Robert Holliday

Robert (Robie) was born in 1855 in Genoa, Italy, the son of Thomas Holliday and Ann Jeal. Thomas moved the family from England due to his work as an Engineer. He died at Greenwich in 1862 leaving Ann with ten children.

Ann travelled with her daughters Fanny (22), Mary (19) and Annie (9), and son Robie (17) on the ship Glenmark to Lyttelton in 1871. He called himself a labourer. Daughter Clara (16) and son William (11) followed on the ship Halcione in 1873. All were assisted immigrants. Three sons remained in England.

The family settled on the west coast and Miss Holliday opened the Greymouth Academy for Young Ladies. A number of the daughters married and in 1875 the family sold up and moved to Wellington.

In 1878 Robie and his brother Thomas acquired Mr Jackson’s business at Stationers’ Hall, Lambton Quay and began trading as R. Holliday & Co: Importers pf Books, Stationery and Fancy Goods. He  claimed considerable experience in the business and began immediately with a large clearing sale.

His first advertisement was for “the most beautiful variety ever imported to Wellington in cloth, raised wood and beaded cushions, chair-backs, banner screens, tea coseys and slippers” His latest consignment was of “fancy goods of an unusually attractive description”.

His shop windows were a novelty too. In 1881 his windows were illuminated and a solitary lady who was working the newly introduced Davis’ sewing machines. He also drew customers in with exhibitions of oleograph portraits received from overseas including that of Lord Beaconsfield and Mr Gladstone.

The shop also served as the “box office” for the Opera House, Theatre Royal and other places.

In 1900 his widowed sister Annie Parker and her son Randall came to live with Robie in his house on Clifton Terrace.

He sold his business to Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd in 1912 and made this third trip to England in 1914 where he had intended taking a tour of the continent with a Cook’s touring party “but on account of the ugly rumours about war, decided not to go”.

He returned to New Zealand in March of 1915 and December he had a serious nervous breakdown from which he never recovered.

Robie died on the 30th August 1918 aged 63 at Porirua Hospital and was interred at Karori with his mother. His death “will be regretted by a wide circle of friends”.

Plot: Ch Eng/#/89

Robie’s shop at Stationers Hall on Lambton Quay (left)

George Presswood

G.H.P

So mysterious to have only the initials on a plot. By accessing the digitised burial register we realised this is the plot of George Housely Presswood. Knowing how pricey lead lettering is/was, it is unusual to see only initials followed by two lines of a hymn. “Rock of Ages” was written by the Reformed Anglican minister Augustus Toplady in 1763.

George was born in 1846 in Newark, England to John and Millicent. John worked as an ostler (a man employed to look after the horses of people staying at an inn). By 1871 George was working as an apprentice watchmaker. He departed for New Zealand in 1874 using the passenger name of “Housley Presswood” as an assisted immigrant . Travelling with him as his family were Ellen and son William (aged 1 ½). George and Ellen subsequently married in 1875. Three more children were born.

In March 1876 he opened his shop in High Street, Blenheim as a “practical watchmaker and working jeweller” but sadly in November that year his shop was destroyed by a large fire. In 1878 he donated £5 to the Blenheim Volunteer Fire Brigade. His premises were also destroyed again by a large fire in 1878. By 1885 he moved to Christchurch where once again his premises were destroyed by a large fire. Fortunately his stock had been removed for safety.

By 1887 he was trading in Masterton. In 1900 a large fire broke out but the brigade’s efforts were focussed on saving the Empire Hotel. Once the hotel’s contents were removed, their attention turned to Mr Presswood’s premises and managed to save it. He subsequently presented them with a trophy for competition amongst the members.

He retired to Napier but his stay there was a short one as he was admitted to Mt View Hospital in 1906. He died at Porirua Hospital in 1912.

His son William appears to have followed him into the jewellery business.

