1898 was a sad year for the family of George Turner Croft and his wife Catherine Stokes.
Catherine was the daughter of Richard Stokes and his wife Catherine Tigh(e). She was born in London in 1845. Her mother died when Catherine was 9 and the family drifted apart. In 1861 she was working as a housemaid in Hertfordshire for William Ward “Landed Proprietor” and his family of eight children. She was one of twelve servants. In 1871 she married George Turner Croft, a carpenter.
The young family emigrated about 1875 and after a few years in Canterbury, they came on to Wellington.
On New Year’s day 1898 at Wellington Hospital, their son Harry Croft died of pneumonia. He was 20 years old. The newspaper said that he died suddenly after a short illness. The funeral procession departed from Wellington Hospital at 3pm on 4th January for Karori Cemetery.
About two weeks later on 14th January, a building owned by George Croft at Petone caught fire. The fire was thought to have been caused by a spark from a bush fire in the neighbourhood. When the alarm was given, the Gear Meat Company’s Brigade arrived and attached a number of lengths of hose to a connection in the Company’s yard. This was too short and when the Petone Brigade arrived, their hose was joined on. Once water pressure was applied, several lengths of the Brigade’s hose burst. All efforts were deemed useless and in a short while the building, and a £50 organ built by their son, were destroyed.
Just 5 months later on 27th May, Catherine died at her home on the Esplanade in Petone, aged 52.
George then married Charlotte Johnston on 15th February 1900 but they only lived together for three weeks as George thought he had “caught a tartar”*. George separated from Charlotte, allowing her £1 per week maintenance. He then travelled to England with two of his children, and returned via South Africa where he served in the war for about a year. On his return, he discovered that Charlotte had gone to South Africa and bigamously married John William Chapman. In 1905, George filed for and was granted a divorce from Charlotte. He died in Auckland in 1919.
Also interred in this plot is their daughter Grace Catherine and her husband Duncan Morrison.
*we had to look this up: someone that turns out to be unexpectedly unpleasant or formidable
