History of Knox Church Dunedin/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III.
In Memoriam: Captain William Cargill—Mrs Jessie Stuart—Mr C. H. Kettle.
IT has already been stated that Captain Cargill's lamented death (Aug. 1860) occurred shortly before the day fixed for his induction as one of the elders of Knox Church. It is worthy of notice that he was a direct lineal descendant of Donald Cargill, the celebrated covenanting minister, who, after having been hunted for a time from place to place, and after many hair-breadth 'scapes during the persecution in Scotland in the reign of Charles II., was at length taken and condemned to suffer martyrdom at the Grassmarket, Edinburgh, in July, 1681.
William Cargill was born at Edinburgh in August, 1784, and was educated at the High School of that city. When a youth he enjoyed for a time the privilege of receiving private tuition from the eminent Dr Thomas Chalmers, with whom he afterwards maintained an affectionate friendship. At the age of eighteen he entered the army. He saw much active service in India, and afterwards in the Spanish Peninsular war, where he acquitted himself with much bravery and distinction, and was in due course promoted to the rank of captain. He received the Peninsular medal with seven clasps in consideration of his distinguished conduct in seven famous battles in which he had been engaged. These were the battles of Busaco, Fuentes de Onoro, Vitoria, Nivelle, Nive, Orthez, and Toulouse. He was on his way with his regiment to join the British forces under Wellington, after Napoleon's return from Elba, but, his ship being detained by unfavourable weather at sea, the battle of Waterloo had been fought before his regiment could reach its destination.
Captain Cargill retired from the army in 1821. For a time it was his wish to emigrate to Canada, but from this he was dissuaded by his friends. He occupied himself in various civil pursuits in the Home Country until 1844, when his services were secured by the New Zealand Company of London, as organising agent for the projected Scotch settlement of Otago. His practical wisdom and shrewdness enabled him to place the necessary preliminary arrangements on a satisfactory basis; and in November, 1847, he left Britain with the first band of Otago colonists in the ship "John Wychffe," and, as already mentioned, reached Port Chalmers on March 23, 1848. Here he filled the position of agent for the New Zealand Company, and of representative of the Otago Association till the dissolution of the Company in 1850. He continued, however, to administer the affairs of the settlement for a time, and held the office of Commissioner of Crown Lands until his services were dispensed with by Governor Sir George Grey. On the coming into operation of the Constitution Act of 1853, the settlers of Otago expressed their approval of his past conduct, and their confidence in his ability and wisdom, by unanimously electing him as the first Superintendent of the Province in September, 1853. In December of the same year he was chosen to be a Member of the House of Representatives, and attended the meetings of the General Assembly at Auckland in the sessions of 1856 and 1858. He was re-elected Superintendent of Otago in November, 1855, and held office until January, 1860.
After his retirement from the office of Superintendent, Captain Cargill lived in comparative seclusion, taking no part in public affairs, but still looking on with interest, and carefully noting the prosperity and progress around him, happy in the bosom of his family, and satisfied that his mission on earth was accomplished. He took a warm interest in the formation of Knox Church congregation, and attended its public services till within a fortnight of his death. The following description of Captain Cargill is taken from The Otago Witness of August 11, 1860:—"He was somewhat under the middle size, being 5 feet 5 inches in height, strongly made, and with a strong constitution. His grey hair, lofty forehead, and breadth of brow gave him a venerable and intellectual appearance. His habits were abstemious, and he was an early riser. He usually rose between 4 and 5 o'clock, and he was up to the last, and from his early youth, a great reader. There was therefore no subject of general interest upon which he was not well informed. He was social, and extremely considerate of the feelings of others. His company was, to those intimate with him, most agreeable. His political views were fixed upon principles, and were therefore unchangeable. He pursued the course which he deemed right, without swerving to the right or the left, and no earthly consideration could make him deviate from the right line."
