Karori and Local History
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Futuna Chapel named as 21st most beautiful building in the world
- Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust
- Futuna Chapel has been honoured by Time Out magazine as the 21st most beautiful building in the world alongside the Taj Mahal and La Sagrada Familia. Featured in the global publication’s list, which showcases stunning architecture across 59 countries and 333 cities, Futuna Chapel is the only New Zealand building to be named. Its recognition […]
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Futuna Chapel, Futuna Close, Karori, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Breathing new life into an architectural treasure
- Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust
- Dr Peter Parkes shares his personal account of the work needed to reinstate Futuna Chapel to its former glory. Read Peter’s write up in Architecture Now magazine.
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Futuna Chapel, Futuna Close, Karori, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Open Sundays 2026
- Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust
- Following the reopening of the Chapel on Saturday 21 March, the series of Open Sundays will begin again from Easter Sunday, 5 April, 11am-3pm. Visitors to the Chapel can now view the restored roof with its specially crafted Italian porcelain tiles and copper edging as well as experience the charm of the interior with its […]
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Colours of Futuna 2026
- Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust
- The Colours of Futuna concert series is back for 2026 with a stunning line up of exceptional musicians performing in the newly restored Futuna Chapel. Held from 12 April – 5 July this year, Futuna Chapel will host 12 concerts from a diverse collection of musicians including well-known composer and teacher Gary Wilby, harpist Michelle […]
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Futuna Chapel, Futuna Close, Karori, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Futuna Chapel Reopens After Major Restoration
- Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust
- Photo credit: Paul McCredie
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Futuna Chapel, Futuna Close, Karori, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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William Haydn Flood | Musician
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- As his middle name suggests, William came from an enthusiastic musical family. His father, Joseph was a musician in Honiton, Devon. William followed his father and brothers in this profession...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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George William MacNamara (Sam) Barford
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- George died in 1913 and was buried in the Church of England 2 section. On 22nd September 1916, the Town Clerk received a letter from his widow asking if the...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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‘Distressing Mistake’
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- ‘A distressing happening at Karori cemetery last Saturday when the bodies of two women who had died that week in the Wellington Hospital were discovered by the relatives to have...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Margaret French aka Mrs Death
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Margaret – Mrs Frued or Freude or Mrs French On 3rd December 1892, a woman arrived in Wellington at the Te Aro Hotel named Margaret. She had a note of...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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John Alvin LeBlanc 1918-1943
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- John was one of many US Soldiers that found themselves on shore in New Zealand during World War 2. Between June 1942 and mid 1944 there were between 15,000 –...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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‘Te Whaea o te Katoa’
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Janet Munro was born on 31 January 1883 in Glasgow, to Mary McLean, a housekeeper, and William Munro, an iron foundry warehouseman. She was educated in Glasgow and became a...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Captain Butt
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Richard Groombridge Butt was born on June 2, 1832, in St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, to Marie (Mary) Cabot (Smith) and Richard Butt. He travelled to New Zealand, via Brisbane,...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Winifred Jean Duncan
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- While our Gum Gully volunteers were weeding the cemetery next to Ian Galloway Park, Russell made a remarkable discovery among the tradescantia: the headstone of Winifred Duncan. The headstone appears...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Special General Meeting & Speaker – March 2026
- Karori Historical Society
- Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 3 March 2026 at St Ninian’s, Newcombe Crescent, Karori at 7pm. Members and friends welcome. The meeting on 3 March will be in two parts: At 7pm, we are holding a Special General Meeting to approve changes to our constitution and the decision to reregister in order to meet […]
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Karori, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Annual Report 2025
- Friends of Futuna Charitable Trust
- We are delighted to share with you our 2025 Annual Report which details the many wonderful achievements of the Futuna Chapel Trust last year including the unforgettable experience of Francis Kéré’s presentations throughout the motu.
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Futuna Chapel, Futuna Close, Karori, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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News release – waitangi day – open day
- Wrights Hill Fortress
- FOR IMMEDIATE USE – JAN / FEB 2026WAITANGI DAY– OPEN DAYFRIDAY 6TH FEB, 10AM- 4PM Wellington’s historic Wrights Hill Fortress in Karori will be open for public inspection again on Waitangi Day, Friday, February 6th.
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Wright's Hill Fortress, Wrights Hill Road, Karori, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Captain William Kelly | Master Mariner
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- As part of our gardening project, Russell tackled the Kelly plot and over several days persevering, removed the enormous flax that had dwarfed the beautiful headstone. The plot interested Russell...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Karori Ghosts
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- ‘Cemetery Reported to be Haunted’ We found this article from July 1939.
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Working Bee Find
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- This beautiful object was found by one of our volunteers at our October 2025 Working Bee in Gum Gully. Our volunteer very carefully cleaned the floral tribute as well.
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Marion Martin
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- ‘Mrs Martin was one of the oldest residents in Wellington, and was highly esteemed for her plain unostentatious kindness of disposition’. Marion Baird was born in Fountainhall, a hamlet southeast...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Jacob William Heberley (Hākopa Hēperi) | Carver
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Jacob was the sixth child of James ‘Worser’ Heberley and his wife Te Wai (also known as Māta Te Naihi), of the Puketapu people of Te Āti Awa. James and...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Thomas Ward | Engineer & Surveyor 1849-1934
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Thomas was born in Oxford, England and trained as an engineer, working on the Great Northern Railway and at University College, London. He came to New Zealand in 1873 and...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Walter Joseph and Phoebe Elizabeth Lawrence
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Walter Joseph Lawrence was born in Camberwell, London in 1878[i] and Phoebe Elizabeth Thornton[ii] in St Saviour, London in 1881. The couple married in London in 1906[iii] before immigrating to...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Sarah Jane Kirk | temperance leader, suffragist and human rights activist
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Sarah Jane Mattocks was born in 1829 in Warwickshire, England. She worked as a silk marker before marrying Thomas Kirk, a bookkeeper on Christmas Day, 1850. In 1862, the Kirk...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Services Section | Photo Find
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- WCC Archives sought our help to identify the location and occasion of this photo: It is interesting to note that there were so many women in the photo, which made...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Thomas Kirk | botanist
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Thomas grew up in a household where botany was a common interest. His father George was a nurseryman and his mother Sarah (born West) was both a nurserywoman and a...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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William Henry Willway | The Children’s Friend
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- William was born in 1823 in Bristol, England. His father was a silk dyer, but by age 15, William was working as a clerk. On Christmas Day 1849, he married...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Compton Family
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Mary Martha Whiting was born in 1854 in Tasmania and came to New Zealand with her family at a young age. She was the third child of thirteen siblings. Her...
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Henry Mitchell | Founder of Mitchelltown
- Friends of Karori Cemetery
- Henry arrived in Wellington as an 8-year-old child and died in 1913, aged 80. He came out from England with his parents, brothers and sisters on the ‘Gertrude’ in 1841....
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Karori Cemetery, Northland, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Last meeting for 2025 – 16 December 2025
- Karori Historical Society
- Our last public meeting for 2025 will be held on Tuesday 16 December 2025 at St Ninian’s, Newcombe Crescent, Karori at 7.30 pm. Members and friends welcome. South with Shackleton and Endurance, 1914-1917 Join us for a talk by Graeme Jupp who is sharing his deep knowledge of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914–1917). His interest […]
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Karori, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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