Plot Ch Eng/A/296

Wreck of the S.S. Penguin

The USS Co’s SS Penguin was a very familiar sight in Wellington harbour as she plied back and forward to Nelson and Picton providing a ferry service much like today.  On 12 February 1909, the Penguin departed Picton  for Wellington in good conditions. However, by the time she was in mid Cook Strait, with the night well advanced, she encountered a wild southerly storm and very poor visibility.  The very experienced Captain Naylor decided to steam back into mid channel and see the storm out but in turning he hit Thoms Rock (though he disputed this, claiming he hit a submerged hull from a wreck the month before) and water started to pour in. Women and children were loaded into the lifeboats, but the rough seas immediately flipped them and only one woman survived.  In all 72 people lost their lives and there were 30 survivors including Captain Naylor, making it the worst maritime disaster in NZ in the 20th Century. Debris and bodies were strewn all along the south coast and the Terawhiti Station homestead became the centre of the recovery effort. 

The disaster had a major impact on the Wellington community, and a day was set aside for the funerals and the burials at Karori Cemetery.  There are some remarkable photos of the huge crowds that accompanied the coffins on the longish walk up to Karori Cemetery. 

The wreck of the SS Penguin is not as well remembered as the Wahine disaster, and the wreck itself has never been located.  However in 2000, Bruce Collins published a very informative book on the Penguin disaster, and the extensive information in the book, and photos, allowed in turn the WCC to commission Deirdre Hogan from the Karori Historical Society to prepare a self-guided walking tour of the graves of the deceased in the Karori Cemetery. The Friends plan to introduce a guided tour of the SS Penguin grave sites to reflect its historical significance and impact on the city. 

Image courtesy of Te Papa.

Sir Francis Bell

Francis Henry Dillon Bell was born in 1851 the eldest son of the former New Zealand Company agent Francis Dillon Bell. He was educated at Auckland Grammar, Otago Boys, and Cambridge University. He joined his father’s law firm now known as Bell Gully. In 1878 he married Caroline Robinson in Christchurch and they had four daughters and four sons. As a rising lawyer, and son of a former minister, Bell was soon under pressure to enter politics.

He was elected mayor of Wellington in 1891, 1892 and 1896, and he established the city’s first proper rubbish disposal service and drainage scheme. After a brief skirmish with national politics, which he did not enjoy, he focussed on legal matters and became one of the leading lawyers in NZ. Today we know his legal firm as Bell Gully.

He was a close friend of Prime Minister Massey and joined his Ministry from 1912 to 1926 holding many portfolios. When Massey died in office in 1925, Bell – then aged 74 – was formally appointed as Prime Minister while the Reform Party elected a new leader (Gordon Coates was successful).

Bell was at times Crown Solicitor, President of the N.Z. Law Society, King’s Counsel, and a Privy Councillor.

Bell is widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s most outstanding lawyers. But he also had extensive involvement in public affairs including long standing leadership roles in cricket, rugby, racing and with the Freemasons.

He died in 1936 at age 85. Plot Ch Eng/M/1

Bell plot in Church of England

Sir Francis and Lady Bell

Albert Martin

Albert Martin (1882-1940)

Last November Margaret, who is one of our Members, put us in touch with Alan and Yvonne Townsend who she found looking a bit lost in the Cemetery. Alan and Yvonne were visiting from England and had come to the Cemetery in search of Alan’s grandfather, Albert Martin’s plot. No family member had been able to visit the grave since his death and so the occasion was a special one. We located the grave for Alan. As it was not marked, it had made the search more challenging. Thanks to Alan and Yvonne for letting us share Albert’s story and for providing a photo and documents for him.

Albert was born in West Ham, England in 1881. His parents were William and Mary Ann who were both born in Waterford, Ireland. His father was a Ship Wright and  his older brothers worked as seamen and firemen. Aged 19 he sailed on his first ship the “Lake Erie” from Liverpool to London, signing his agreement at sea. In 1901 he married Elizabeth Spicer and they had five children: Albert, Mary, Elizabeth, Maud and Frank.

Albert worked as a merchant seaman his whole life. In April 1940, his ship the S.S. Raranga was docked in Wellington harbour. Presumably due to the war, we cannot trace the movements of this ship at that time. Albert became unwell and was taken to Wellington hospital where he died six days later on 4th May.

