Love how these old photos of the Cemetery keep popping up! (There are so few of them)
Crematorium & Chapel (1909)
HISTORY: https://www.wellingtoncityheritage.org.nz/…/164-karori…
![](https://friendsofkaroricemetery.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/126355538_3499154040172842_2788847051981739184_o.jpg)
Love how these old photos of the Cemetery keep popping up! (There are so few of them)
Crematorium & Chapel (1909)
HISTORY: https://www.wellingtoncityheritage.org.nz/…/164-karori…
Originally published 21 November 2020
Who better to highlight on this day than one of NZ’s biggest – in every sense of the word – media stars for 30 years – from the 1960’s onwards. Selwyn Featherston TOOGOOD became a household name via radio in the quiz show It’s In The Bag, and was able to successfully transfer the format to TV, and then went on to host other shows, including for many years an afternoon show Beauty and the Beast. His booming voice filled the airwaves, and the genial giant then filled out TV screens. When he died in February 2001 he was cremated at Karori and shortly after his ashes were interred in an ashes plot, where his wife joined him 8 years later. They lie under a brass plaque, not far from the crematorium, small and discreet in the afterlife.
A fascinating story of a great woman. Myrtle is buried in Karori Cemetery and the Friends located her grave on Sunday.
WCC Archives have digitised some more old photos of the Cemetery. Here we gaze over the playing courts of Cardinal McKeefry School and the beginnings of Ian Galloway Park (previously a tip) towards the eastern slopes of the Cemetery. You may know this area as “Gum Gully” – today it is largely concealed by the gum trees that were planted to shield the residents of Wilton from the “unsightly” view of the Cemetery.
Sexton & Sextant are two words which are quite often confused. Just so you know, here’s the meaning of each: SEXTON: a person who looks after a church and churchyard, typically acting as bell-ringer and gravedigger. SEXTANT:an instrument with a graduated arc of 60° and a sighting mechanism, used for measuring the angular distances between objects and especially for taking altitudes in navigation and surveying.
WRECK OF THE U.S.S. PENGUIN, NEAR WELLINGTON HEADS, N.Z., ON THE NIGHT OF FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12: INCIDENTS; AND PORTRAITS OF SOME OF THOSE SAVED AND DROWNED. (The Australian, 27 Feb 1909) Captions from top left:Mrs Hope, Stewardess, drowned; Mr Urquhart, Chief Engineer, drowned; Mr Rentoul, third, drowned; Mr Alexander, chief steward, drowned; Mrs Hannan, only woman survivor.Grave with fourteen trenches; Public funeral entering the Cemetery.In the Karori Cemetery; Raft that bought the first eleven survivors.Mr Thompson, Purser, drowned; Mr Luke, Second Engineer, saved; four surviving Stewards, Messrs Hull, McCormack, Jones and Rees; Mr Driscoll, Second Officer, drowned; Miss Doran, drowned.
More information can be found about the S S Penguin on the WCC website: https://wellington.govt.nz/recreation/enjoy-the-outdoors/walks-and-walkways/beyond-the-city/penguin-shipwreck-memorial-walk
“LAST POST” AT FRIDAY’S FUNERAL.—BugIer blowing the “Last Post,” the Legion of Frontiersmen standing at attention, outside the Crematorium at Karori Cemetery on Friday afternoon at the funeral of Messrs. F. Gresser and G. B. S. King, killed at Tawa Flat on Tuesday in an aero plane crash. Inset, floral tributes in the form of aeroplanes” Manawatu Times 31 Oct 1932 Edit: Francis Gresser and George Bourne Stephen King
“YESTERDAY’S MILITARY FUNERAL.—The funeral of the late Lieut.-Colonel A. J. Petherick, a former commander of the D Battery, passing under Kelburn Viaduct yesterday on its way to Karori Cemetery” – Evening Post 14 December 1933.
And here’s our man, image supplied by one of the Team today Alfred John Petherick’s photo album of early Wellington yachting is fascinating: http://www.wcyt.org.nz/abode/getAdminCategoryProducts.do…
Frank Wilde was killed in 1914 when the horse drawn express cart he was driving was run into by a locomotive travelling to or from the Te Aro Station, Wakefield Street. ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES KILLED AT THE CROSSING. FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT IN WELLINGTON. A single man named Frank Wilde was killed by a railway accident in the city shortly after midday on Saturday. Wilde was driving an express over the line at the railway crossing at Customhouse Quay and Ballance Street, and apparently failed to notice a locomotive approaching. The engine crashed into the wagon, its occupant being killed instantly. His body was terribly mutilated, while the horse was also badly injured. Constable Crowe later arrived on the scene of the accident, and the body was removed to the morgue. Deceased resided at 80 Austin Street, and was employed by Messrs. J. J. Curtis and Co. He came from Wairarapa.
