Talk:Richard Reeves (New Zealand politician)

Date of birth

A very limited number of sources state that Richard Reeves was a brother to Charles Reeves, a businessman in Dunedin and at one time mayor of the southern city. Fact is that both were born in Enniscorthy. Both were apparently born in 1836. I've found the exact birth date for Charles from the transcription of his gravestone: 29 May 1836. If Richard was indeed also born in 1836 and was indeed Charles' brother, he would have been either his twin or adopted. The scarcity of sources referring to the family relationship is somewhat puzzling. Now that I've found where Richard is buried I see on Findagrave that there's unfortunately no gravestone that gives his date of birth. Maybe someone has access to sources that shed more light on the family. Schwede66 21:59, 14 January 2019 (UTC)

His burial record [1] gives an age of 76 years, which would put his birth in 1833–1834. The online births, deaths and marriages search at the Department of Internal Affairs gives an age of 75 years, corresponding to birth in 1834–1835. He also appears in the 1851 England census, as a visitor in the household of Silvester Diggles in Tranmere, Cheshire, listed as Richard H. J. Reeves, visitor, unmarried, aged 19, bookkeeper etc, born in Enniscorthy, Ireland. That would put his birth in 1831–1832. So would certainly appear to be the elder brother of Charles, as stated in Richard's obituary [2]. Paora (talk) 22:58, 14 January 2019 (UTC)