treasure Box : An introduction to our treasure box and its past owners - Shirley [Coop] Chapman, Winifred [Darcy] Coop, and Mary Emma [Veale] [Darcy] Mumford.
When his mother died, my husband inherited a box of family treasures. At the moment it sits on our bookcase, its contents begging to be explored.
The box contains a collection of photos, postcards and other family-related items. Some of these items have already prompted me to research them and I will write about those soon. Others I will get to gradually over time. There is more to explore.
This post introduces you to the people who owned the items in the box before the box and it’s contents came into our possession. They span three generations.
Some of the items belonged to my husband’s mother, Shirley [Coop] Chapman. However, most were passed down to her by her mother (my husband’s grandmother), Winifred [Darcy] Coop, known as Winnie. Some of what is in the box belonged to Winnie herself and some of it, belonged to Winnie’s mother (my husband’s great grandmother), Mary Emma [Veale] [Darcy] Mumford, known as Emma:
We don’t know where the wooden box itself originally came from. It could have been Emma's or it could have been Winnie's. I suspect it was Winnie's as most of the contents are hers but that may not be the case.
What follows is a short biographical summary of key events in the lives of Emma, Winnie, and Shirley. I will write about Emma and Winnie in more detail in future posts.
Emma
Emma was born Mary Emma Veale on 26 September 18731 at the Kyeburn Diggings in Central Otago, New Zealand. During her childhood, her father was a miner at the Diggings. Sometime around 1886, when Emma was about 13 years old, the family moved to the West Coast.
Emma married her first husband, William Darcy, on 4 May 1893 at Reefton in the Buller District of the West Coast2. Emma and William had been married for a little over 5 years when, on 5 July 1898, William died from a cerebral inflammation following measles3. Emma found herself widowed with two small children, Winnie, then a toddler of 2½ years and Isabel, just 2½ months old.
Two years later, on 7 December 1900, Emma married Arthur Tregarthen Mumford in Wellington4. It appears that they returned to Reefton for a while and then back to Wellington again. She and Arthur had two children together, William Charles Mumford and Arthur Francis Mumford, known as Frank. By 1905/06, Emma was no longer living with Arthur. He was still alive but living separately5.
In about February/March 19476, Emma moved to Nelson along with her daughter and son-in-law, Winnie and William Coop and her grandchildren, Shirley and Douglas. She was still living with family in Nelson when she died at the age of 80 in May 19547. She is buried at Richmond Cemetery in Nelson (Block B, Row 9, Plot 79)8.
Winnie
Winnie was born Winifred Alice Darcy at Black’s Point in Reefton on the West Coast (South Island, New Zealand) on the 25 November 18959. As told above, her father died when she was about two and a half years old10 and, although her mother did marry again when Winnie was about five years old, her stepfather Arthur doesn’t appear to have stuck around for long … long enough to provide Winnie with two half brothers. By the time Winnie was in her tenth year (1905) her step father was no longer living with them11.
Sometime between 1905 and 1914, Winnie—with her mother Emma and siblings—moved from Reefton to Wellington. It is most likely there that Winnie met her future husband, William 'Bill' Harold Coop.
Winnie and Bill married on 18 December 191512 at St Thomas' Church in Newtown, Wellington13. Winnie was 20 and Bill was 21. They had two children, Shirley and Douglas.
As told above, in later years, Winnie and Bill moved their family, including Winnie’s mother, Emma, to Nelson. Winnie continued to live in Nelson for many years. However, in her later years, Winnie moved to Tauranga (Bay of Plenty, New Zealand) to be closer to Shirley who had moved there not long after she married.
Winnie died in Tauranga on 24 November 199014. She was cremated and her ashes buried on 13 December 1990 with her husband’s at Wakapuaka Cemetery, Nelson, New Zealand (Cremation Lawn Block 01. Plot 222_A)15.
Shirley
Shirley was born Shirley Noeline Coop in Wellington on 22 January 192716. When she was about 20 years old, she moved with her family - mother, father, brother and grandmother, Emma, to Nelson. It was in Nelson that Shirley met Trevor George Chapman, always known as Joe.
Shirley and Joe married on 12 Oct 1949 in Nelson17. Not long after they married they moved to Tauranga. There they had two sons, one of whom is my husband who luckily inherited the box of treasures past down from the three generations before him.
Shirley died in Tauranga on 20 January 201818, just two days short of her 91st birthday. Her ashes were scattered at sea off the coast from Tauranga/Mount Maunganui. Joe’s were already there. Shirley and Joe were keen sailors and spent much of their retirement sailing up and down the New Zealand coast from Tauranga to the Bay of Islands.
