Christopher Christmas Berry – His Birth, Marriage, Children and Travels

To be read in conjunction with:

1. https://bobvinenz.com/2017/09/25/the-three-lives-of-john-christmas-underwoodchristopher-christmas-berry-born-norfolk-england-1796-part-one/
2. https://bobvinenz.com/2017/09/27/three-lives-of-john-christmas-underwoodchristopher-christmas-berry-part-2-australia-c1837-1840/
3. https://bobvinenz.com/2017/09/25/the-three-lives-of-john-christmas-underwoodchristopher-christmas-berry-part-3-new-zealand-1840-1851/

In this Blog I have made a serious attempt to clarify the birth details of my two times Great Grandfather, Christopher Christmas BERRY and his family.

It has been tricky, but I believe that I have found information that will stand to hold a reliable base. Most people attempting the exercise have been confused with the fact that there were two “Christopher” with our man being Baptised/Christened three times.

There are 3 Baptism records of interest:

1. John Christmas UNDERWOOD, b 25 December 1796, at Norwich, son of William UNDERWOOD and Mary his Wife, Late Mary GOODDY, Privately Baptised 08 Jan 1797, All Saints, Norwich. FreeREG transcriptions show a birth date of 15 December 1796 but a close examination of the Parish Register shows that the date could also be read as 25 December,
2. John BERRY, Baptised 27 Dec 1802, St Nicholas, Kings Lynn, son of Christopher and Elisabeth, and
3. Christopher Christmas BERRY, Baptised 14 January 1803, St Nicholas Chapel, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England, son of Christopher and Elisabeth (Baptisms, Parish Register, page 70) with an annotation “Born Dec 25”.
   No.1 Baptism:

I have not been able to find a “William Underwood” that fits, and can see now the difficulties experienced by family member John Miller, on his mission for the late Anne Bromell, to discover details of Christopher Christmas Berry; very difficult when now we have learned that it was “John Christopher Underwood” that should have been the starting point.

I do have a Mary Gooddy, Christened, Doncaster, 30 October 1777, Married Richard Maw, 12 November 1798 at Doncaster. I cannot find any connection.

Number 2:  Baptism John (Salmon) Berry 27 December 1802

The following is an extract from my My Heritage DNA site. While it goes under the name “Christopher Christmas Berry” it actually records a second Baptism of  “John Christmas Underwood“, from the 1797 Baptism.

Number 3: Baptism 14 January 1803, Lynn, Norfolk. England

So now we know that John Christopher Underwood, John Berry and Christopher Christmas Berry were one and the same. However the stories do not end there. In his time, Christopher also used the names “Underwood” , “Alias Salmon” and in the case of the Baptism of son James the second name “Newdick” has been used as the surname.

Further, and the most interesting is his marriage, 6 June 1822, to Elisabeth Newdick, where his surname is given as “Underwood“.

First Baptism Parish Register: No 1908, Page 216 Surname recorded as “Newdick”, Second Baptism 1826 Surname recorded as “Berry”. Parish Register: No 454, Page 61 and later 1842 his Marriage Banns use “Christopher Newdick”.

In New Zealand, Index of Early Settlers we find errors with Birth given as 25 December 1802 and name as “Christopher Berry (Underwood).” It occurs to me that in this case the surname “Underwood” was used to throw William Ferguson off the trail with the departure of Harriet and three of her daughters to New Zealand in the cutter, Rectus.

The fourth and oldest daughter “Rebecca” changed her surname to “Berry” and travelled separately to New Zealand.

When one thinks about it, the reasons for all this uncertainty must be related to Christopher’s illegitimate birth and the move to put the record straight following the marriage of Christopher Berry and Elizabeth Moss Salmon, 23 January 1800 • St Nicholas, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom.

Furthermore, the Birth of Elizabeth Salmon Berry, June 1800, Kings Lynn and Death 3 March 1802 with Burial 6 March 1802, together with the situation with Judith’s birth 15 Oct 1804 • Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England: “No Birth date can be found. DNA shows that Judith was the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Moss SALMON, as was her brother, Christopher Christmas BERRY, with both being Baptised “Berry” sometime after their Birth. These records, showing the same parentage, provide us with the true situation. 

PS. Until now I have been recording that Christopher Christmas was not married to Harriet Felstead. This is incorrect. A Marriage took place in Auckland Aoetearoa New Zealand on

Bob Vine, 9 September 2026