The following resolution with reference to Captain Cargill's decease was passed by Knox Church Session at its first meeting, August, 11, 1860:—"The Session feel it their duty to record their humble acquiescence in the will of the Divine Head of the Church in calling away from the service of the Church militant Captain William Cargill, formerly an elder in connection with the First Church, Dunedin, who died after an illness of eight days, on the 6th instant. He attended at this church since it was opened, and was duly called to the eldership by the votes of the congregation. His edict was served and no objections lodged, but he was called away before his induction to the office. He was much esteemed as a man and as a Christian, and his loss is much regretted by this church, as well as by the community."
Captain Cargill is now represented in Knox Church Session by his son, Mr E. B. Cargill, who has ever manifested a warm and intelligent interest in the welfare not only of the congregation, but also in all the schemes and institutions of the Church of Otago and Southland. Among other posts of public usefulness, he has held for a number of years the offices of joint convener of the Synod's Theological College Committee, and member of the Council of the University of Otago.
Scarcely had the minister with the aid of his office-bearers succeeded in bringing the various congregational agencies into fair working order, when he was overtaken by a sore and grievous trial in being called on without warning to part from his amiable partner in life, who, at the comparatively early age of thirty-two years, was suddenly removed from her family and her work on earth to the home above, where her thoughts had for many years ever delighted to dwell. This most sad event occurred on April 16, 1862, to the unspeakable loss of her husband, her children, the congregation, and indeed of the general community.
Jessie Robertson was born at Windsor, England, in 1830, and was educated partly under her father, who held for some time the headmastership of the chief primary school in the Royal Borough, and the office of Diocesan Inspector of Schools. Mr Stuart, during his residence in the neighbourhood of Windsor, became acquainted with Miss Robertson; and when he had been settled in his ministerial charge at Falstone for about a year, he returned to the south and was united to her in marriage in Slough Church, in July, 1850. The next nine years were spent by the young couple in the Presbyterian Manse of Falstone, where their three sons—William, Alexander, and Donald—were born. While giving her chief attention to her family and household, the claims of religion and her neighbours were not overlooked by Mrs Stuart, who fulfilled in an eminently exemplary manner the duties appertaining to her position as the wife of a country clergyman.
As already stated Mr and Mrs Stuart and their children reached Dunedin early in January, 1860, and after a time were settled in Knox Church Manse. Mrs Stuart's many excellent qualities, her good example, and her earnest desire to prove useful, soon gained for her the esteem and confidence of the members of the congregation and of the general community, and to all appearance she seemed destined, like her husband, to become a great power for good. Great were the grief and disappointment when in little more than two years after her arrival in Dunedin she was called away by the inscrutable decree of her Heavenly Father. The poignant grief that wrung the heart of her bereaved husband called forth expressions of the deepest sympathy from the entire community. The Provincial Council, then in session, on being informed of Mrs Stuart's death, resolved, out of respect to her memory, to adjourn till after the funeral.
Mrs Stuart's remains were conveyed to their last resting-place on Saturday, April 19th. It was stated by the Otago Daily Times that a very large number of the inhabitants testified their respect for the deceased by forming part of the funeral cortege, which numbered fully 150 persons, and that many of the shops and even some of the hotels were closed on the occasion. Mr Stuart and his eldest son were accompanied by the venerable Dr Burns, and among those who followed were the Rev. E. G. Edwards; a number of clergymen of the Presbyterian and Wesleyan churches; Sir John Richardson (Superintendent of the Province); members of the Provincial Council; and Messrs Cutten, Hepburn, Dick, Cargill, Gillies, Reynolds, McGlashan, Paterson, Hislop, &c. The service at the grave was conducted by the Rev. Mr Will.
The Session of Knox Church expressed their feelings regarding this sorrowful event in the following resolution:—"The Session record their deep sympathy with their minister in the late bereavement 
KNOX CHURCH MANSE.
with which he has been visited in the death of Mrs Stuart. They feel that in this dispensation of Divine Providence the congregation and the whole community have sustained a great loss. Her deep-toned piety and exemplary conduct, both in her sphere as the minister's wife and as a Sabbath School teacher, endeared her to all God's people, and her amiable manners and consistent Christian character secured to her the respect of all who knew her." Some years afterwards the minister presented to the church two communion cups as a memorial of his late wife, and the Session cordially accepted the gift.
