This unusual plot design caught our eye in the upper area of Church of England 2 section. It is clad with marble and has a concave tablet surface and a concrete plinth with a bell curved edge. We thought learning a little more about those buried here may explain the design, but we could find very little about them.
Ellen Maria King was the first interment in 1929. She died aged 60 at her home in Derby Street, Mt Victoria. She was the wife of William Henry King who died in 1943, aged 80 and who was a watchmaker and jeweller. We cannot establish their origins or where they married. They first appear on New Zealand electoral rolls in Taranaki in 1914.
Their son Jack Ian King who is also memorialised on this plot was born in 1901 in South Africa. Jack studied at Wellington Technical College and later at University College London. He was apprenticed to the architect Joseph Dawson from 1917-1922. He then entered into partnership with him in 1929 to form the practice Dawson & King. The practice had to endure the hard years of the Depression.
Jack became president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects 1953-1955. He received a CBE in 1966 for services to architecture and the Standards Institute. He died in 1972.
We like to imagine that it was Jack who designed this plot, based on his profession.
To mark Wellington Anniversary Day, we would like to share this photo we found from 1913.
A group portrait of early settles who arrived in New Zealand before 1840. 72 years ago at the Wellington early settlers gathering on Anniversary Day. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19130130-16-01.
The ‘Early Settlers and Historical Association of Wellington’ issued an open invitation to all early settlers and their descendants to attend a reunion at Newtown Park on Anniversary Day 1913.
The event was an open picnic with sports in the afternoon, and the Governor General and Lady Liverpool attended. The new kiosk was open and hot water was available for those who prefer a ‘billy tea’ and lunch under the trees. There was bobbing for apples, highland dancing, a maypole, a baby show and a treacled bun competition (?).
All early settlers on arriving at the park were invited to enter their details in a book (we wonder where this now is?). On the day it was discovered that there were three ladies present born in the ‘20s. A photograph was taken of all of those who arrived or were born in Wellington prior to 1840.
Of those in the photograph, we have identified three at Karori Cemetery:
Ellen Howell
Ellen Howell’s plot
Ellen was born in Kent in 1835 and arrived in Wellington in May 1841 on the ship ‘Lord William Bentinck’ with her father John Clout, stepmother and three siblings. She married Thomas Howell in 1855. He was a storekeeper. They appear to have had fourteen children. In 1891 Thomas and Ellen sought to recover in the Supreme Court £100 damages from the Apollo Soap and Candle Factory due to their works causing ‘divers, offensive, unwholesome and unpalatable smells, vapours and stenches’ affecting their properties in Riddiford Street. They did not succeed in their suit. Ellen at Howells Ave in 1923. The newspaper reported she was aged 91.
Plot Ch Eng/P/37
Agnes Leslie
Agnes Leslie’s plot
Agnes is a little bit of a mystery. She died in 1925, aged 86 at the Home For the Aged Needy. She was rejected for the Old Age Pension in 1899 (as she was only 62 years of age). In 1903 she was awarded a pension of £18 noting she had been 62 years in the colony. She lived in Holland, Frederick and Brougham Streets 1890 -1920. But we cannot find out more about her. She is buried in an unmarked plot.
Plot Ch Eng 2/G/663
Not in the photo, but another interesting burial at Karori Cemetery of an early settler:
Frederick George Petherick
Frederick Petherick
Frederick arrived in Wellington on the ship ‘Aurora’ on 22 January 1840 with his parents, brothers and sister. It was the first immigrant ship to arrive in Wellington, chartered by the New Zealand Company and the arrival of this ship is marked by Wellington Anniversary Day. Frederick was 8 years old when they landed on the beach at Petone.
He later took part in the gold rushes in Victoria during the early 50s and then the West coast for more gold mining. He married Elizabeth Ballinger in 1879. They had four children. In 1881 he was a carpenter and storekeeper in Featherston where he was declared insolvent. His liabilities amounted to £792. He died at his home 112 Oriental Parade in 1917.
One of our readers Jayce wrote in to ask if we knew what this object is on Thomas Edwards’ grave. Having examined it and done a few Google images searches, we’re stumped if we know what it is. Jayce’s guess that it is of some sort of flower holder seems the most probably. It appears to have been sitting lose on the grave originally and someone has concreted the remaining parts into the ledger later on, as it appears some parts are missing.
What do you think it is?
Thomas Campbell Edwards was a twenty-year-old electrician who was assisting to repair the lift in the Public Trust Building on 21st May 1912. He called to an assistant to turn on the power but before doing so neglected to remove an iron handle which was temporarily fixed on a spindle. The handle struck him with a terrific blow to his leg.
He was admitted to hospital and while there he developed pleurisy. This coupled with the shock was attributed to his death which occurred on the 11th June. He was the son of James Edwards, a farmer from Hamilton.
Thomas’ grave is on the main road facing the north end of the Seaforth rose gardens, for those who like to walk in the cemetery.
Mary was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Samson. She married firstly to John Douglas McNeil in 1904 in Dunedin. They had two children: John Samson and Margaret.
John left on active service in May 1916 and when he returned in March of 1918, he found Mary with a child three months old. John petitioned for dissolution of the marriage and £500 damages. Andrew Crichton was named as co-respondent.
Andrew admitted that he was the father of the child. His wife had died in 1916 and he had sent two sons to the war. One had been killed and the other was gassed.
A decree nisi was granted and the McNeil children were handed over to John.
In 1919 Mary married Benjamin Wood. Their sons Bertram James and Arthur were born in 1921 and 1922 respectively.
Mary died on 12th November 1922 at her home, 42 Rolleston Street at the age of 37. ‘Deeply regretted’ said the death notice.