Albert was buried the same day at Karori Cemetery in the Catholic section, his service officiated by the Rev. Father Bradford.

Yvonne noticed that Albert’s plot lies next to that of another merchant seaman, and also next to the stream which keeps Albert connected with the sea.

Albert Martin
S.S. Raranga
Albert’s plot lies to the left of the righthand side formed plot. The stream runs parallel to the path.

Dr David Nairn

(information supplied in part by one of his descendants)

David was born in 1863 in Dundee, Scotland to William Nairn and his wife Elizabeth Mathewson. William was a merchant linen company agent but died in 1865.

David’s brothers worked as sales clerks and bank clerks but David trained in medicine. Having passed his exams he secured passage to New Zealand working as the ship’s medical officer in about 1884. He practised for 36 years in Blenheim which in 1884 was lacking a third doctor and where he “was out and about the country in all weathers ministering to the sick” (NZ Herald 24 July 1924). He was an anaesthesiologist at Wairau for many years

He was married first to Margaret Hood in 1885, and they had four daughters. After Margaret died he married Hannah Maria “Annie” Farmar in 1894 and they had four sons.

In 1903 Annie accepted £250 and expenses in settlement of an action brought by her in the Scotch Courts against the New Zealand Shipping Company in which she claimed £3,000 damages in respect to the injuries sustained by her when disembarking from the ‘Wakanui’ to go ashore in Teneriffe. As she was passing down the gangway into the boat, the content of a shute from the kitchen galley were discharged upon her which caused her to fall into the water (Motueka Star,20 January 1903).

After serving in the war, two of their sons (Norman and Gerald) went to Syria where they conducted a trans-desert motor mail service.

Exposure to the rain and storms eventually took its toll on David Nairn and he suffered from rheumatism which compelled him to give up practice in 1920 and move to Wellington where he died in 1924. He is buried with his second wife Annie in Public 2 section (L/394).

Reginald Berry

Reginald George James Berry (known as James)
designer of the first New Zealand decimal coins

Berry was born in London in 1906. He went to Russell Hill boarding school and won prizes for art. He started working life as an insurance clerk but finding the work uncongenial, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1925. He paid off his assisted passage as a farm cadet in Gisborne.

In 1927 he began working as a commercial artist with Goldberg Advertising Agency in Wellington. In 1932 he married Miriel Frances Hewitt and they went on to have five daughters and one son. From 1935 until 1942 he was staff artist at the Dominion. From 1944 onwards he was self-employed designing book covers, illustrations, bookplates and then stamps, coins and medals.

Berry designed the entire peace issue of stamps in 1946 and then the lighthouse stamps for the Government Insurance Department issues.

In 1964, New Zealand decided to change to decimal currency. Designs were invited and Berry sent four sets featuring New Zealand flora and fauna. One set was selected and subsequently approved by the Royal Mint and issued in 1967. He was named ‘1966 Man of the Year’ by The Dominion Sunday Times, and awarded the OBE in 1968. The 1, 2 and 5 cent coins have been withdrawn from circulation and the 20 cent redesigned. But Berry’s 10 and 50 cent coin remain in use today.

He was an honorary member of the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand, the New Zealand Ex Libris Society and the Friends of the Turnbull Library.

Berry died in 1979 and was cremated at Karori Cemetery. During his lifetime he completed more than 1,000 designs for stamps, coins and medals.

Dr John Ewart

“There has probably never been a greater superintendent of the Wellington Hospital than Dr Ewart” (Evening Post, 5 August 1939).

This story was inspired by a Genealogy Investigations story on the Hermit)

Dr  Ewart was superintendent from 1889 to 1909. He was an outstanding surgeon and performed some of the greatest operations of his day. Much of his work was written of in the “Lancet”. He was also remembered for the charm of his manner and unremitting attentiveness to patients.

