Annette Mary Eleanor Jane Clifford (; 5 November 1881 – 28 April 1968), also known as Ma Clifford, was a New Zealand property owner and landlord.

Biography

Clifford was born in

Akaroa Akaroa is a small town on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated within a harbour of the same name. The name Akaroa is Ngāi Tahu, Kāi Tahu Māori language, Māori for "Long Harbour", which woul ...

North Canterbury Canterbury () is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current form was estab ...

on 5 November 1881. Her father John Thomas, a farmer, died three months before she was born, and her mother Eliza Bates remarried in 1884. As a child she lived with both her father's family and with her mother and stepfather. She moved to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and worked as a music teacher. On 24 July 1915 she married Henry Herbert Clifford, a portrait photographer, and they had three sons. Her oldest and youngest sons both died in their early 20s in 1940; her oldest son Robert had been a Sergeant Pilot in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, and died at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Her husband died on 19 February 1949. By 1944, Clifford and her remaining son Ogilvie had acquired about 40 old houses and converted them into smaller flats and apartments. She had been fined both in 1927 and again in 1943 for failure to pay

stamp duty Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on single property purchases or documents (including, historically, the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions). Historically, a ...

. A hearing took place in April 1944 before the Christchurch Land Sales Committee to consider their purchase of two further properties. The Committee approved one purchase but refused the other on the grounds that it would be "undue aggregation" of land under the Servicemen's Settlement and Land Sales Act, and could prevent returned servicemen from purchasing property. By 1958, Clifford and her son owned at least 47 houses and were receiving rent from up to 550 tenants. Most of the houses were pre-1920 wooden buildings with colourful paintwork, and she had been sent a notice of non-compliance with housing improvement regulations after an inspection in 1953. Many of the properties were close to the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

and popular with students. In the 1960s Clifford was pursued by the Inland Revenue Department for failure to pay income tax over nine years. It was a long-running and high-profile case, with the result that she was convicted and fined £100 for each year that a false return had been filed. The verdict was upheld by the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

. Clifford died in Christchurch on 28 April 1968, survived by her son Ogilvie. She is buried at

Bromley Cemetery Bromley Cemetery is a cemetery in Christchurch, New Zealand. It occupies approximately 10 hectares to the east of the city centre, on the corner of Keighleys Road and Linwood Avenue. The Christchurch City Council maintains and administers the c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, Annette 1881 births 1968 deaths People from Akaroa New Zealand landlords Burials at Bromley Cemetery