History – Waipu Cemetery: Lives behind the headstones

Waipu Cemetery, situated at the mouth of the Waipū River and looking out to the Hen and Chickens, is a place of great beauty and serenity. It sits on land gifted to the community by Captain Duncan McKenzie in 1857 for the Highland Gaelic settlers who came to Waipū in September 1854 and in the years following.

Headstones, from the grand to the very modest, stretch out from the road up a slight hill to the riverbank. Behind every name and headstone lies the story of an individual and their unique life. Many historic cemeteries offer tours that explore the achievements and tragedies of those buried there and who, over centuries, have shaped the communities they lived in.

For a long time, it has been quite difficult to locate particular graves as the old cemetery maps were outdated and the marker posts for the various rows no longer existed. However, the Cemetery Trust Board, the sextons Karen and Mike Van Beek, together with Clive Craymer, have done a great job of remapping the cemetery, making tours much easier because graves can now be more readily located.

I am a genealogist at the Waipū Scottish Migration Museum and a direct descendant of Hector McKenzie. McKenzie oversaw the first boatload of settlers who came up the river past what would become the cemetery. I was asked by a Whangārei Writers’ Group to run a history tour of the cemetery in December last year. The tours have proved popular, and I have run three more since then.

So, who is likely to be mentioned in a cemetery tour? People with interesting stories, such as Flora Campbell McLennan, whose husband Farquhar missed the sailing of the Gertrude in 1856 and joined his wife the following year, only to be drowned five years later, leaving her a widow.

Catherine McDonald from Kauri drowned in December 1860 when a boat from the Heads overturned in the surf near the cemetery. The Rev Norman McLeod was rescued from the surf and lived for another five years. His wife Mary, who died in July 1857, is among the first to be buried in the cemetery and lies beside her husband.

As people walk around the graves, they read the headstones and notice unusual or sad facts, such as Norman Duncan Kempt, who was killed by lightning. But more often, there are just names and dates, which tell little about who the person was. For example, one grave belongs to Catherine Kitty “Slick” McLean, who died in 1950. A model of her house is a popular exhibit in the museum.

Tours tell the stories behind the inscriptions, and the Waipū Museum is happy to offer cemetery tours. Anyone who is interested is welcome to contact the museum to arrange a date.