Response to the Clutha District Council's decision to dig for evidence of bodies in the Waipori Cemetery (Press clipping, 24th March 2001).
- It was a strange sensation to read the press report of 24th March 2001 on the front page of the Otago Daily Times, and to see that the Clutha District Council was contemplating digging holes in the cemetery around the Read house, for our benefit! Thanks a lot, CDC! More, it showed their own uncertainty as to the accuracy of the ground radar survey they commisioned late last year. With that sort of doubt, why leave the house there?
- In fact the Health Department, in an earlier letter to us said that if there was any doubt as to whether there were any bodies buried around the house, the application for revocation of reserve status should not proceed. It did anyway, the CDC being so desperate to have the house remain there. However, at the time of writing (26th March 2001) the application plus 72 objections had not been sent to the local conservator for his decision. Was the delay an expression of grave doubt as to its possible success, or an expression of severe doubt of the security of their case?
- A mixture of both is likely. In any event, we are convinced there have been burials in that area over the last 130 years or so. We have an afadavit (signed by Mr Colin Withnall QC) from retired physician, Dr Dawson Cotton, a descendant of those buried in the main section of the cemetery (where gravestones still exist). Dr Cotton was born at Waipori in 1925 and grew up there. He was at school in the town around 1930 – 1935. Some twenty years ago he recalls seeing graves marked by stones in the area the CDC claimed that the Radar Survey had shown there were no graves. A map follows showing the positions of three of the graves Dr Cotton saw, marked by "+". This map should be printed out to show greater accuracy. The text of the afadavit is available on enquiry.
- It should be remembered that the area of the GPR survey, and more, down to the position of the now demolished concrete was, had been greatly modified by ploughing (after the surrounding farms had been taken over by Lands and Survey after 1976). Turnips and swedes were planted, then re-ploughed and grazed a number of times over the next few years.
- There are anecdotal reports of people seeing wooden crosses in that area of land, and some stone markers. Sadly, the wooden crosses and other constructions, even in the main part of the cemetery, had been destroyed by fire. One of the Local Council's favourite methods of maintenance was to arrive at the cemetery and throw a lighted match over the wall of the main part of the cemetery. All of the ornate carved grave surrounds and arches, crosses etc that Dr Cotton recalls having seen, were destroyed.
- The likelihood of human remains staying intact under this onslaught in the area around the Read house, as opposed to the remains in the main part of the cemetery, are slim. Also, the area (as the CDC pointed out) is very shallow and so were the burials there. In fact, the GPR survey accurately gives the depth of topsoil over the area so it is a mystery to us that the CDC has to dig a lot of holes to confirm this. Unless they were searching for an actual presence or absence of human remains, of course.
- The latter is abhorrent to us, and should be to any decent living human being who believes that showing respect for the dead is a critical part of our culture and faith.
- It has to be remembered how things were in those earlier pioneer days. Waipori was a mining town and area, before farming began in earnest from about 1905 onwards. Conditions were harsh. Winters were raw and cold, there were no trees; the access was hazardous and difficult. Caskets for burials were not easily made nor available. Some people were simply buried in body bags, particularly children. The cemetery area (originally much larger than at present) had shallow topsoil, but was the only suitable area for burials, being on a high point above the town.
- There is written and anecdotal evidence that burials took place virtually wherever a deep enough hole could be dug. This meant that there were graves all over the area, even right down to the present lake edge! Combined with this, there was a very strong class system in existence, as was typical of those times. People with property and money had preference in the best parts of the cemetery, and preferred to be grouped together, where their elaborate concrete and stone surrounds and monuments could be easily seen and accessed from the town. If you were a mine owner, race owner or businessman in the town, you were classed as a "man of property" (in England, they were called "landed gentry"). Other people were either itinerants, mine or other workers and were regarded as people of lower status. Burials of these people appeared to have taken place virtually all over the area and were most often, crudely or temporarily marked. Nor were the burial registers reliable. Some people registered as having been buried at the Waipori cemetery were in fact buried elsewhere. Others, such as Michael Hynes, b.1903, although belonging to the Waipori family of Hynes, was registered as being buried in the cemetery at Milton, but most likely was taken "over the hill" at the last moment because the weather was good (Sept 1903) and buried just inside the old gate (near the Read house) where local belief has him located. Hynes was killed by a rock fall in Alexandra.
- On the other hand, research by the late Marguerite Parson (nee Cotton), who read every single death registration entry at the Lower Hutt registery over a period of years, has come up with some 18 people who are not on the Burial Register at Waipori, but who, in their death certificates, are shown to have been buried at Waipori. This is over a relatively short period – from 1883 until 1909. Among them is John James Reeves, an infant of just a few days, who died late in1901. That he would have been buried at Waipori and nowhere else is shown by the fact that his father, also John James Reeves had other children who went to school there: Emma in 1900, and James, Mary and Lily, from 1901 – 1906. Where was the infant buried? Where is his plot, marker, headstone? No trace exists. As John Reeves' father was most likely an itinerant or worker on mines his son's burial place could have been virtually anywhere in the cemetery area. His father most likely moved on to goldfields elsewhere after 1906. There are Reeves involved in goldmining in the Alexandra area after that time.
- There are only 63 bodies accounted for by headstone transcriptions. Four stones or graves carry no inscriptions. 110 people are registered as having been buried in the cemetery area but the location of their graves is unknown. Another 19, by 'local knowledge' are thought to have been buried in the cemetery but are not registered and their graves have no markers. These burials have dates of burial. Another 17 are the same as the above, but have no dates. There are 5 who died by accident (drowning, mines collapses), but are not registered and there are no sign of their graves. There would only be a registration and burial in the case of a drowning, if a body was found. There are 6 who died by accident, but who are registered.
- From the above, it can easily be seen that, despite the GPR survey and the council's attempts to verify it by looking for the absence of bodies by digging into the ground, there is absolutely no certainty that there were no burials in the area around the Read house. The big disappointment is, that the Clutha District council did not seek an expert – say, an experienced genealogist for instance, to research all the information that is readily available, and search for descendants to talk to about it. It is known that the council officials have steered completely clear of talking to anybody at all, relying instead on throwing money at consultants with their dubious gadgets that even the council are showing signs of having grave doubts about in terms of the believability of their results.
Write a "letter to the editor"