Victor Lo Keong was born in Dunedin on 3rd July 1894 to Matilda Kum (Cum Hong) and Joseph Lo Keong. Matilda is recorded as the first female Chinese immigrant to New Zealand and Joseph was the second known Chinese arrival in Dunedin. The couple had met in Australia.

The Lo Keong’s are widely regarded as New Zealand’s first Chinese family and Victor was one of their six children.

The Lo Keongs ran a fancy-goods store in Dunedin and raised their children to be part of wider New Zealand society, speaking English and attending public schools. Victor and his brother, Norman, both studied engineering at Canterbury University.

Twenty-two-year-old Victor Low (Lo Keong) enlisted in January 1917. His profession was listed as ‘civil engineer’. Victor was attached to the 5th Tunnelling Reinforcements, who were bound for France to reinforce the NZ Engineers Tunnelling Company.

Victor attended training at Narrow Camp in March 1917 and then left Wellington on the Turakina on 26th April 1917, the day after Anzac Day. By then, news of the extraordinary work of the New Zealand Tunnellers who had developed an extensive underground system as part of the 9th April 1917 British Battle of Arras was filtering back home.

Victor had two periods of leave during 1918. One trip to Paris and another to the United Kingdom. Whilst in the United Kingdom Victor was hospitalised with influenza in September 1918. He rejoined the company in early October 1918.

Whilst the main group of New Zealand Engineers Tunnellers were repatriated as a complete section, Victor remained in the United Kingdom in the Army Education Unit until August 1919.

While Victor was in the Education Unit as a sergeant, the idea of constructing a lasting memento of the New Zealanders’ occupation of Sling Camp was put forward by Brigadier-General Alexander Stewart, the camp’s commandant. The British Army gave permission for the construction of a kiwi on military land on the nearby Beacon Hill. The work would keep soldiers occupied while they waited to go home.

Victor surveyed what became known as the Bulford Kiwi. The chalky soil was similar to that at Arras, with which Victor was familiar. The soldiers cut the kiwi by hand. The soil was dug out to a depth of 30cm, exposing the chalk beneath. The kiwi is 128m long, with its beak extending 45.7m and the ‘NZ’ letters standing 20m high. The work was completed on 28th June 1919- the day the Treaty of Versailles with Germany was signed.

When Victor left the army he travelled to Hong Kong, where he worked for many years for the architectural firm Palmer and Turner. Victor and his wife Emily left Hong Kong in 1941, shortly before the Japanese attacked the island. They travelled through China to Chungking and into India, before returning to New Zealand in 1943.

Once back in New Zealand, Victor and Emily lived on Cuba St, Wellington, and Victor worked for the Ministry of Works in Wellington as an engineer.

Victor died on 11 May 1953, aged 59. His ashes are interred in the columbarium Wall in the Services Section.

Emily died in 1986 in Morrinsville. The couple had no children.

Albert Baker was born in Wellington on 2nd September 1873 to Edmund John Baker (an expressman from Somerset, England), and Frances Ann Styles (from Whanganui). The family lived in Austin St Wellington. He became a gold miner, and by 1898 was living in the Coromandel.

On 8th March 1898, Albert was charged with attempting to leave the colony without making provision for his unborn child. He was brought before the magistrate who held him in custody to give him the opportunity to marry the girl he had got pregnant. The magistrate had advised that if Albert produced the marriage certificate, no further proceedings would be taken. On 15 March 1898, Albert married Evelina (known as Evelyn/Evelyne) May Milne.

Their daughter Frances was born in Thames in 1898, sadly she lived only a few months.

Albert and Evelyn went on to have a further 6 children between 1899 and 1912, 3 of whom survived: Edmund (born 1899), Evelyn (born 1905) and Felix (born 1909).

In 1899 Albert applied for a license to mine a special quartz claim at Moanataiari Creek, Thames, and proposed to call it the Freedom Special Quartz claim. He had marked it out with pegs on 14th June 1899.

In 1903 Albert and Evelyn were living in Reefton and in July 1903 Albert was elected to the committee of the Inangahua Miners Union. He also became involved with the local fire brigade and was appointed as the Lieutenant Commander of the Reefton Rifle Volunteers.

In April 1916 Albert was appointed the foreman of the Waiuta mine.

In March 1917 he signed up to join the Tunnelling Corps, and it was announced that he had been accepted to leave for the Narrow Neck Camp in Auckland, where he would join the Tunnelling Corps.

He left Reefton on the 20 March with a number of other men from Blackball, Reefton and Cobden. He was quickly promoted to Corporal and then to Company Quartermaster Sergeant.

