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Okuru Cemetery
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| Entrance to Okuru Cemetery. |
Location
The Okuru Cemetery is at 1540 Haast-Jackson Bay Rd, Okuru, Westland District, West Coast 7886 New Zealand. Coordinates: -43.91148, 168.89115
Okuru
Okuru is located on the Haast- Jackson Bay Road, with swampy land close to the beach. Andrew Nolan and his wife, Mary Spillane, Irish immigrants who had met in the gold town of Stafford, near Hokitika, where Andrew was the licensee of the Empire Hotel and Mary worked as a servant. In April 1875 Mary and Andrew moved to the special settlement of Jackson Bay, part of Julius Vogel’s ambitious immigration and public works programme. The Jackson Bay experiment was a failure with the settlers struggling to farm poor land in extreme isolation. When this Special Settlement at Jackson Bay failed miserably, Andrew and Mary Nolan moved north in an open boat to Okuru in around 1882. The family established a farm there and acquired a pastoral run in the Cascade Valley. Their son William Denis (Dinnie) Nolan married Mary Honora Ritchie at Bruce Bay on 16 May 1911 and several years later he entered a farming partnership at Okuru with his brother Patrick (Paddy) and another brother, Andrew. On 2 September 1918 Paddy married Johanna Theresa Eggeling in Hokitika and four years later Dinnie bought Andrew’s share of the farm. Paddy, as head stockman, oversaw the cattle drives to markets hundreds of miles away and kept detailed stock records charting the growth of the enterprise. Dinnie, one of Westland’s most colourful and well-known pioneers, died at Okuru on 28 November 1959, survived by his sons.
[1]
Okuru Cemetery
In 1898 the Okuru Cemtery was located on the track to the Haast.
[2]
Burials
There is one burial in Okuru that is outside the cemetery and opposite the Okuru Hall. It is the grave of a young Snodgrass boy drowned in the Okuru River. His father was an explorer. [3] Find A Grave' has 71 records of burials in this cemetery and 'Billion Graves' has 75 Memorials. Some of the records have no dates of birth or death.
- BEFORE 1900
- Warren Lisle Cuttance born in 1837 in Cornwall, England. He first married Ellen Marrea Hennesey, born in London, City of London, Greater London, England in 1835. Their sons Harry James Cuttance and Joseph Alexander Cuttance were born in Ballarat City, Victoria, Australia before they emigrated with the two boys to Okuru, New Zealand Marrea died14 December 1866 (aged 30–31) in Hokitika. Warren married, second, Mary O'Neill in 1868. Warren died 11 March 1894 (aged 56–57) at Okuru, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand leaving his wife Mary and sons Harry and Joseph.
- Infants and Children
- Harriett Elizabeth Cuttance was born 24 September 1885, Jackson Bay, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand and died 18 March 1894 (aged 8) Okuru, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand.
- Hamilton Harris, born in 1895, died in December 1895 (aged less–than 1 year) was the son of William Hamilton Harris born in1849 in Hornsey, London Borough of Haringey, Greater London, England and Mary Clifford Harris, born in 1853, Boherbue, County Cork, Ireland. Mary is buried in the Okuru Cemetery.
- 1900 - 1999
- Peter Shiels born in 'County Down, Ireland, died, age 68 years at Okuru, on board the Jane Douglas 7 May 1900 while he was being conveyed to the Hokitika Hospital. [4]Those who later attended the funeral of Murdoch McPherson were attracted by a very pretty headstone being placed around Peter's grave which was considered to speak very highly of his friends at Gillespies, who erected it.
- Murdoch Mcpherson born in 1852 in Helmsdale, Highland, Scotland, died age 47 Years, at Arawata on Sunday, 1 July 1901, [5]while being conveyed on a stretcher from the work he was superintending at Lake Mary. His tentmates entreated him to get on his horse and proceed home until he left it too late, weakness setting in. His body was conveyed to the Okuru under the superintendence of Messrs Nisson, Heveldt and others. He was buried very decently under the superintendence of Messrs Cowan and Eggeling at the Okuru Cemetery with about 56 persons attending the funeral. He was well respected not only by our worthy Warden, Mr Macfarlane in Hokitika, but also by the Public Works Department because of his industry and capability in carrying on works under his control. He left a wife and four children. [6] His daughter Janet “Jessie” McPherson, born in 1882 at Jackson Bay, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand died of tuberculosis, 27 April 1924 (aged 41–42) . Jessie's infant son Eric McPherson born in 1903 died 1 June 1904 (aged 0–1)
- Mary Patricia Nolan died in Okuru died 26 September 1981, age 55 years.
- 2000 -
- Mary Patricia Nolan's husband, Kevin Nolan, born 1921, son of Mary and William Denis (Dinny) Nolan [7] died age 82 years 25 April 2003 . They are buried together in the Okuru Cemetery.
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| Graves at Okuru Cemetery |
Links
Contact Person
- Kerry Eggeling, 03 750 0848
Sources
- ↑ Nolan
- ↑
1898 Newspaper:
"Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
West Coast Times, Issue 11103, 29 September 1898, Page 4
8.2?end_date=31-12-1920&items_per_page=10&phrase=2&query=Okuru+Cemetery&snippet=true&sort_by=byDA&start_date=01-01-1882&title=CHARG%2cGRA%2cGEST%2cHOG%2cIT%2cKUMAT%2cWCT Papers Past Article (accessed 6 April 2024) - ↑ [1]
- ↑ Memorial:
"Billion Graves"
Okuru Cemetery, 1540 Haast Jackson Bay Road, Whataroa West Coast 7886, New Zealand
BillionGraves memorial (accessed 6 April 2024)
Memorial page for Peter Shiels (d 7 May 1899); Transcribed by chicky_aus, May 24, 2023; Photographed by aa, Dec 21, 2022. - ↑
Memorial:
Find a Grave (has image)
Find A Grave: Memorial #192968158 (accessed 6 April 2024)
Memorial page for Murdoch McPherson (1852-14 Jul 1901), citing Okuru Cemetery, Okuru, Westland District, West Coast, New Zealand; Maintained by Katherine (contributor 48995023). - ↑
1901 Newspaper:
"Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand"
West Coast Times, Issue 11976, 31 July 1901, Page 3
Papers Past Article (accessed 6 April 2024) - ↑ 1921/17589 Nolan Kevin Mary William Denis1921/17589 Nolan Kevin Mary William Denis
