Katherine Mabel Brownrigg was born in 1863 in Albury, NSW, the eldest of seven children of Rev. Marcus Blake Brownrigg and his wife Georgiana Eliza Shapcote. In 1867, Katherine, her parents and brother Marcus, came to Tasmania when Rev. Brownrigg was appointed to St John's Church in Ross. The following year he was inducted as rector at St John's Church, Launceston. He remained there until 1887 when the family, except Marcus, moved to Gladstone then Rockhampton in Queensland and finally to Albury. After Rev. Brownrigg died in Sydney in Jul 1890, his wife and children returned to Launceston. Katherine married widower William Genders in 1895. He was a partner in the firm W & G Genders, saddlers and ironmongers. He died in 1901 at his home 'Lenna', 217 George Street, aged 36. Katherine was an active church worker at St John's, especially involved with the Mother's Union. She had been a widow for 56 years when she died in Launceston on 30 Mar 1957, at the age of 93. See The Examiner 17 Mar 2007, page 37.
Barbara Valentine Mar 2007