Albert embarked on the Turakina on 26 April 1917 bound for Plymouth Devon. However, while en route, Albert suffered from a hernia that required him to be admitted to hospital at sea for surgery. He had to disembark at Sydney and was transferred to the base hospital. He was made to stay in hospital for 3 weeks. It was found that he had chronic eczema on both feet.

Albert spent some time convalescing in Sydney but it was determined that he was no longer fit for duty so was transferred back to New Zealand on the S.S. Reverina. He was discharged from service on 3rd September 1917.

Albert went on to work as a gasworker, then a labourer, and lived with Evelyn in Miramar, Wellington.

On 29th August 1935 Albert died from pneumonia and sclerosis of the lung, an illness common amongst miners and likely caused by quartz dust.

Evelyn died in 1954 and was cremated at Karori Cemetery. A number of Albert’s family, including his mother, brothers and sister are buried in Karori Cemetery in Public 2/N/115.

This tiny plot is tucked at the very end of Row K in Public2. It is for the four week old son of Stanley Oliver OBE and his wife Frances (nee Anglin).

The couple were married in Burlington, Vermont, USA in February 1934.

Stanley was the conductor of the Montreal Choral Society.

In April 1934 the couple departed for Australia and New Zealand reportedly on a ‘holiday and health tour’. Their first stop was Wellington where he was an invited guest conductor of several concerts. They were rather taken with the city and in June 1934 Stanley was elected conductor of the Royal Wellington Choral Union. He was one of 27 applicants for the post. He also founded the Schola Cantorum.

Their son William Stanley was born on 15^th September 1935. He died at Wellington hospital on 13^th October, ‘dearly loved infant son of Stanley and Frances Oliver’. He gradually faded away, the doctors did not know why.

While researching William, we came across this wonderful website created by his sister, Mary Knox, who was born in 1940, six years after his death. We asked Mary if she was happy for us to share it. If you want to read more about the Oliver family and their emigration to New Zealand, please follow this link:
https://suitcaseofmemoriessite.com/part-one-the-oliver-and-hawkes-families-of-kent-england/8-stanley-oliver-1881-1964-the-making-of-a-musician/

In 1952, Stanley was awarded an OBE for his services to music. He died in 1964 in Lower Hutt. Frances died in 1975. She was also a talented artist.

Our recent Tuesday working bee cleared his plot of weeds, and we hope in time that we will have some new plant cover for it. Mary hopes to visit the plot for the first time one day soon.

Plot: *Public 2/K/590

This double width ‘hip tomb’ is for Duncan Robertson Menzies and his wife Dorothy.

Duncan was a grandson of Isaac Featherston who after Featherston and Featherston Street are named.

Dorothy was a daughter of William Jarvis Willis who married Amelia Riddiford. After her death, he wanted to marry her sister Eliza, but had to go to Australia to do so as it was not legal in New Zealand. Amelia and Eliza were both daughters of Daniel Riddiford for who Riddiford Street is named after. Dorothy is a child of his second marriage.

Duncan and Dorothy married in 1907. They married at Marton and the reception was held at her father’s house ‘Woodendean’. Their daughters Mary, Jean, Egidia and Dorothy were born 1908-1915.

Dorothy died in 1921, aged 41.

Duncan then remarried to Lucy Dorothy Brandon in 1927 when she was 42 and he was 51. She was a daughter of Alfred de Bathe Brandon. Brandon Street was named for her grandfather. We have covered two of her Brandon cousins previously:

Louise Brandon

Constance Annie de Bathe Vaughan

Duncan was a member of the Wellington Club, the Wellesley Club and Wellington Golf Club and president of the Incorporated Institute of Accountants of New Zealand 1923-24, a trustee for the New Zealand Olympic Association. He had represented Wellington at hockey.

Duncan died in 1945 and is also interred in this plot. Lucy died in 1979 and was cremated.

This plot was cleared at our recent working bee by Sarah and Philippa.

Plot: *Public 2/M/262

Marco Fosella was born in Florence, Italy in 1846, the son of a distinguished engraver.

He initially worked in ‘commercial pursuits’ in Paris but at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war he enlisted with the International Ambulance service. He served in the Battle of Sedan and was a recipient of the 1870 medal.

In 1875 he decided to try his luck abroad and sailed on the ship ‘Gutenberg’ for New Zealand, accompanied by his young bride Ottavia. They had five children of which three daughters survived to adulthood.

He opened a clothing factory in Wellington which was very successful. When the Manawatu line began opening up land, he was one of the first to purchase on the coast, where he started dairy farming before settling in Levin. It was there that he established a drapery business.

