KING, Frederick James
Born 1901; died 26 November 1918; buried 28 November 1918; age 17
KING, Henry George (Harry)
Born 1898; died 28 November 1918; buried 29 November 1918; age 20
The KING brothers were living with their family at 50 Norway Street in what was then known as Taitville at the top of Aro Street in Wellington when they became ill with influenza in November 1918. Harry worked as a labourer while his younger brother Fred was employed as a telephone operator.
The brothers had been born to Henry Ralph (born 1872) and Louisa King ,née JOYCE (born 1875) from the Waimate area. Their father belonged to a family with sawmilling and mining interests in the Goldsborough locality of the West Coast’s Kumara/Hokitika district in the South Island. The boys’ parents had married on 29 September 1897 in the Italian Gully, in the Ross area of Westland [1]. In addition to their sons, Henry (known as Harry) and Frederick, who were born in 1898 and 1901, the couple had two more children Edward Walter, born 1903, and Eva Louisa, born 1906. That same year, on 8 November 1906, their father Henry Ralph King died aged just 34. He was coal mining on the Denniston plateau but his death does not appear to have been a mining accident. He was interred in the cemetery at Waimangaroa at the foot of the Denniston plateau on 11 November that year.
Louisa King remained in the area, and remarried in 1909, another miner, George WHITEFIELD (born 1886) who came from Clovelly in Devonshire, England [2]. The family continued to live at Denniston for some time - school records show Harry attending Denniston School until 1911 and Fred until 1912. Louisa and George had one child, a further sibling for Fred, Harry, Ted and Eva. This brother, born in 1909, was also named Henry, but was also known as Harry. He too attended school in Denniston, until 1914, and Westport was shown as his intended destination when he left that school. Quite how the family managed for 9 years with two (half) brothers both known as ‘Harry’, albeit 11 years apart, is anybody’s guess.
Sometime after 1914 and before 1919, George and Louisa moved with their family to Wellington, perhaps because more varied employment was available for the menfolk. For his part, George Whitefield obtained work with the Wellington Harbour Board for a long period from at least 1919.
Fred King was taken to the temporary hospital at Wellington College when he got sick with influenza in November 1918, while his brother, Harry was taken to the St Johns Temporary Hospital. Their deaths, on 26 and 28 November, must have brought a sombre end to what had started as a happy month in Norway Street, marked by the birth of their half-sister, Phyllis Madge, who arrived on 2 November 1918.
Fred, aged 17 when he died, was buried on 28 November in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery. His older brother, Harry, died the day Fred was buried, and he joined Fred in the plot the following day.
The family does not appear to have inserted any memorial notices in the local newspaper, either acknowledging the deaths, or in following years.
Both Harry and Fred were at the young end of the age group most affected by influenza. Most deaths were of people aged between 20 and 45 who did not seem to have built any immunity to such outbreaks.
When Louisa died in 1943 she too was buried in the same plot and a headstone was erected with the following inscription:
In Loving Memory Of (Ivy) Louisa beloved wife of George WHITEFIELD and loving mother of Ted, Eva, Harry and Madge d 14 Oct 1943
'Till we meet again'
Henry George KING who died 28 Nov 1918 aged 20 years
also
Frederick James KING who died 26 Nov 1918 aged 17 years 8 months
'Until the day breaks'
Because Louisa had died intestate George Whitefield applied to the court for authorisation to administer her estate of £1034/8/5. In so doing he swore an affidavit prepared by the legal firm of Stephenson and Anyon to the effect that none of her children had predeceased her. Although 1918 was distant from 1943, it is hard to believe that their siblings and step-father did not remember Harry and Fred who had perished in the flu epidemic. The headstone is likely to have been ordered by George, or perhaps the surviving siblings, and the inclusion of both Harry and Fred’s details are evidence that they had indeed not been forgotten.
George died in 1961 and was cremated at Karori Cemetery.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 145 E
Sources:
[1] Taken from NZSG KiwiDisk v 2, 2015.
[2] From Louisa King’s probate in Wellington Branch of Archives New Zealand.