He was born in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland in 1858, the son of a farmer. He and trained at Edinburgh University. The family emigrated to Nelson in 1885 and he joined them in 1887. He married Grace Brandon (daughter of Richard & Lucy Bra in 1889 and their children were David Ewart (died as a baby),  Dr Ian Brandon Ewart, Lucy Brandon Ewart and Edith Mary Brandon Ewart. Miss Jessie Ewart who was matron of the Invercargill Hospital for twenty years was his sister, and his brother William a doctor.

In 1930, Dr Ewart was invited to the opening of the Ewart Tuberculosis Hospital at Wellington Hospital. It cost £26,800 and could accommodate 65 patients. Dr Ewart referred to the growth of the hospital during his time as superintendent – there was only accommodation for 80 patients and now there were 600 patients. In those days there were no specialists and there was no laboratory and so he was also the pathologist. The outpatient waiting room was also the operating theatre.

Dr Ewart died in 1939 and his estate was worth £24,822.

Interred in this plot Ch Eng/Q/80  are David Ewart (1905), Grace Ewart (1923), Lucy Brandon (1926), John Ewart (1939), Edith Mary Brandon Ewart (1985)

Dr John Ewart
Grace Brandon
Ewart plot

Mary Anne Swaison

This grave is the burial plot of Mary Anne Swainson. She was born in 1833 near Hull in the English Midlands and arrived in New Zealand in 1856. In 1859 she married George Swainson, a surveyor, who unfortunately became alcoholic and died in 1870. 

In 1869, to provide some family income, Mary opened a school for girls on the corner of Woodward Street and The Terrace.  In 1878, as by now school education was becoming government funded, she opened a new school for day girls and boarders in Fitzherbert Terrace, Thorndon, where the garden for the blind is today . She created a very family-orientated, friendly supportive environment, she had excellent staff including the cities leading music teacher, and she had a very close relationship with Old St Pauls and the Diocese.  The new railway connections to the Wairarapa and the Manawatu in the 1880s allowed wealthy landowners and farmers to send their daughters to board at the school and the school thrived. 

Mary died in 1897 and her daughter took over running the school. In 1920 the Diocese of Wellington acquired the school. It was renamed the Samuel Marsden Collegiate School and in 1926 it was moved to its current site in Karori. Samuel Marsden remains one of the city’s leading secondary schools with excellent grounds and facilities. 

Mary Swainson was commemorated in 1898 in Old St Paul’s by a large stained-glass window in the north wall depicting Christ Blessing the Children, and an elegant oak litany desk, still in daily use, both funded by public subscription.

Lambro Parris

Lambro was born in 1878 to Andrew and Mary (nee Jackson) Parris.  According to Lambro’s obituary, he commenced work on wharves in 1885. He was a foundation member of the Wellington Waterside Workers’ Union. He learnt boxing from Professor Bloom but did not continue boxing as long in the sport as he wished. This was because in 1910 he began to lose his eyesight.

Fundraising activities were held in order to send Lambro to London for treatment and also acknowledging he was the only support of his widowed mother. A benefit concert and dance was held in St Peter’s Schoolroom on Ghuznee Street. “Dancing allowed only in shoes”. The Harbour Board contributed £10 10s, the Mayor £1 1s. By January 1911, he set sail for England and while there he married Elizabeth [Nellie] Anthony.

In May a subscription list was started to raise more funds so that he might extend his stay. The treatment did not work and he returned to New Zealand with his new bride in August.

Life must have been very hard for the Parris family. In 1916 Nellie was convicted of stealing a gold broach and £2 while working as a char woman. The broach was recovered but not the money. It was acknowledged that her husband was blind and she had two little children to support.

Lambro and Nellie were parents to Bill, the New Zealand welterweight boxing champion in 1934 and 1936, and Lionel, a well-known lightweight boxer. They also had a daughter, Linda. Despite being blind, Lambro continued his interest in sports and originated the Tartan Boxing Club in 1932, of which he was its secretary.

Lambro died in 1937 aged 58 and was cremated. His ashes are in the columbarium behind the chapel.
Nellie died in 1985 aged 98 and was cremated at Karori.