He took an interest in local affairs, as member of the Levin Fruit Growers Association was one of the greatest advocates for opening a fruit canning works in Levin. He sat on the Borough Council, School Committee and was captain of the boating club.

Marco died at Wellington on 24 September 1921. His obituary included:

‘Cosmopolitan in his toleration and outlook, he all the more appreciated the freedom and opportunities he enjoyed in a British Dominion, and while still evincing  a pardonable pride in the land of his birth, he was a loyal and self-sacrificing citizen’.

At her death in 1923, the newspaper wrote of Ottavia that she was ‘justly popular for her sterling character and the breadth of her sympathy which made her always anxious to render assistance where needed’.

Plot: *Public 2/M/260

After some head scratching, we realised we have a case of an incorrectly placed memorial.

The book-like memorial is for Rosina Stirling ‘sister of the above’.

M W Dally ‘Mother’ is the only recorded interment in this plot *Public 2/M/268. Rosina Stirling is recorded in plot *Public 2/M/261 which is just two plots along. It’s hard to know how the error occurred or if someone moved the memorial later.

Margaret Ward Dally died in October 1921, aged 77. Margaret was a widow who may have been visiting her daughter Elizabeth (wife of William Bray) who resided at Clifton Terrace, while on a holiday from her home in Ballarat, Victoria. She was born Margaret Ward Symons and married James Lory Dally in Cornwall in 1864. Her daughter Elizabeth moved back to Australia in the mid 1920s and so it is likely there are no descendants in New Zealand

The nearby Stirling plot is for three unmarried sisters – daughters of William Stirling and his wife Elizabeth Clark of Kilbirnie. Jane (Jeanie) was the first interment in 1921, aged 52 ‘after years of illness’. Like her siblings, she was born in London.

Second was Rosina in 1937, aged 73. In 1891 she was part of a tailoresses dispute between the Tailoresses Union and employers. She was a first-class coat hand at the DIC and received 30s a week. She thought 35s would be a fair wage.

 And thirdly Ellen in 1953 aged 88.

Their parents are in Plot: *Public 2/L/98 and youngest sister Julia in Plot: *Public 2/L/510 which is almost directly behind her sisters but unmarked.

This plot was cleared by Sarah, one of our Tuesday working bee volunteers.

This headstone was uncovered by Howard, one of our volunteers at our Tuesday Working Bees. The headstone is for Chin Chum Gee who was found dead in bed on 14^th November 1921, in a house on Courtenay Place. An inquest was held and the medical evidence stated that he died of a disease known as beri-beri (Thiamine deficiency) which was noted in the newspaper as being common among sailors who visited Asia.

Chin was 21 years of age and had a cousin in Wellington, George On, who testified that Chin had only arrived in Wellington from New Plymouth a few days prior and had been in bed since his arrival.

Chin was buried on 15^th November and is the only interment in this plot.

Public 2/M/274

Vilhelm Jensen was born in Aalborg, Denmark. In 1873 at the age of 12, he travelled by himself on the ship Halcione to New Zealand as part of an immigration scheme.

His early jobs were in farming, bridge building, saw milling and carpentry. When he was 20, he started his own business and over time ran several general stores around the Hawkes Bay and then in the 1890s at Porangahau. In 1893 he became a JP.

He married Henrietta (Hettie) Bennett in 1886. She was born in St Helier, Jersey and had emigrated with her family in 1875. They had a family of two sons and five daughters.

The family moved from Woodville to Upper Hutt in 1899 where Vilhelm also ran a general store before moving to Wellington. While continuing as a shop keeper, he bought and sold valuable pieces of city land.

At the time of the Boer war, he made statements in support of the Boers. He replied to a letter in the newspaper with his own:

‘… he insinuates that I ought to be struck off the Commission of the Peace for holding pro-Boer views. In answer I may state that some people ought to be bricked up in a lunatic asylum for holding certain other views, but they are not’.

A group from the Seventh Contingent who were camped nearby in Upper Hutt, lowered a Danish flag floating over Vilhelm’s residence, mistaking it for a Boer flag. An officer subsequently apologised and then the Danish consul informed Vilhelm that the government has apologised to him for the affront to the flag.

Vilhelm tried unsuccessfully several times to be elected to parliament and also the Wellington city council, on all occasions as an independent.

In 1924 he became a director of the Theatre de Luxe (later the Embassy theatre) of which he had a one third share of the £50,000 capital. He was chairman until at least 1940.

