This angel standing adrift from her plinth caught our eye and the wistful words recorded beneath. Gladys was the daughter of Albert Edward Neilson and his wife Alice Maud Nicholls, who were married in 1903. Gladys died aged 19 months in 1908. Their second and only other child, Albert Kenneth, was born in 1910.
Sadly there is not much more that can be shared about Gladys, but we can report that her father Albert featured often in the Evening Post – first covering his contribution to the Boer War as Sergeant Farrier, but mostly in his role as rugby referee. In this line he refereed the Ranfurly Shield on occasion and also the Springboks Tour of New Zealand in 1921, was Secretary of the Wellington Rugby Union and was a member of the New Zealand rugby council.
Alice was a member of the National Women’s Reserve which was set up in 1915 to support the War. Alice represented the organisation at burials of returned soldiers.
Both Albert and Alice are interred in the same plot with Gladys in 1965 and 1966 respectively.
