Last week I went to the
Wharerangi Cemetery Sexton’s office in Napier and met a lovely lady who helped me sort the plethora of
reference numbers attached to plots in the Old Napier Cemetery.
The Napier Earthquake has been
blamed for the lack of records, despite the fact that many burials appear to
be unrecorded. By accessing the data bases compiled by the Cemetery Staff and
Genealogy Society members who produced a record from the Napier Court’s
registrations, and with publicly available family history records from headstones,
I have been able to locate the last resting places of many of the Bird family’s
forebears
The highlighted area on the map
shows the position of the Hunt/Bird family
plot.
The burials that I have recorded
start with the burial of the infant daughter of John Thomas Bird and Johanna
Hunt, little Mary Catherine who was born prematurely in Napier and died at two
weeks on March 10 1874.
The next year, Johanna’s sister,
26 year old Catherine Paterson died and was also buried here.
Sadly, five years later Johanna
and Catherine’s mother Catherine Hunt (nee Lahart) died at 65 having been
predeceased by her namesake daughter and grand daughter.
This was the year,1880, that
Richard Hunt paid for a triple plot two days before his daughter Johanna, wife
of John Bird, died aged 28 at Wallingford two weeks after giving birth to her
son John Reginald.
A headstone was placed on the grave reading:
“Sacred to the Memory of
Catherine beloved wife of Richard Hunt who died January 13th
1880 aged 65 years
Also Johan[n]a daughter of the above and beloved wife of John Bird died
September 19th 1880 aged 28 years
Also Catherine daughter of the above Richard and Catherine Hunt aged 25
years
May their souls rest in peace
Amen”
Johanna’s son John
Reginald Bird died at 5 months from
diarrhoea on February 2nd 1881 at the home
of his
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Ellen and Daniel were also Mary Catherine’s Godparents.
Two years later on June 22 1883
at his home in Paradise Road Napier, where he lived with his father Richard
Hunt , Daniel John Hunt 26 year old
brother of Catherine and Johanna died
of Tb from which he had been ill for some time.
Daniel had been born in
Wellington within months of his family arriving on the Lancashire Witch with
the 65th Regiment.
He was baptised at St Mary of the
Angels on July 1 1857.
It was through this record that I was able to confirm that “our” Richard Hunt was Private Richard Hunt 2855 of the 65th Regiment
It was through this record that I was able to confirm that “our” Richard Hunt was Private Richard Hunt 2855 of the 65th Regiment
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| Record of Daniel's 1857 Baptism St Mary of the Angels, Wellington where Elizabeth was married 2005. |
The year after Daniel's death, 1884, Richard Hunt purchased another plot, this time
9'x3' (the previous purchase had been for a triple plot 9'x9')
Ellen Hunt married Joseph
Coe in 1874, but sadly died in 1886 at Tomoana
leaving 6 children. She was buried in the family plot at the Old Napier
Cemetery .
Her husband Joseph remarried Mary Elizabeth Powley , but Ellen is still remembered
by her family on the Headstone on her husbands grave in Hastings.
“In loving memory of Joseph dearly loved husband of Mary E Coe
Died 17/9/1935 aged 83 years
Also Mary
Elizabeth beloved wife of above
died 9 August 1959 aged 82 years”
Chronologically the next event marked by a burial in the Old Napier Cemetery was the
sudden death of Joseph William Nelson.
After Johanna died leaving four little children , her
husband John needed help with keeping the children. In those pre social welfare
days the quickest way get help was to remarry.
Joseph Nelson, a retired Royal Navy Artillery man was
employed as the Sergeant major of the Hawkes Bay Volunteers (interestingly
because his predecessor had been “shot on the range”).
It isn’t unreasonable to presume that Joseph was known to
Richard Hunt a fellow Irishman and Catholic. Joseph lived at the Gore Brown
Barracks and there was a track from Richard’s home in Paradise Road up what was
known as Hunt’s Gully to the barracks.
It also lends credence to Grandpa Noel’s story that his
grandfather John’s second marriage was an arranged marriage.
Mary Nelson married John Bird and Joseph was his brother in
law. But not for long.
Joseph died suddenly
in 1887 falling face forwards “grounding arms forever” as reported in the
Newspaper of the day.
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| Joseph William Nelson 1844-1887
Three months later September 3 1887 Richard Hunt’s namesake
Richard Hunt Bird aged only 12, succumbed to erysipalas (an over whelming traumatic
skin infection ) and died at Wallingford.
Family legend has it that he was
killed by a ram.
It was the 7th
anniversary of little John’s birth.
He was buried in a plot beside
the Hunt plots and paid for by his father John Bird 8 years later….?!
The headstone inscription reads:
“Of your charity pray for the repose of the soul of Richard Hunt Bird
Second son of John and Johanna Bird
Died 7th September 1887 aged 12 years”
Richard Hunt lived to be an old man.
His grand daughter Janet Paterson, daughter of Catherine
Paterson, lived with him in Napier until she married William Bernard Barry in
1896.
Richard’s sole surviving child, Winafred lived at home until she married Henry Collins
in 1890.
She is the only one of Richard’s children not to be buried
in the Old Napier Cemetery.
She died on ANZAC Day 1924 and is buried in the Karori
Cemetery in Wellington.
Having out lived his wife and four of his children, Richard
died aged 95 on May 14 1904
The inscription on his Headstone reads:
“Of your charity pray for the soul of Richard Hunt died May 14th
1904 aged 95 years.
Daniel John son of above died June 22nd 1883 aged 26 years
Also his daughter Ellen Coe died November 9th 1886 aged 29
years
May their souls rest in Peace”
This headstone has been damaged not only by
the ravages of time but also by the 1931 earthquake that took its toll on all of
Hawkes Bay.
In 1907 Michael Nelson died in
the Old People’s Home in Napier. He was only 65 years old. He had remained
single all his life and is buried in the Old Napier Cemetery, in a plot yet to
be discovered.
He was mourned by his sister
Mary, second wife of John Bird. Joe Bird, Michael’s nephew mentions his parents
going to visit “Uncle Michael” in his diaries.
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