NEW ZEALAND DISASTERS AND TRAGEDIES
MAKOHINE AND QUILLINAN FAMILY
MONDAY 13 NOVEMBER 1893
Near the Makohine Viaduct on State Highway One between Ohingaiti and Hunterville a sad tail emerges of a family almost wiped out during construction of the Main Trunk Railway Line.
Around 9 am on the morning of Monday 13 November 1893 Mrs Hannah QUILLINAN, the wife of Thomas QUILLINAN heard a loud cracking noise from the slope behind her house. At the same time her three children and their cousin swinging on a tree outside began to scream. Hannah rushed out of the house to see a huge slip making its way towards them all.
She ran towards the children but was she was struck by a falling tree and was buried under the avalanche of mud and debris. The children were also engulfed. The slip measured 6 chains wide and was 10 feet deep and covered the road, now State Highway One.
A later enquiry found that the slip was caused by the weight of the earth excavated from tunnels and cuttings on the railway works above the house. Compensation was claimed from the Railways Board for financial help for the remaining family.
Thomas QUILLINAN never fully recovered from the shock and his surviving child was brought up as an orphan in the Sacred Heart Convent, Wanganui. I understand that this child was later adopted by a Maori family in the area and was known as the Wee Pakeha. This later became WIPAKI, a well-known name in the Ohingaiti area.
The family were taken by train to Wanganui and are buried in the Catholic section of the Heads Road cemetery.
| QUILLINAN | Hannah | Wife of Thomas. In newspaper reports she is also named as Johannah |
| QUILLINAN | Hannah | Daughter of Thomas |
| QUILLINAN | Mary Jane (Popsy/Poppy) | Daughter of Matthew |
| QUILLINAN | Patrick | Son of Thomas. In newspaper reports he is named as John but is registered as Patrick. |
| QUILLINAN | Thomas Michael | Son of Thomas |
Noted in the Wanganui Library biographical index.
| QUILLINAN | Patrick | Born Ireland. Son of Michael | Died 5 May 1899 age 38yrs. Late of Makohine, Mangaonoha. |
And also in the Heads Road Cemetery, Wanganui.
| KENDRICK | Charles Alfred | Who met his death through a fall at the Makohine Viaduct 4 or 6 June 1900 aged 28 years. |
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