relatives of her parents. In that city, she married Matthew Frank Barnett. Children The Barnetts had six children; five girls and one boy: Ethel Barnett (19 Apr 1889 – 4 Apr 1945) Matthew Oliver Barnett (Olly) (23 Mar 1890 – 14 July 1977) Ivy Kathleen Barnett (15 Oct 1891 – 1965) Alice May Barnett (Topsy) (15 May 1893 – 1979) Kate Elizabeth Barnett (19 Jan 1900 – 26 September 1972) Tui Frances Barnett (21 Dec 1903 – 12 Dec 1962) Professional life Some time after their wedding, the couple moved to Otago to farm. Barnett's brother Thomas (Tom) had a business relationship with Peter Grant and they were placing racing bets together. Matthew Barnett joined them and for half a year, they worked together. After a substantial win, they dissolved their relationship and went on their own ways. Bookmaking Betting and bookmaking in the 1890s need to be seen in the then climate of moral and social change in New Zealand. Women's suffrage, temperance and anti-betting were strong movements, and gaming houses were banned, which included betting shops. Bookmakers responded to the situation by giving themselves titles like 'commission agents' and 'turf accountants'. Parliament was strongly lobbied by the pro-betting faction and consequently left decisions to the local level. Beginning with the Canterbury Trotting Club in 1897, racecourses responded by banning bookmakers from their properties. Those not adhering to the ban were being arrested and fined. Christchurch City Council passed a by-law in 1899 and banned bookmaking in public. Legislation was finally passed in 1908, banning gaming in public places and making it illegal for racing clubs to accept bets by telephone. An amendment to the Gaming Act in 1910 banned bookmaking altogether. It was in this climate that Matthew Barnett formed a partnership 'Barnett and Grant'. It came about because Peter Grant had been banned from a racecourse for refusing to leave. Barnett, who had earlier been banned from the same course for life, but who had managed to get that decision overturned, offered to Grant to bet on a joint account. A win of £100 resulted and although the two never formalised their partnership, their further wins in this first year ran into the thousands. Luck left them, and after the second year they had lost all their earnings again. Luck was with them again, and some time after Grant's wedding in February 1896, they had sufficient capital