Dispelling Myths

Ghost Gums at sunset Photo by Cathy Currie

Death is part of the journey of living. It is perhaps our fascination and fear of the unknown that has led to some of the superstitions and old wives tales about death and cemeteries in general, such as holding your breath when you go past a cemetery, so as not to breath in the spirit of recently deceased. There are however tales and sayings such as ‘saved by the bell’ (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_coffin) which originate from historical funeral practices. Specific stories may have originated from events and been misinterpreted and changed when re-told like a ‘Chinese whisper’.

Stories that are repeated or published uncritically can become general knowledge, however may actually be a misconception.

So how do we determine what is factual and what is fiction when there are some very specific stories in the community about Waikumete Cemetery? It is the evidence and reliability of sources that are crucial.

Here we offer information to enable the reader to challenge some of these stories.

MASS GRAVE FOR INFLUENZA VICTIMS

TO THE MEMORY OF

THE VICTIMS OF

THE 1918 INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC

This memorial marks the final resting place

of many of the 1,128 men, women and children of Auckland

who died as a result of New Zealand's worst epidemic

which peaked in November 1918,

killing a total of 8,573 New Zealanders.

Particular respect is paid to doctors, nurses and citizen volunteers

whose selfless efforts to aid the sick

resulted in their own untimely deaths.

Donated & erected by

R. G. Thompson Limited

& Trethewey Stone Industries

25^th Sept. 1988

A memorial stone bearing the above inscription was erected in Anglican Division E, Row 6, the site said to be a mass burial area at the time of the 1918 influenza epidemic. However this row had been pretty well filled prior to 1916, they were mainly Govt. purchased plots set aside for inmates who had died at the local asylum. Rows 7, 8 and 9 which had been prepared for interments in May 1918 were used for burials during the epidemic which struck at the end of October that year.

By the time the influenza memorial had been situated in 1988, the legend of there being a mass grave at its location was considered to be factual.

A photograph from the Auckland Libraries on pg 81 of the comprehensive and well researched book Black November by Geoffrey W Rice is captioned “Waikumete Cemetery, West Auckland: special trains brought the bodies of the pandemic victims twice daily for two weeks from Auckland and Mt Eden stations. Nearly all were buried without headstones in a large open area, which in 1988 was marked by a monument.” This has not been what we have found. Although there are a greater number of unmarked graves of influenza victims many also bear grave markers and were interred in various areas of the cemetery. 

It is with the conservation, digitisation and improved accessibility of records that this myth of a mass grave has been brought to light.

Information regarding the whereabouts of the plots was sourced through the West burial and cremation records on-line, Headstone inscriptions created by the New Zealand Genealogy Society and now available through Ancestry.com, the Waikumete Burial book filmed by the Genealogical Society Salt Lake City Utah available on Family search, and visiting many of the marked graves. Death Notices in Papers Past and information from Sandra Coney have also been utilised.

MURDERERS GROVE

It has been both told and published that murderers have been hung at the cemetery from 1856 – 1956 and have been buried standing or upside down with a grove of ghost gums planted on their graves.

However the cemetery was not opened until 1886 [1] and there is no evidence to support these claims. 

The first murderers interred in the cemetery were John Caffrey and Henry Albert Penn who were hanged at Mt Eden Gaol on the 21^st of February 1887 [2] and are recorded as residing side by side in Anglican Division C  Caffrey in row 1 plot UN and Penn in row 1 plot X, these plots do not line up with  row 1 or row 2.

Of the 19 murderers executed in Auckland since the opening of the cemetery [2], all 19 have been found to have been either interred or cremated at Waikumete. According to the on line West burial and cremation database those interred are in plots located in areas other than that in which the grove of gums trees stand. Wikipedia tells us that executions were generally carried out at Mt Eden prison [3], and indeed newspaper reports prior to 1948 indicate that all of the Auckland hangings of this period took place there. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Sources:

[1] THE NEW CEMETERY, New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7567, 20 February 1886  http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18860220.2.26

[2] http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/the-death-penalty/notable-executions

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_executed_in_New_Zealand

[4] THE MURDERERS MURDERED, Patea Mail, Volume XII, Issue 128, 21 February 1887  http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PATM18870221.2.15

[5] THE WAIKOMITI MURDER, Evening Star, Issue 9140, 22 May 1893 http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18930522.2.23

[6] KAKA EXECUTED, Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, Issue 0, 21 June 1911  http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HNS19110621.2.20.1

[7] DENNIS GUNN EXECUTED AT MOUNT EDEN GAOL THIS MORNING, Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7434, 22 June http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BOPT19200622.2.12

[8] Thorne Pays the Penalty, Horowhenua Chronicle, 20 December 1920 http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HC19201220.2.17

[9] DEATH SENTENCE CARRIED OUT, Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 87, 10 October 1921 http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19211010.2.65

[10] RETRIBUTION!, Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 92, 17 April 1924 http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19240417.2.58

[11] EXECUTION OF MUNN, New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20628, 29 July 1930  http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19300729.2.150

[12] DEATH PENALTY, New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21671, 11 December 1933 http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19331211.2.113

[13] DATE FIXED, Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 166, 16 July 1934  http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19340716.2.107