Earthquakes truly don’t play nice with old graveyards!
The side of the column that is facing downward is in the memory of William Rising Taylor who was a passenger on the Charlotte Jane – the first of the first four ships to arrive at Lyttelton in 1850. He was in the company of his parents Joseph and Charlotte being at the tender age of 5, and his sister Virginia was aged 7. Joseph was a stonemason and William grew up to be a builder, spending his life in Lyttelton.
Also listed as a passenger was a George Taylor, age 20 and he was a printer. It was noted that he was not a sibling to Virginia and William so not sure what his place in the family was.
William is buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch.
*photo taken by Annette Bulovic*
