Journalist and newspaper editor John Claude Francis Ahearn and his wife, Charlotte Clara Ahearn (née Sievers), are buried at Karori Cemetery.
Claude was born in Victoria, Australia, in 1847 and grew up with at least 10 siblings on a family farm at Karabeal in the Western District.
He moved to New Zealand in 1877 and initially worked as a teacher on the West Coast before moving to journalism. From about 1880 until early 1891, he edited the Rangitikei Advocate, which became influential well beyond its provincial circulation. He then became editor of Wellington’s Evening Press.
In 1880, Claude married Wellington-born Charlotte Clara Sievers. She was the daughter of pioneer settler Carl Sievers. Sieverston Terrace in Wellington commemorated the Sievers family and their place in the city’s early history.
Claude and Charlotte had two children, Harold Hector Henry and Wenonah Christobel.
A devoted sea-bather, Claude habitually took an early-morning harbour swim throughout summer and winter. He contracted a severe cold, followed by pneumonia and acute bronchitis, and died aged 46 on 4 June 1893.
His large funeral proceeded from the family home on Wellington Terrace to St Mary’s Cathedral and then Karori Cemetery. Those attending included Premier Richard Seddon, parliamentarians and representatives of Wellington’s principal newspapers—evidence of Claude’s standing in the city’s journalistic and public life.
Charlotte died in 1927 and was buried with Claude. Their son Harold Hector Henry Ahearn and his wife, Ethel Christine Ahearn, were later cremated, and their ashes were interred at Karori Cemetery.
Plot: *ROM CATH/#/65
By Sue Ahearn (Journalist)
Great-great-granddaughter of Claude and Clara.