Born 1901; died 26 November 1918; buried 28 November 1918; age 17
KING, Henry George (Harry)
Born 1898; died 28 November 1918; buried 29 November 1918; age 20
The KING brothers were living with their family at 50 Norway Street in what was then known as Taitville at the top of Aro Street in Wellington when they became ill with influenza in November 1918. Harry worked as a labourer while his younger brother Fred was employed as a telephone operator.
The brothers had been born to Henry Ralph (born 1872) and Louisa King ,née JOYCE (born 1875) from the Waimate area. Their father belonged to a family with sawmilling and mining interests in the Goldsborough locality of the West Coast’s Kumara/Hokitika district in the South Island. The boys’ parents had married on 29 September 1897 in the Italian Gully, in the Ross area of Westland [1]. In addition to their sons, Henry (known as Harry) and Frederick, who were born in 1898 and 1901, the couple had two more children Edward Walter, born 1903, and Eva Louisa, born 1906. That same year, on 8 November 1906, their father Henry Ralph King died aged just 34. He was coal mining on the Denniston plateau but his death does not appear to have been a mining accident. He was interred in the cemetery at Waimangaroa at the foot of the Denniston plateau on 11 November that year.
Louisa King remained in the area, and remarried in 1909, another miner, George WHITEFIELD (born 1886) who came from Clovelly in Devonshire, England [2]. The family continued to live at Denniston for some time - school records show Harry attending Denniston School until 1911 and Fred until 1912. Louisa and George had one child, a further sibling for Fred, Harry, Ted and Eva. This brother, born in 1909, was also named Henry, but was also known as Harry. He too attended school in Denniston, until 1914, and Westport was shown as his intended destination when he left that school. Quite how the family managed for 9 years with two (half) brothers both known as ‘Harry’, albeit 11 years apart, is anybody’s guess.
Sometime after 1914 and before 1919, George and Louisa moved with their family to Wellington, perhaps because more varied employment was available for the menfolk. For his part, George Whitefield obtained work with the Wellington Harbour Board for a long period from at least 1919.
Fred King was taken to the temporary hospital at Wellington College when he got sick with influenza in November 1918, while his brother, Harry was taken to the St Johns Temporary Hospital. Their deaths, on 26 and 28 November, must have brought a sombre end to what had started as a happy month in Norway Street, marked by the birth of their half-sister, Phyllis Madge, who arrived on 2 November 1918.
Fred, aged 17 when he died, was buried on 28 November in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery. His older brother, Harry, died the day Fred was buried, and he joined Fred in the plot the following day.
The family does not appear to have inserted any memorial notices in the local newspaper, either acknowledging the deaths, or in following years.
Both Harry and Fred were at the young end of the age group most affected by influenza. Most deaths were of people aged between 20 and 45 who did not seem to have built any immunity to such outbreaks.
When Louisa died in 1943 she too was buried in the same plot and a headstone was erected with the following inscription:
In Loving Memory Of (Ivy) Louisa beloved wife of George WHITEFIELD and loving mother of Ted, Eva, Harry and Madge d 14 Oct 1943
'Till we meet again'
Henry George KING who died 28 Nov 1918 aged 20 years
also
Frederick James KING who died 26 Nov 1918 aged 17 years 8 months
'Until the day breaks'
Because Louisa had died intestate George Whitefield applied to the court for authorisation to administer her estate of £1034/8/5. In so doing he swore an affidavit prepared by the legal firm of Stephenson and Anyon to the effect that none of her children had predeceased her. Although 1918 was distant from 1943, it is hard to believe that their siblings and step-father did not remember Harry and Fred who had perished in the flu epidemic. The headstone is likely to have been ordered by George, or perhaps the surviving siblings, and the inclusion of both Harry and Fred’s details are evidence that they had indeed not been forgotten.
George died in 1961 and was cremated at Karori Cemetery.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 145 E
Sources:
[1] Taken from NZSG KiwiDisk v 2, 2015.
[2] From Louisa King’s probate in Wellington Branch of Archives New Zealand.