John MacKillop
The eldest of the MacKillop sons, John was close to his sister, Mary and helped to provide for the MacKillop family. This desire to assist with financial security saw him cross the Tasman for the gold fields of New Zealand not long after the opening of the Penola School in 1866.
Unfortunately, he was not long in his new country when he fell from his horse and hit his head. It was thought that he would make a full recovery, as there were few external signs of injury. However, within the week he had died of a tetanus infection. The MacKillop family were devastated. Their beloved son and brother was dead at the age of 22 and buried far from home.
There is little written evidence that Mary sought to find John's grave during her time in New Zealand. The travel realities of the time would suggest she may have passed through the Christchurch area but she did not write home that she had visited her brother's grave. The headstone provided for John's grave was organised and paid for by his girl friend at the time. There was no record in congregational records of where the grave was situated. All that was known was that Mary MacKillop's brother John was buried in Christchurch.
Paper trails in local documents helped identify John MacKillop's grave at the Barbadoes Street Cemetery in 1990. Recently the Knights of the Southern Cross Christchurch Chapter have cleaned John MacKillop's headstone and attached a plaque noting his relationship to his famous sister, Saint Mary MacKillop.
The eldest of the MacKillop sons, John was close to his sister, Mary and helped to provide for the MacKillop family. This desire to assist with financial security saw him cross the Tasman for the gold fields of New Zealand not long after the opening of the Penola School in 1866.
Unfortunately, he was not long in his new country when he fell from his horse and hit his head. It was thought that he would make a full recovery, as there were few external signs of injury. However, within the week he had died of a tetanus infection. The MacKillop family were devastated. Their beloved son and brother was dead at the age of 22 and buried far from home.
There is little written evidence that Mary sought to find John's grave during her time in New Zealand. The travel realities of the time would suggest she may have passed through the Christchurch area but she did not write home that she had visited her brother's grave. The headstone provided for John's grave was organised and paid for by his girl friend at the time. There was no record in congregational records of where the grave was situated. All that was known was that Mary MacKillop's brother John was buried in Christchurch.
Paper trails in local documents helped identify John MacKillop's grave at the Barbadoes Street Cemetery in 1990. Recently the Knights of the Southern Cross Christchurch Chapter have cleaned John MacKillop's headstone and attached a plaque noting his relationship to his famous sister, Saint Mary MacKillop.
John MacKillop
The eldest of the MacKillop sons, John was close to his sister, Mary and helped to provide for the MacKillop family. This desire to assist with financial security saw him cross the Tasman for the gold fields of New Zealand not long after the opening of the Penola School in 1866.
Unfortunately, he was not long in his new country when he fell from his horse and hit his head. It was thought that he would make a full recovery, as there were few external signs of injury. However, within the week he had died of a tetanus infection. The MacKillop family were devastated. Their beloved son and brother was dead at the age of 22 and buried far from home.
There is little written evidence that Mary sought to find John's grave during her time in New Zealand. The travel realities of the time would suggest she may have passed through the Christchurch area but she did not write home that she had visited her brother's grave. The headstone provided for John's grave was organised and paid for by his girl friend at the time. There was no record in congregational records of where the grave was situated. All that was known was that Mary MacKillop's brother John was buried in Christchurch.
Paper trails in local documents helped identify John MacKillop's grave at the Barbadoes Street Cemetery in 1990. Recently the Knights of the Southern Cross Christchurch Chapter have cleaned John MacKillop's headstone and attached a plaque noting his relationship to his famous sister, Saint Mary MacKillop.
The eldest of the MacKillop sons, John was close to his sister, Mary and helped to provide for the MacKillop family. This desire to assist with financial security saw him cross the Tasman for the gold fields of New Zealand not long after the opening of the Penola School in 1866.
Unfortunately, he was not long in his new country when he fell from his horse and hit his head. It was thought that he would make a full recovery, as there were few external signs of injury. However, within the week he had died of a tetanus infection. The MacKillop family were devastated. Their beloved son and brother was dead at the age of 22 and buried far from home.
There is little written evidence that Mary sought to find John's grave during her time in New Zealand. The travel realities of the time would suggest she may have passed through the Christchurch area but she did not write home that she had visited her brother's grave. The headstone provided for John's grave was organised and paid for by his girl friend at the time. There was no record in congregational records of where the grave was situated. All that was known was that Mary MacKillop's brother John was buried in Christchurch.
Paper trails in local documents helped identify John MacKillop's grave at the Barbadoes Street Cemetery in 1990. Recently the Knights of the Southern Cross Christchurch Chapter have cleaned John MacKillop's headstone and attached a plaque noting his relationship to his famous sister, Saint Mary MacKillop.
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