Doris Aughton

Doris was brought to New Zealand in 1914 on the "Osprey" along with her aunts and uncles - the youngest Winifred being only 10 years her senior. - by her grandmother Annie Ashton, landing in Auckland before moving to Te Poi. Her mother Gertrude remained in England along with her sister Annie Lowe Francis Ashton who by this time was married to Peter Watkinson. My youngest sister Edna Carol was fortunate enough to meet a son of Annie Lowe (nee) Ashton and Peter Watkinson on a visit to the U.K. and learnt first-hand much of the genealogy pertaining to my mother, Doris' English background. She did not see her mother for some 4 years. Her father father had left the family and emigrated to Australia prior to 1914. Gertrude arrived in Auckland about 1918 along with her son Stanley, and to begin with lived with her mother in Te Poi. It was here that Doris began her schooling.

The family, Doris, Stan and their mother Gertrude eventually moved on to live in Frankton. And it was while living here that her mother decided to move to Wellington. Doris, who by this time was now 16 had no intention of moving there. So her mother told her, if she could find work and accommodation she could stay. Doris, being the feisty determined person she was, found employment as a housemaid at the Empire Hotel in Frankton naturally had accommodation with the job. While living here and at the age of 19, she met a young baker from Auckland who serenaded her on his saxophone with "I"ll be loving you always" She moved to Auckland and married Aaron Ball Woodcock in 1929 in Avondale at the Salvation Army citadel, before finally settling in Tauranga in 1935.