{{short description|New Zealand landlord (1881–1968)}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox person | name = Annette Clifford | image = Annette Mary Eleanor Jane Clifford.jpg | caption = Clifford, unknown date, photo taken by her husband H. H. Clifford | birth_name = Annette Mary Eleanor Jane Thomas | birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|11|05 |df=y}} | birth_place = Akaroa, New Zealand | death_date = {{Death date and age|1968|04|28|1881|11|05|df=y}} | death_place = Christchurch, New Zealand | occupation = Property owner and landlord | spouse = {{Marriage |Henry Herbert Clifford |1915 |1949 |end=d.}} | children = 3 }}
'''Annette Mary Eleanor Jane Clifford''' ({{nee|Thomas}}; 5 November 1881 – 28 April 1968), also known as '''Ma Clifford''',<ref name="Ma">{{cite news |last1=Nation |first1=Deborah |title=The Memorable 'Ma' Clifford |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/spectrum/20120617 |access-date=7 December 2020 |work=Radio New Zealand |date=17 June 2012}}</ref> was a New Zealand property owner and landlord.
==Biography== Clifford was born in Akaroa, North Canterbury 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 and worked as a music teacher.<ref name="DNZB Clifford">{{DNZB|title=Annette Mary Eleanor Jane Clifford|first= Margaret|last= Lovell-Smith|id=5c26|accessdate=23 April 2017}}</ref>
On 24 July 1915 she married Henry Herbert Clifford, a portrait photographer, and they had three sons.<ref name="DNZB Clifford" /> 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, and died at Oxford.<ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19400119.2.3 |access-date=7 December 2020 |work=The Press |date=19 January 1940 |quote="CLIFFORD: On January 17, Allister Bertram Clifford, dearly loved youngest son of Henry Herbert and Annette Clifford, 52 Worcester street, aged 21 years."}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19400827.2.5 |access-date=7 December 2020 |work=The Press |date=27 August 1940 |quote="CLIFFORD: Sergeant Pilot Robert Henry, Royal Air Force, dearly loved eldest son of Henry Herbert and Annette Clifford; died from injuries at Oxford, England."}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=N.Z. Pilots Killed: Two Christchurch Men |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19400827.2.83.2 |access-date=8 December 2020 |work=Evening Star |issue=23,665 |date=27 August 1940}}</ref> Her husband died on 19 February 1949.<ref>{{cite news |title=Deaths |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19490221.2.2.3 |access-date=22 September 2021 |work=The Press |date=21 February 1949}}</ref>
By 1944, Clifford and her remaining son Ogilvie had acquired about 40 old houses and converted them into smaller flats and apartments.<ref name="Houses Worth">{{cite news |title=Houses Worth £40,000 Held by One Owner |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19440421.2.30 |access-date=7 December 2020 |work=New Zealand Herald |date=21 April 1944}}</ref> She had been fined both in 1927 and again in 1943 for failure to pay stamp duty.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Courts: Magisterial |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19270728.2.115 |access-date=7 December 2020 |work=The Press |date=28 July 1927}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Magistrate's Court |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19430810.2.62 |access-date=7 December 2020 |work=The Press |date=10 August 1943}}</ref> 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.<ref name="DNZB Clifford" /><ref name="Purchase">{{cite news |title=Purchase of Houses: Undue Aggregation Question |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19440427.2.15 |access-date=7 December 2020 |work=The Press |date=27 April 1944}}</ref>
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 and popular with students.<ref name="DNZB Clifford" />
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.<ref name="DNZB Clifford" />
Clifford died in Christchurch on 28 April 1968, survived by her son Ogilvie.<ref name="DNZB Clifford" /> She is buried at Bromley Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web |title=Results Detail |url=https://heritage.christchurchcitylibraries.com/Cemeteries/interment.asp?id=121962 |website=Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database |access-date=7 December 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, Annette}} Category:1881 births Category:1968 deaths Category:People from Akaroa Category:New Zealand landlords Category:Burials at Bromley Cemetery