linwoodcemetery.org.nz

This, and the fact that James

Lizzie married market gardener and Manchester Street land owner George

The

The amusing farce of ‘The middy ashore’ was the last piece played, Mr.

Gapes’ cousin, one of those ladies who acquired property through marriage, and who, through her subsequent marriages, enriched other men. She would appear to belong to medieval Europe rather than Victorian Christchurch. Westwood was a governess. At 33 she planned to emigrate on the Burmah. Alterations were made to accommodate ‘beautiful breeding stock, horses and cattle, said to be larger than any previous importation’. Gapes and other family members were about to leave on the Regina, led her to join her relatives. Another Burmah passenger, future writer Samuel Butler, transferred to the Roman emperor. The Burmah was to sink with all on board. Allen in 1860. In 1865 she sang in the amateur performance for the Benevolent Fund of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association. The Lyttelton times commented: ‘Then there was the duet: “What are the wild waves saying?”’ nicely sung by Mrs. Allen and Miss Thompkins’. Lyttelton times stated: Cooper taking the part of the middy, Mrs.Hall that of his artful old aunt, and Messrs. Richardson and Coker those of the dandy suitor and Tom Cringle. Linwood Cemetery 2006

George

47Allen died in 1871. In 1872 Lizzie married John Etherden Coker. With Lizzie’s wealth, Coker, hitherto a man of business aspirations and few achievements, was able to build and become ‘mine host’ of Coker’s Hotel. Coker died in 1894, and in 1896 Lizzie married the much younger Frank James Hurd. It is appropriate that Lizzie is buried with her second husband, the man whom she helped gain an international reputation as a hotel-keeper.