A neatly designed marble tablet, let into the wall of the new church at the right hand side of the pulpit platform, bears the following inscription:—
TO THE MEMORY OF
JESSIE,
THE BELOVED WIFE OF THE
REV. D. M. STUART. D.D.,
WHO DIED AT THE MANSE,
16TH APRIL, 1862.
AGED 32 YEARS.
"BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART,
FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD."
MATT. V. 8.
ERECTED BY THE LADIES OF THE
CONGREGATION.
Within two months of Mrs Stuart's removal, the congregation and the community sustained another great loss in the lamented death of Mr C. H. Kettle, which took place on June 5, 1862. He had taken an active and prominent part in public affairs for a number of years; he was one of the first-appointed deacons of Knox Church, and had been chosen a member of the Session shortly before his death.
Charles Henry Kettle was born at Dover, England, on April 6, 1821. In his youth he received a liberal education, and having adopted the profession of land surveyor, he emigrated to New Zealand, and entered the service of the New Zealand Company at Wellington shortly after the foundation of that settlement. He was then quite a youth, and was much esteemed by all who knew him for his steadiness of principle and correctness of behaviour. He remained attached to the Survey Staff at Wellington till 1844, when he visited England, and there came into contact with some of the leading men of the New Zealand Company. This led to his being engaged with Captain Cargill in lajdng the foundation of the Otago settlement, of which he was appointed Principal Surveyor. In all his undertakings Mr Kettle was conscientiously painstaking, and gained for himself the reputation of being an eminently useful public officer. It was generally acknowledged that his survey of the Otago Block was accomplished with masterly precision.
Mr Kettle held the office of Chief Surveyor of Otago under the New Zealand Company until its dissolution in 1852, and was then appointed Government Surveyor by Governor Sir George Grey. He soon resigned this position, and retired in 1853 to a property he had acquired at Kaihiku, in the Clutha district, where he engaged in pastoral pursuits for some years. In 1860 he leased his farm and again took up his residence at Littlebourne in the immediate suburbs of Dunedin. He occasionally practised his profession of surveyor, and in 1861 he was appointed Provincial Auditor of Otago. He was about the same time chosen to represent the district of Bruce in the General Assembly.
While performing his official duties with most scrupulous fidelity, Mr Kettle found time to take a hearty and active interest in every project that had for its object the promotion of the best interests of his fellow settlers; in fact, his whole life was a distinct embodiment of practical Christianity. He was one of the originators of the Dunedin Young Men's Christian Association, and up to the time of his death did much to promote its usefulness and success. He particularly interested himself in the success of the Maori Mission, to which he rendered valuable service. He took a warm and active interest in Knox Church congregation, and in the success of its various agencies. Although possessed of considerable force of character, yet he was naturally of a quiet and retiring disposition. It was in the discharge of social duties and in the amenities of private life that his genuine Christian spirit and his many excellent qualities most conspicuously manifested themselves. His was a most lovable character, and his memory is still affectionately cherished by his surviving friends who knew his worth and deplored his early death.[1]
The Session of Knox Cluirch adopted the following minute with reference to Mr Kettle's death:—"The Session record the death of Charles Henry Kettle, which took place on the oth inst., at the age of 41 years. He died of gastric fever, leaving a widow and nine children, with whom the Session deeply sympathise. They deplore the loss to his family and this church by his removal from amongst them when just entering on his duties as an elder; but at the same time they rejoice that they can with confidence indulge the hope that what has been our loss has been gain to him, and this hope they ground on his strongly expressed faith in Jesus Christ as his only hope, and on his consistent walk and conversation for many years."
- ↑ The minister sat up with Mr Kettle during his last night on earth. His medical attendant had left special instructions that the patient was to be kept in the horizontal position. About 1 o'clock, a.m., he looked at him, and noticing his eagerness for the removal of the tlannel band over his chest, the minister took his knife and severed it. The dear patient, lifting himself into a sitting posture, threw his arms around his neck, then resumed the recumbent position, and lay quietly till he passed away in the afternoon.—D.M.S.