Benjamin Wood was a carpenter. Perhaps he made the grave marker himself? The marker had wandered from the plot recently, and the cemetery staff were kind enough to reinstate it at our request.
Alfons Frederick Fischel was born in Prague in 1874. His profession was an engineer. He married Gisela Karmel in Vienna in 1902, their marriage was recorded in the Jewish register of births, deaths & marriages. Their only son, Walter George, was born there in 1903.
Walter married Margrethe [Margaret] Finlay and they had two children. Walter and his family arrived in Wellington in September 1938. He worked as a vet.
In October the following year his father and mother, Alfons and Gisela arrived in Wellington. They settled in Hankey Street.
In 1941 Margaret’s sister and brother-in-law, Otto [Bob] and Luise [Louisa] Rothbaum, arrived with their son Henry, aged 15. Otto had been interned in the UK prior to his departure for New Zealand.
Records at National Archives indicate the family were initially regarded as enemy aliens, before being declared stateless and then becoming naturalised British subjects after the war.
Alfons died in February 1947 aged 73 and his ashes were placed in this niche of the columbarium behind the Crematorium Chapel. The plaque reads ‘Oberbaurat’ which translates as Town Planner.
In March 1947, Gisela became a naturalised citizen. Her occupation was recorded as ‘Manufacturer of artificial flowers’.
Gisella died in 1969 and her placed beneath a bronze plaque in the Public section Plot: *Public/M/794.
Seventy years ago, a funeral service was held at Karori Cemetery for the twenty-one unidentified victims of the Tangiwai disaster that occurred on the night of 24th December. The service was held at 10am on a Thursday morning. The burial place had been specially chosen, near the lawn cemetery.
In attendance were over six hundred mourners, including a large number of cabinet ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, service chiefs and civic dignitaries who stood at the 30-yard-long grave. Lining the grave and along its edges were laid punga fronds. HRH the Duke of Edinburgh attended, having flown from Hamilton that morning with the Prime Minister Sidney Holland. The Queen continued her planned engagements in Hamilton alone.
A public address system was installed so that those present could follow the service, which was also broadcast.
The service was conducted by representative leaders of the churches. At its conclusion, the Duke placed a wreath of blue flowers beside the white cross from the citizens of Wellington. He then stepped back and bowed his head for a moment. The Prime Minister Mr Holland followed with his own wreath.
The Duke then passed down a line of mourners, offering a few words of comfort to many of them. Mr Dunbar who lost his cousin in the disaster said ‘His presence here and sympathy was a great comfort to all’.
On 27 March 1957, a memorial service was held and a memorial to the victims was unveiled by the Prime Minister with the names of all who perished inscribed on it. After the service, relatives of the victims were the guests of the government at afternoon tea at Parliament buildings.
By Julia Kennedy
The Duke of Edinburgh attending the mass burial of Tangiwai railway disaster victims, Karori Cemetery, Wellington, Royal Tour 1953-1954. Crown Studios Ltd :Negatives and prints. Ref: 1/4-106737-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23203934
In 1921, arranged by her daughter Madame Parker, Madame Emilie Marguerite Clemencot (nee Chavelle) and Madame Parker’s sister Mademoiselle Blanche Emilie Clemencot arrived in Hastings from St-Chamond, Loire, France.
Madame Parker (born Berthe Emilie Clemencot) had arrived in New Zealand in the early 1900s and married Henry Griffith Parker in 1907. Shortly afterwards she went to Buenos Aires returning to settle in Hastings in 1913 where she reestablished her business as a corset and dress maker.
Her sister Blanche had been married in France in 1908 to Eugene Waldmann and we are uncertain if they divorced, but she represented herself in New Zealand as Mademoiselle Clemencot.
Emilie Clemencot was aged 71 when she arrived in New Zealand. She had married to Pierre Frederic Clemencot in 1871. Their other children were Arthur, Edouard, Louise, Louis, Jeanne, and Malvina.
Emilie had lived through the Franco-Prussian war and the very recent experience of WWI:
‘I left France as if I was leaving some mud hole behind me, and I said to myself ‘I am going to heaven’’.
In 1923, also arranged by Madame Parker, her brother Arthur and his wife Alice and their two children were welcomed to Hastings where she had purchased and furnished a house for them. In 1926, Alice bought a maintenance case against Arthur. ‘Love in France – Parted in N.Z.’ ran ‘The Truth’ newspaper headline. They separated and both left the country over the next few years without further trace.
At the same time as the divorce case, Madame Parker relocated to Palmerston North with Emilie and Blanche. Madame and Henry Parker divorced in 1928.
The mother and daughters then relocated again, this time to Wellington where Blanche worked as a confectioner. Emilie died at her house on the Hutt Road, Petone in 1930. Many touching notices were placed in the newspaper from her friends for their ‘petit maman’.
Madame Parker travelled to England about 1939 and there is a ‘Bertha Emilie Parker’ who died in London in 1944. Blanche died in 1954 and is interred in this plot with her mother.
Also in this plot is Jules Louis Raveneau who died in 1976. We cannot find a connection to the Clemencot family. He was born in 1918. He arrived in New Zealand from France in 1950 and appears on the electoral rolls from 1975 living in Adams Terrace. He worked as a watersider. His wife was Maria and she is buried elsewhere. Was he a cousin perhaps?
Plot: *Public 2/W/666 (this plot is in the row facing the Salvation Army area)
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.
Victor Lo Keong seated front centre
Victor Lo Keong 1919
Victor Lo Keong’s niche, columbarium wall, Karori Cemetery services area
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 15th September 1935. He died at Wellington hospital on 13th October, ‘dearly loved infant son of Stanley and Frances Oliver’. He gradually faded away, the doctors did not know why.
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.
