It was reported on 26th July 1894 that Richard Mostyn Hoops had been arrested in Melbourne on a charge of wife desertion. Prior to his arrest, Richard had been working as a clerk in Invercargill. Constable Burrows was sent to bring him back to New Zealand. Richard’s wife Mary, who lived in Dunedin, was suspicious when she heard that Richard had been spreading a statement that she was in bad health, which was not true. When she arrived in Invercargill, she found that Richard had disappeared.
Richard appeared in the Police Court in Invercargill on 13th August, the day of his arrival back from Melbourne. His solicitor stated that Richard had no intention to desert his wife, as prior to his leaving, he had written to Mary saying that he intended to visit Melbourne. The parties desired an amicable settlement and as they were willing to pay the extradition expenses and the cost of Constable Burrows passage, his Workship dismissed the case.
The Mostyn-Hoops moved to Wellington in the 1908 and lived in Oriental Terrace. Richard worked as a commercial traveller for Young’s Chemical Company.
On New Year’s Eve 1913, Richard left the house and did not return until five days later. On 6th January he complained of feeling unwell and drank a cup of beef tea but by 3pm he was turning blue in the face and a doctor was called. He lapsed into unconsciousness and died at 4:30pm. A box of opium pills was found in his room and it was thought possible that he may have taken an overdose.
An inquest was held and the Government Analyst, James Scott Maclaurin, D.Sc., stated that he found no trace of poison in Richard’s stomach. Dr Hamilton Gilmer in his evidence stated that Richard’s stomach had been in an unhealthy condition for some time past. He thought that Richard had been taking neat alcohol and opium to alleviate the pain. The result was a perforation of the stomach. The effects of raw alcohol would be similar to the indications which he found. A verdict was returned that death was due to perforation of the stomach and that there was no evidence to show the quantities in which the opium had been taken. Richard was 56 years old when he died.
Richard was the son of the Very Rev. Samuel Evans Hoops D.D., Dean of Ardagh and his wife Jemima Mostyn. Richard married Mary Elizabeth Kirk on 25th May 1887. A daughter Christina was born on 21 August 1877 and died in 1878. Their second daughter Mary May (known as May) was born in 1890 and married John McCausland Hamilton in 1919. John and May had four children.
Buried in this plot are Richard (d 1914), baby Hamilton (d 1928), James Bowie Kirk (d 1929, a brother of Mary Mostyn-Hoops), Mary Elizabeth Mostyn-Hoops (d 1931) and Mary May Hamilton (d 1943).
Plot: *Ch Eng 2/B/16
By Julia Kennedy
