Brigid was the widow of a shoemaker, James O’Grady, from Tipperary in Ireland. Her name was spelt the old way, and sometimes the more modern ‘Bridget’ through her life.

Brigid was in her thirties when James died, and she came to New Zealand on the Victory in 1884 as an assisted immigrant with her children, Bridget and James. On the outside of the trunk you can faintly read ‘Bgt O’Grady, Victory, Wanted on Voyage’. This means they kept the trunk with them for the long trip to New Zealand. Until recently, our family thought Bridget Junior had come alone to work as a servant.

The little family landed at Napier, lived at Woodville for about a year then moved south to Pahiatua where Brigid secured a 20-acre leasehold from her Majesty the Queen on a 999-year lease on the corner of what is now Pahiatua-Pongaroa and Middle Roads.

Their farm was in the Pahiatua Special Village Settlement run by the Government. The original people in the area were Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne ki Te Tonga.

Brigid and her children began farming, and when her boy James grew a little older he secured his own 100-acre holding not far away at Mt Cerberus. We don’t know why, but by the late 1800s he was back at Pahiatua having traded back the Mt Cerberus holding. He then purchased the leasehold on 20 acres across Middle Rd from Brigid’s farm, so the two farms were worked together (the rule at the time was you could only have one 20-acre leasehold to your name and married men were preferred).

Brigid’s daughter Bridget married William Kelly from Portarlington, County Laoise, Ireland, in 1891 at St Bridget’s Church in Pahiatua and they all worked the farms together.

In 1903 James, who was witness at Bridget and William’s wedding, and whose name is scrawled on the bottom inside of the trunk, was violent towards his mother and sister, and his brother-in-law William reported his behaviour to the police. He was declared insane and spent the rest of his life in the asylum system, largely at Porirua. He looked after the pigs for the hospital. An embroidery with his name on it still lives in the family bible.

William died in 1920 and his niece Lizzie Kelly came from the family home in Portarlington to help on the farm. She stayed the rest of her life. She had a brother Jack who came to New Zealand in 1926 and another brother Mick, who settled at Petone. Jack and Mick had kids who stayed at the farm, but Bridget and William, and later Lizzie and Colin had no kids of their own.

Brigid Senior died in 1922 and Bridget Junior took over the running of the farm. She died in 1940, and Lizzie married Colin Dron from down the road, and they ran the farm together until she died; Colin was younger than her, and continued to run the farm until he too died about 20 years later. By this time the government had converted the leasehold and Colin owned the farm outright at the time of his death. The family loved cars, and Lizzie drove her Aunty around in great style, they even did a trip around the Central North Island with Colin and his mother Annie Dron. Colin also loved cars, and one of them has been done up and still lives in the district.

Another neighbouring family, the Vials, were close friends and helped Lizzie and Colin on the farm. The Vials eventually inherited it, and still live there today. The Vials were kind enough to keep the trunk and photos after Colin Dron had died and gave them to the Kelly family when they visited out of the blue – we are all very grateful to Graeme Vial and his wife for their welcome and kindness, and to Aunty Carole (one of the kids who stayed on the farm) and her niece Janine and daughter Paola for knocking on the door of the old farmhouse.

William and Brigid’s great grand nephews and nieces including Carole (Lizzie’s brothers’ children and grandchildren) spent their holidays on the farm and loved it, remembering Lizzie’s strong Irish accent, and the cream that came fresh from the cows. There were also pigs on the farm which were sometimes killed for food and sheep. There was a draught horse which helped with various tasks and chores, and Lizzie also drove the tractor as needed. There were possums in the macrocarpas and frogs over the road in ‘Jim’s Field’.

The nieces and nephews of Brigid and her kin and their children and grandchildren from the O’Greevy and Kelly families still visit the family grave at Mangatainoka where Brigid O’Grady, James O’Grady, and Wiliam O’Grady are buried (it’s a big Irish Catholic cross, hard to miss). Lizzie and Colin Dron lie not far away, and Annie is also in the same graveyard.

Thank you to Gilda McKnight and the Pahiatua Museum for becoming kaitiaki for our family story through this trunk.

Lizzie Dron when she first came to the Pahiatua Farm with Bridget Kelly (née O’Grady), 1920s.

Lizzie, Annie Dron and Bridget Kelly set out on an adventure, probably 1930s.

Lizzie (née Kelly) and Colin Dron in town, probably Palmerston North, 1940s (?).

By Emma-Jean Kelly – Lizzie’s great-niece, with thanks to Janine Hammer, Carole Raffinetti and John Kelly for comments.

If you knew our family at Pahiatua or have stories to share, please comment.