Christian Kelly

• The aunt of convicted baby killer 'Minnie Dean' whom Minnie stayed with when she arrived in New Zealand.
• To New Zealand on board the 'Phillip Liang' in 1848. See: http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlists/philiplaing.html

Obituary: A pilgrimage of eighty-one years came to a peaceful end on Monday evening, when Mrs Christina Kelly, the first European woman to set foot on Southland's soil, passed away. "Granny" Kelly, as she was affectionately called by a wide circle of acquaintances, landed in New Zealand on the 15th of April, 1848, from the good ship Philip Laing, which, commanded by the late Capt. Elles, brought to Otago a band of immigrants, members of the Free Kirk of Scotland, who, with the passengers by the John Wickliff, which arrived on the 23rd of March of the same year, were the pioneers of the Otago settlement. Mrs Kelly had aa a fellow passenger the late Dr. Burns, and many another worthy who has long since embarked on the last great voyage. The subject of these lines was then the wife of Mr D. Niven, who died a few months after their arrival from the effects of an accident which befell him while working in the bush. In 1850 his widow married Mr John Kelly, and with him left for the island of Ruapuke, in the Foveaux Straits, then thickly populated by Maoris. The only other Europeans on the island at that time were the Rev. Mr Wohlers and his wife and Mr Honore, missionaries. In 1855 Mr and Mrs Kelly came to the Bluff, and subsequently they travelled over the swampy expanse between the port and Invercargill in order to secure better grazing ground for their stock. They decided that the site of our town would suit them well, and accordingly settled down here, but ere long the surveyor and his chain appeared on the scene, and the pioneer couple had to "move on." They then took up an allotment in Seaward Bush, now the site of the township of Enwood, and there, in 1857, Mr Kelly died. With her children, Mrs Kelly soon after removed to Ythan street, where she led a cheerful and contented, and till a few weeks ago, comparatively active life. She is survived by a son and daughter by her first marriage and one son by her second, namely, Mr D. Niven, Mrs W. J. West, and Mr J. Kelly, and is survived by 31 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren. She had a wonderfully good memory for the birthdays of the youngsters, and they never passed unmarked so far as she was concerned. Although she underwent her full share of the hardships incidental to life in the colony when not only railways but roads were unknown, she enjoyed very good health until recently, and died not so much from any positive disease as from gradual decay of physical powers. The old lady lived to see great changes in the country — a peaceful revolution, in fact — and when she foregathered with an old identity many were the interesting reminiscences given of bygone times, when vessels were delayed through stress of weather and supplies of food ran short, when neighbours were few and far between, and valued accordingly, and when the conditions of life generally were such as to call forth the resource, courage, and self-reliance of the brave old pioneers whose ranks the great Scythe Bearer is thinning so quickly. The funeral of the late Mrs Kelly takes place on Friday.