Edit - 15 April 2026 - The Box
Recently, while talking with Kathy Stone and Barbara at Projectkin at Kathy’s Corner, Barbara suggested I find out more about the box itself. It is quite distinctive. She thought an online search may reveal more.
I asked Google Lens what it could tell me about the box and this is what, in part, it replied:
“The box … appears to be a piece of Tunbridge Ware, a traditional form of decorative inlaid woodwork originating from the historic spa town of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England …
Technique: The box is decorated with marquetry and mosaic inlays, likely using the “tessalated mosaic” technique where thin strips of naturally colored wood were glued together and sliced into veneers.
Geometric Patterns: It features characteristic geometric banding and a central diamond-shaped cartouche (the lozenge around the keyhole), which are hallmarks of 19th-century Tunbridge Ware.
Materials: These items were typically made from a wide variety of native and exotic woods, including rosewood, walnut, and sycamore (often referred to as harewood).
Functionality: Such boxes were popular in the Victorian era as high quality souvenirs and served various purposes, including as trinket boxes, sewing boxes, or jewelery cases”
A Treasure Box Series
I intend to write about the various items in our treasure box gradually over time. The posts will include what we know about, and/or can infer from the items, and in the case of postcards, what we know about the sender of them. You will be able to find those posts here:
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This post draws on information from my family history archive on the weare.xyz platform.
You may like to check out my other Substack publication as well:
Notes:
Birth Entry - Registration 1873/42251 Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [Digital Index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 2 June 2022. The author (Jane Chapman) obtained a copy of this birth registration entry from the Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, New Zealand in 2001.
Marriage Entry - Registration Number 1893/3974 Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [Digital Index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 2 June 2022. The author (Jane Chapman) obtained a copy of this marriage registration entry from the Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, New Zealand in 2001.
Death Entry - Registration Number 1898/3769 Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [Digital Index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 2 June 2022. The author (Jane Chapman) obtained a copy of this death registration entry from the Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, New Zealand in 2001.
Marriage Entry - Registration Number: 1900/926 Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [Digital Index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 2 June 2022. The author (Jane Chapman) obtained a copy of this marriage registration entry from the Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, New Zealand in 2001.
Emma is listed on the 1905-1906 Buller Electoral Roll as a married woman living in Reefton and on the 1914 Wellington Central Electoral Roll as a married woman living at 107 Tory Street in Central Wellington. Arthur is not living with her. See: 1905-1906 Buller Electoral Roll and 1914 Wellington Central Electoral Roll via Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Accessed 2 June 2022
This date is based on the following: Shirley, Winifred’s daughter/Emma’s granddaughter, received a reference from her then employer indicating that she had left her employment at the end of February 1947 as her family was moving to Nelson. The Author (Jane Chapman) has the original copy of this reference.
Death Registration Number: 1954/22713 Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [Digital Index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 22 December 2022. The author (Jane Chapman) obtained a copy of this death registration entry from the Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, New Zealand in 2001.
Cemeteries Search [online database) via Tasman District Council [Website] Accessed 23 December 2021.
Birth Registration Number: 1895/12109 Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [Digital Index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 2 June 2022. A copy of the birth entry is held by the author. It was obtained from Births Deaths & Marriages in 2001.
Death Entry - Registration Number 1898/3769 Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [Digital Index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 2 June 2022. The author (Jane Chapman) obtained a copy of this death registration entry from the Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, New Zealand in 2001.
The 1905-1906 Electoral Roll lists them as both living in Reefton but at separate residences - 1905-1906 Buller Electoral Rolls via Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Accessed 2 June 2022
Marriage Registration Number: 1915/5076 Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [Digital Index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website] Accessed 1 December 2021. I hold the Copy of the Registrar of Marriage that belonged to Winnie. It was given to me by my mother-in-law, Shirley, after Winnie died because she knew I was researching the family.
The church is physically located at: 200 Riddiford Street in Newtown, Wellington.
Death Registration Number 1990/51998 Births Deaths and Marriages Online [Digital Index], Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 19 July 2025
Find a Grave, database and images -(https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/196637996/winifred_alice-coop: accessed July 19, 2025), memorial page for Winifred Alice Darcy Coop (25 Nov 1895–24 Nov 1990), Find a Grave Memorial ID 196637996, citing Wakapuaka Cemetery, Nelson, Nelson City, Nelson, New Zealand; Maintained by Jenn (contributor 49499395).
Personal knowledge.
Marriage Registration Number 1949/16464 Births Deaths and Marriages Online [Digital Index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 16 July 2025.
Personal knowledge. Also - Death Registration 2018/3074 Births deaths and Marriages Online [Digital Index] New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs [Website]. Accessed 10 July 2025
Good heavens! The photos you’ve shared in this post are a genealogist's dream come true. That more treasurers await to be shared is amazing.
Great job on the narratives and providing citations as appropriate.
What a treasure you have!