Richard Minnis
Man of mystery and all around Oddfellow
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Richard's early life and family are a mystery. I haven't even been able to discover exactly when he arrived in NZ.
Richard died in 1899 at the young age of 45. According to his obituary he arrived in NZ during the 1870s and was an early settler in the Ashburton district. His death certificate records that he had been resident in NZ for 30 years.
He married Lucy Fowler in 1877 and they had a large family (three sons, four daughters), including my great-grandmother, Nesta.
We know he was an Irishman (his death certificate says he was born in Belfast) and my grandad always maintained that the Irish side of his family was 'orange' (Protestant).
Oddfellow
Richard Minnis was the secretary of the Ashburton Oddfellows' Lodge for many years. And what, you may ask, are Oddfellows? Here's what the freemasons say about them:
There are many theories about how Odd Fellows got its name but the generally accepted belief is that they where a group of labouring men involved in odd trades or odd jobs who banded together to form their brotherhood. At that time, there was still no welfare state, National Health Insurance, personal insurance or even trade unions, so these groups of ordinary people found it necessary to group together and contribute some of their hard-earned wages to a common fund which they could use for unfortunate times such as sickness, losing a job and even death. They would work together to help each other and the unfortunate families back on their feet, whether it was rebuilding a barn that had burned or putting in a new crop after a devastating season. Such brotherhood came to be known as “Odd Fellows,” said to be named by the general population who thought they were “an odd bunch of fellows” who would behave in such a selfless and seemingly impractical fashion. The group then adopted the name.
Retrieved from: https://www.freemasons.co.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38 on 13 July 2014
13 July 2014
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