Early Life
Massey was born in 1856 into a farming family, and grew up in Limavady, County Londonderry in Ireland. His father John Massey and his mother Marianne (or Mary Anne) Ferguson were tenant farmers who also owned a small property. His family moved to New Zealand in 1869, although Bill Massey himself remained in Ireland for a further year to complete his education. After arriving in New Zealand, Massey worked as a farmhand for some years before acquiring his own farm in 1877. In 1882 Massey married his neighbour's daughter, Christina Allen Paul (died 1932). The couple had seven children.
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Famous quotes related to early life:
“Many a woman shudders ... at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians ...”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)
“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)