George was amongst the babies born on Norfolk Island to the Pitcairners who were moved from Pitcairn Island in 1856. He was the oldest of his 5 siblings. His father John died when he was only 10, and his mother Dinah when he was 12. An Obituary says "Quintal left Norfolk Island at the age of 15, and became a seaman. He spent many years at Tonga, and qualified as a master mariner. During his youth he earned a high reputation as a boatman, visiting mariners regarding him as one of the greatest boat steerers in the Pacific Islands. Mr Quintal had many narrow escapes at sea, and was wrecked no fewer than eleven times. The frequency of the hurricanes experienced in the Tongan Islands finally drove him away," and he moved to New Zealand. He married Alice May Clare, daughter of an Auckland based boat builder, in Tonga in 1896 and returned to her native Auckland where they had 8 children. He continued to work as a seaman, even after Alice died during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. His younger children were placed in a children's home, as he was unable to care for them, because of his occupation, but continued to pay financial support. He was listed as "Retired" by 1935, living with his son, George "Lanny" Quintal in Castor Bay. He died in Hamilton in 1936, while living with his youngest daughter, Irene Forbes. His grave in Hamilton East Cemetery is unmarked, as his wife Alice's, in Auckland's Purewa Cemetery.
George was amongst the babies born on Norfolk Island to the Pitcairners who were moved from Pitcairn Island in 1856. He was the oldest of his 5 siblings. His father John died when he was only 10, and his mother Dinah when he was 12. An Obituary says "Quintal left Norfolk Island at the age of 15, and became a seaman. He spent many years at Tonga, and qualified as a master mariner. During his youth he earned a high reputation as a boatman, visiting mariners regarding him as one of the greatest boat steerers in the Pacific Islands. Mr Quintal had many narrow escapes at sea, and was wrecked no fewer than eleven times. The frequency of the hurricanes experienced in the Tongan Islands finally drove him away," and he moved to New Zealand. He married Alice May Clare, daughter of an Auckland based boat builder, in Tonga in 1896 and returned to her native Auckland where they had 8 children. He continued to work as a seaman, even after Alice died during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. His younger children were placed in a children's home, as he was unable to care for them, because of his occupation, but continued to pay financial support. He was listed as "Retired" by 1935, living with his son, George "Lanny" Quintal in Castor Bay. He died in Hamilton in 1936, while living with his youngest daughter, Irene Forbes. His grave in Hamilton East Cemetery is unmarked, as his wife Alice's, in Auckland's Purewa Cemetery.
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Cemetery records lookup website is at Hamilton City Council.
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