Jeremiah Rodgers

Researcher: Ursula McSoriley

Jeremiah Rodgers (born c.1826) was an Irish Catholic ‘native of County Clare’. He went first to Melbourne, Australia, where he married Ellen Casey of the same county. They came to New Zealand between 1860 and 1864 with their first child. Jeremiah chased gold throughout Central Otago before moving to Dunedin. In 1883 he was declared bankrupt as a result of failed mining endeavours.

Jeremiah died in 1896 aged 70, though the date on his grave states 1897. He is buried in the Catholic section with his wife Ellen and two of his 11 children. The headstone also memorialises his youngest son who was killed at Gallipoli. The headstone was constructed by Carlo Bergamini, a Catholic stonemason of Italian origins.

The stone features Christian imagery such as the cross with the wreath (victory in death) and an inscription from Psalms 30.

Nelson Thompson

Researcher: Peita Ferens-Green

Nelson Thompson arrived in New Zealand in 1861 from Ballyclander, Downpatrick County Downs (sic), Ireland. An ex-goldminer, he became a contractor in Arrowtown where he lived with his wife and children. In 1893 Thompson was suffering from an incurable sore throat and traveled to Dunedin for medical attention. The day before his appointment, however, Thompson was found with his arms wrapped around piles in the Dunedin Harbour and his head grazing the water’s surface. He was not long dead. Tied to a wharf shed with his bootlace was his hat and an envelope which revealed his identity and the hotel he was staying at (The Gridiron). An inquest into his death ruled that Nelson Thompson drowned himself whilst temporarily insane. 

Thompson’s gravestone, featuring his Irish origins, was erected by William McKibbin ‘as a tribute of respect’. It is located towards the bottom of the cemetery beneath the trees, in a fairly dark area of the Anglican section. The presence of ivy engraved on a monument or grave stone denotes fidelity, attachment, and undying affection.