Honouring Thomas Heath
An interest in his family’s history led an Auckland man to commission a $2310 headstone for his great-great grandfather’s grave in Duntroon, Waitaki.
Corporate lawyer Liam Stoneley started researching his family tree about three years ago and discovered his ancestor Thomas Heath, the first Heath immigrant, was buried without recognition in 1886 at the Duntroon Cemetery.
In response Stoneley set up a Givealittle page to raise as much as he can towards the headstone.
As of yesterday, $2155 had been donated, with descendants invited to attend an unveiling of the headstone at the cemetery on January 31, on the 135th anniversary of Thomas’ death.
‘‘He died [of dysentery] at the age of 46. There was no headstone because the family couldn’t afford one,’’ Stoneley said.
Heath was born in Staffordshire, England, in 1840, and emigrated to New Zealand in 1866.
He married Emma SaundersLoder (Ka¯ ti Huirapa, Nga¯ i Tahu) five years later, and they had five children.
His descendants are known as the ‘‘Heath wha¯nau’’ and whakapapa to Waihao, Moeraki and Puketeraki along the South Canterbury/North Otago coast through Emma, Stoneley said.
An article in The Oamaru Mail on February 5, 1886, says Heath died at Mr Harris’ hotel in Duntroon, and friends banded together and raised funds to give to Emma to pay for the funeral and ‘‘other incidental’’ expenses.
Stoneley said he was ‘‘really interested’’ in history and found that Emma had also been buried without a headstone years later, behind the marae. His project for 2021 will be to put a headstone on her grave.
‘‘I want to create something lasting so descendants can remember their ancestors in the future.’’
The January 31 unveiling will begin at 11am.