He made trips to America, Africa and Europe in 1904 and to ‘the old country’ in 1929. His observations on London at that time were:

‘The wonderful underground traffic system made him think of what may ultimately be the solution to the traffic problems of Wellington.’

An audience with King Christien was granted while he was in Denmark in 1930. In 1931, Vilhelm held a party at his home at 32 Fitzherbert Terrace to celebrate the Danish King’s 61^st birthday. On hearing of this, his majesty cabled his thanks.

In 1933 he proposed to hold a reunion for those who travelled out on the Halcione in 1873, but it is not known if one proceeded.

In 1936, Vilhelm and Hettie celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at which time they had eleven grand children and one great grandchild.

Hettie’s father Henry died in 1942, aged 102 and was buried at Karori Cemetery. As a schoolboy he could recollect playing with Lily Langtry.

Vilhelm died in 1946 and Hettie in 1947. Both were cremated at Karori.

Nine days before he died, Vilhelm, while sitting in his hospital bed tore his 1925 will in half. His estate was worth £64,750. This resulted in probate being sought in the Supreme Court. His honour held that when Vilhelm tore the will, he understood what he was doing, despite his age, and did it with clear intention of revocation. Vilhelm had gone about creating new wills in 1941 and 1945, each time saying that he had no will. Hettie hoped the matter could be settled among the family, rather than in court, but the family was “so very parted”.

On 25 September 1933, seven fishing vessels left Island Bay at 4am that morning for their daily fishing. At 6am a southerly gale sprang up and all of the launches except two returned to port. The ‘Santina’ had broken down and another launch stayed to assist. When it was realised that the second launch wasn’t powerful enough, it too returned to Wellington to get the assistance of the Harbour Board’s tug ‘Toia’.

The ’Toia’ departed the wharf at 10am and returned at 1pm without having seen anything. It was decided to make the search by air, and one of the Wellington Aeroclub’s Gipsy Moths left the Rongotai Aerodrome at about 2pm. It returned at 3pm without sighting anything. In the evening, a piece of the hull belonging to the launch was found at Breaker Bay. An extensive search continued to be made but by the 27^th, hope had faded.

The four crew on board the ‘Santina’ were:

Vincesco Costa (owner and skipper of the launch), aged 50, married with three children, lived in Trent Street.

Paolo Panozzo, aged 42, married with two children in Italy.

Generara Amitrano, aged 40, married with two children in Italy.

Ronald Frank Alley, aged 15, who had recently joined the crew.

A funeral service was held at sea in the afternoon of the 27^th by the Italian fishing fleet 1 ½ miles southeast of Barrett’s Reef. Twenty-six launches left Island Bay at 2pm and the service was organised by the Cook Strait Fishermen’s Association.

The service was conducted by Rev. Father N.B. Maloney for the three Italian members of the crew, and by the Rev. G.C. Blathwayt, vicar of St Hilda’s church Island Bay for Ronald Alley. The Basile brother’s launch ‘Prince Umberto’ with the official party and wreaths on board started off from port first. At the position the ‘Santina’ was last seen, the leading launch stopped and waited as the other vessels swung around her in a broad circle. The burial service was read and the wreaths consigned to the sea.

Ronald Alley, the young member of the crew was the son of Frank Alley and his wife Mabel Rose Smith who married in London in 1917. He was 24, she was 20. Ronald’s birth was registered in Buckinghamshire the same year. A daughter Winifred Mabel was born in 1919.

The family moved to New Zealand and two further daughters Elizabeth and Lilian were born in 1930 and 1931. Frank worked as a waterside-worker. The family were living in Reef Street, Island Bay, when Ronald was lost at sea.

Mabel died in July 1939 at their home in Melbourne Road, Island Bay, aged 41 and was interred at Karori Cemetery. Frank died in 1953 aged 59 and is buried with her. Their plot is unmarked.

Plot: *Ch Eng 2/K/360

Diamond Wedding – Christmas Day 1934

A tea and social were held on Christmas Day 1934 to mark the diamond wedding anniversary of Mr & Mrs W H Sanders. The occasion was held at Mrs Moore’s tearooms in Ohiro Bay.

Walter Henry Sanders and Emily Baldwin were married at Gold Street Wesleyan chapel, Northampton, England on 25 December 1874. They came to New Zealand in 1908.

At the time of their anniversary, they had seven sons & daughters, thirteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren. They enjoyed good health.

Walter had come to New Zealand in 1903, and Emily came with her younger children in 1908. He continued his trade as a shoemaker. The family lived in Brooklyn.

Emily died in April 1935, aged 84. Walter died in 1953, aged 99.

Plot: Public 3/C/423