Samuel Bagnall (?-1810) and Elizabeth Whitehouse were married in Stratfordshire, England in 1768. They emigrated to Philadelphia, United States in the late 1700s and during the American Civil War they moved to Prince Edward Island. Samuel's great-grandson, George Bagnall (1818-1889) was born in Hazel Grove. He married Martha Stevenson (1824-1906) of New Glasgow on 7 December 1841. Their children were: Lemuel John (1843-?), William Henry (1845-?), Albert Edward (1847-?), George Edwin (1849-?), Richard Wellington (1851-?), Margaret (1853-?), Elizabeth (1955-?), Horatio Nelson (1857-?), Margaret Ann (1859-?), Charles Louis (1861-?), Polly (?), and Sarah (?).

Worried about their sons futures with most of the land on PEI having been purchased by the 1860s, George and Martha moved their family to New Zealand. Leaving PEI in December of 1863 aboard the "Pakeha," the Bagnall family arrived in Auckland, NZ, on 24 May 1864. They initially settled in Auckland where George worked as a shipbuilder. They later lived in Matakana, Kaipara, and Thames, where Margaret taught school for a short time. Eventually, George and his sons started their own company, "Bagnall Bros. and Company" in 1875.