Engineering New Zealand’s website provides interesting information about early Wellington railway lines: 1893–1917: Te Aro Station, Wakefield Street Lobbying from the Chamber of Commerce and others resulted in an extension of the Government railway in 1893 southwards along the sea side of Customhouse and Jervois Quays and Victoria Street (now Wakefield Street, not the present-day Victoria Street) to just short of Oriental Parade. Pressure from the same group, because of congestion, contributed to the closure of the line and station in 1917, with the station later converted into a fruit and vegetable market. The Museum Hotel and Monument Apartments now occupy the site. In 2007 the construction of the apartments exposed the remains of the two platforms with their tracks and some point rodding, all now removed.https://www.engineeringnz.org/…/wellingtons-early…/
Exploring the stories behind the adjacent plots of Olga BARDEBES, age 19, & Ernest DICKSON, age 22, in the Catholic section, reveals a tragic tale. They were two passengers in a 7-seater sedan that crashed over a 40-ft drop onto Derwent Street, Island Bay, on the night of 1 April 1933. Olga has an intact angel watching over her. Ernest, on the other hand is in a very plain low-profile plot.The other couple – Mr & Mrs Wood – who died in the same accident are buried in an unmarked plot in the Anglican section elsewhere in the cemetery. The lengthy report from the Evening Post is worth reproducing in full:
FOUR KILLEDCAR OVER 40FT BANK ISLAND BAY TRAGEDY . A MIDNIGHT CRASHOne of the most tragic motor accidents that have occurred in Wellington for several years took place at midnight on Saturday, when a heavy touring car returning from the Crow’s Nest Club at Island Bay plunged from Milne Terrace on to Derwent Street—a sheer drop of forty-two feet. Three of the six occupants were killed instantly, and a fourth died in hospital at 2.30 a.m. yesterday. Another, Miss Marjorie Morris, aged 19, of 25 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, is lying in hospital suffering from a broken collarbone and broken ribs. The driver of the car, Frederick Hooker, aged 22, a salesman employed by E. Hannah and Co., Ltd., suffered severely from shock,and although he was removed to hospital he was able to return to his lodgings at the Waverley Hotel yesterday. The names of the dead are as follows:James Henry Wood, aged 33, who was killed instantly. The late Mr.Wood, who was a traveller by occupation, had been a resident of Wellington for many years, and, with his wife, had been managing “The Ferns,” a block of flats at 22 Aurora Terrace. It is understood that Mr. Wood was to have taken up an appointment this week in the radio department of Messrs. Chas. Begg and Co., Ltd. Marjorie Wood, aged 32, wife of Mr. J. H. Wood. Mrs. Wood, who was originally a resident of the West’ Coast, received injuries to her head which resulted in instant death. Mr. and Mrs. Wood leave one child, Errol, aged ll, who is well known as a juvenile dancer.Olga Beryl Bardebes, aged 18, a hairdresser, who lived with her parents – Mr. and Mrs. Spiro Bardebes, at 27 Nairn Street; Miss Bardebes received injuries to her head and was also killed instantly. Ernest Joseph. Dickson, aged 22, a storeman employed by the New Zealand Paper Mills. The late Mr. Dickson also received head injuries and was in an unconscious condition when assistance arrived. He was removed to hospital as quickly as possible by the Free Ambulance, but died two hours after admission without regaining consciousness. The late Mr. Dickson was a son of Mr. John Dickson, formerly of Christchurch, and lived with his mother, who is the proprietress of the Waverley Hotel,’ Marion Street. He was educated at St. Mary’s High School, Christchurch, where he had played football for Marist. In Wellington he was known as an enthusiastic amateur wrestler. AT A HAIRPIN BEND. The accident was caused through the failure of the car to negotiate a hairpin bend in Milne Terrace. Crashing; through two post-and-rail fences, the car ran over a bank and fell into Derwent Street, almost directly below. All the occupants were pinned beneath the car, and were extricated by a resident living nearby who heard the crash. The car was smashed beyond repair. Assistance was quickly forthcoming after the accident. Several parties returning from the Crow’s Nest Club stopped and did what they could. Constable F. A. Baker, who is in charge of the Island Bay police station, heard the crash when he was on duty near the tram terminus, and arrived on the scene about two minutes later. A doctor was immediately called, but on arrival found that Mr. and Mrs. Wood and Miss Bardebes were dead. The others were given first aid and rushed to hospital by the Free Ambulance. The ill-fated party left the club at 11.55 p.m. The car in which they were travelling was an old model seven-seater and was fitted with a left-hand drive. Mr. Hooker was badly shaken, but was quite conscious when assistance arrived. After giving an account of the accident to Constable Baker he was taken to hospital. The damaged car was towed into town yesterday morning. IN A SERIOUS CONDITION. The hospital authorities report this afternoon that the condition of Miss Morris is serious. There has been no change in her condition since her admission.