Jane Stevenson Grierson

A notable figure in the history of Wairakei and other thermal regions in the North Island, Mrs. Jane Stevenson Grierson, has died at her home, Tatua Cottage, Wairakei, in her eighty-ninth year. Her life was bound up with the progress of the Auckland Province, for her first husband, Mr Robert Graham, was a pioneer and a one-time superintendent of the province. Mr. Graham is credited with having done more than anyone else to open up Rotorua and Wairakei to the general public as well as tourists. He died in 1885, and for several years from that date his wife managed the Hot Springs Hotel at Wairakei. She was hostess to many distinguished visitors and several Governors of New Zealand. After the sale of the Wairakei estate in 1918, Mrs Grierson, continued to live in Tatua Cottage opposite the hotel on the main road to Taupo. Source: Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 91, 19 April 1938.