I have recently been up and down the steps and paths of the first Anglican section of the cemetery looking for the family plot of Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell. There’s a nice clear photo of the grave on the cemetery database and I had assumed I would be able to find it fairly easily, as I knew more or less where it was. After floundering around several times I asked the office staff to locate it precisely for me, and then I finally found it – almost completely obscured by growth of the trees all round. A word in the ear of the Manager, and within a short time, with the judicious application of a pruning saw, it was revealed for all to see.
There are four headstones, and three memorial stones. Sir Francis died and was buried in 1936, following his wife Caroline who had died the year before. Their first born son, Francis Dillon, who died of rheumatic fever in 1897 aged 15, was the first burial in the plot. There are also memorials to two other sons – Ernest Dillon, who died in 1929, had served in WW1 so has a Services headstone as well as a gravestone, and William Henry Dillon who died somewhere in France in 1917 serving with the English regiment the King Edwards Horse also has a memorial headstone. The youngest son – Cheviot Wellington – who also served with the King Edwards Horse was buried in the plot in 1960. The stones are in pretty good shape and the ironwork fence which surrounds the plot is a bit rusty but otherwise also in reasonable condition.
Sir Francis had a long and distinguished legal and political career. He was Mayor of Wellington in 1891, 1892, and 1896, and became the first NZ-born Prime Minister of New Zealand in 1925, albeit briefly. He is one of six Premiers/Prime Ministers who were buried or cremated at Karori Cemetery.
To find out more about Sir Francis check out his biography at http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2b16/bell-francis-henry-dillon
There are four headstones, and three memorial stones. Sir Francis died and was buried in 1936, following his wife Caroline who had died the year before. Their first born son, Francis Dillon, who died of rheumatic fever in 1897 aged 15, was the first burial in the plot. There are also memorials to two other sons – Ernest Dillon, who died in 1929, had served in WW1 so has a Services headstone as well as a gravestone, and William Henry Dillon who died somewhere in France in 1917 serving with the English regiment the King Edwards Horse also has a memorial headstone. The youngest son – Cheviot Wellington – who also served with the King Edwards Horse was buried in the plot in 1960. The stones are in pretty good shape and the ironwork fence which surrounds the plot is a bit rusty but otherwise also in reasonable condition.
Sir Francis had a long and distinguished legal and political career. He was Mayor of Wellington in 1891, 1892, and 1896, and became the first NZ-born Prime Minister of New Zealand in 1925, albeit briefly. He is one of six Premiers/Prime Ministers who were buried or cremated at Karori Cemetery.
To find out more about Sir Francis check out his biography at http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2b16/bell-francis-henry-dillon
