ASKEW, George Herbert
Born 1880, died 15 November 1918; buried 17 November 1918; age 38
George Herbert ASKEW, known as Herbert, was born in New Zealand to Eleanor and Aaron Askew (from Lincolnshire, England) who farmed at Midhurst close to Stratford in Taranaki. He was their first son of three; there were also five sisters.
Herbert started labouring and bush felling before he took up carpentry. In 1902 he married Catherleen (sometimes written as Kathleen, Cathleen or Catherine) Margaret (sometimes transcribed as Tongerest) FROST in Nelson (born on Tonga Island, Tasman Bay in 1883 [1]). Their first child was a daughter born in 1903, Claris Christina Askew. She was followed by three sons: Reginald Charles Herbert, born 1905; Stanley William, born 1907; and Robert Cecil, born 1912.
By 1905/06 Herbert had taken his family back to Taranaki. The Taranaki Herald of 3 April 1909 reported Herbert Askew as having been seriously ill. With his wife Kathleen, he enjoyed contributing to the entertainment for dance and card parties held in the district. One such event in Midhurst’s Denbigh Road, is reported in the Taranaki Herald of 5 August 1910 to which Mr and Mrs Herbert Askew ‘contributed a very amusing dialogue’.
Herbert appeared on the 1911 electoral roll in Stratford as a carpenter. The following year both Herbert’s father, Aaron and his mother, Eleanor died, leaving each of their eight named children a bequest.
When Herbert became ill with influenza and pneumonia he and Cathleen were living at Broomhedge Street, off Adelaide Road. It is not known why he and Cathleen were living in Wellington and whether their family was with them. He was taken to the Sydney Street Temporary Hospital where he died of pneumonia on 15 November 1918, aged 38. Herbert was buried 2 days later in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery. Public Health paid the standard grant of £7 to assist with his burial costs.
By 1919 Herbert’s widow was living at 85 Hanson Street in Newtown. In 1924 she married again, to Roland LOBB who had served in WWI and been seriously ill with influenza in October 1918 in the UK. Roland and Herbert seem to have been friends as there is a reference on Roland’s military personnel file to an H. Askew who was to be contacted ‘in the case of necessity’ when Roland was hospitalised at Featherston Camp in June 1917.
Roland and Catherine had a son, John Canberra Lobb, born in 1927, but it is not known whether there were other children of the marriage. When Catherine died in 1937 she was interred with Herbert at Karori Cemetery, and Roland paid for the burial plot. When Roland died in 1976 he was cremated at Karori. In his Will he left instructions to apply an appropriately inscribed marble headstone and a concrete kerb around the grave to be funded from his estate. He left various bequests to the step children and one to the Assembly of God in Lower Hutt as well as to Underground Evangelism Inc. [2] for the Martyrs relief fund.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 50 E
Sources:
[1] Tonga Island is a small (0.15 km2) island now within the Abel Tasman National Park, about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) off Onetahuti Beach. The island has a flourishing fur seal colony, and is surrounded by the Tonga Island Marine Reserve, which was inaugurated in 1993. The island is accessible by water taxi or kayak and visible from the Abel Tasman Coast Track.
[2] Underground Evangelism was founded in 1960 to minister to pastors living under the atheism and persecution behind the Iron Curtain, and was smuggling bibles across borders. The group now operates as Mission Without Borders.
Born 1880, died 15 November 1918; buried 17 November 1918; age 38
George Herbert ASKEW, known as Herbert, was born in New Zealand to Eleanor and Aaron Askew (from Lincolnshire, England) who farmed at Midhurst close to Stratford in Taranaki. He was their first son of three; there were also five sisters.
Herbert started labouring and bush felling before he took up carpentry. In 1902 he married Catherleen (sometimes written as Kathleen, Cathleen or Catherine) Margaret (sometimes transcribed as Tongerest) FROST in Nelson (born on Tonga Island, Tasman Bay in 1883 [1]). Their first child was a daughter born in 1903, Claris Christina Askew. She was followed by three sons: Reginald Charles Herbert, born 1905; Stanley William, born 1907; and Robert Cecil, born 1912.
By 1905/06 Herbert had taken his family back to Taranaki. The Taranaki Herald of 3 April 1909 reported Herbert Askew as having been seriously ill. With his wife Kathleen, he enjoyed contributing to the entertainment for dance and card parties held in the district. One such event in Midhurst’s Denbigh Road, is reported in the Taranaki Herald of 5 August 1910 to which Mr and Mrs Herbert Askew ‘contributed a very amusing dialogue’.
Herbert appeared on the 1911 electoral roll in Stratford as a carpenter. The following year both Herbert’s father, Aaron and his mother, Eleanor died, leaving each of their eight named children a bequest.
When Herbert became ill with influenza and pneumonia he and Cathleen were living at Broomhedge Street, off Adelaide Road. It is not known why he and Cathleen were living in Wellington and whether their family was with them. He was taken to the Sydney Street Temporary Hospital where he died of pneumonia on 15 November 1918, aged 38. Herbert was buried 2 days later in the Anglican section of Karori Cemetery. Public Health paid the standard grant of £7 to assist with his burial costs.
By 1919 Herbert’s widow was living at 85 Hanson Street in Newtown. In 1924 she married again, to Roland LOBB who had served in WWI and been seriously ill with influenza in October 1918 in the UK. Roland and Herbert seem to have been friends as there is a reference on Roland’s military personnel file to an H. Askew who was to be contacted ‘in the case of necessity’ when Roland was hospitalised at Featherston Camp in June 1917.
Roland and Catherine had a son, John Canberra Lobb, born in 1927, but it is not known whether there were other children of the marriage. When Catherine died in 1937 she was interred with Herbert at Karori Cemetery, and Roland paid for the burial plot. When Roland died in 1976 he was cremated at Karori. In his Will he left instructions to apply an appropriately inscribed marble headstone and a concrete kerb around the grave to be funded from his estate. He left various bequests to the step children and one to the Assembly of God in Lower Hutt as well as to Underground Evangelism Inc. [2] for the Martyrs relief fund.
Researched and written by Jenny Robertson
Grave Information:
Section: CH ENG2
Plot: 50 E
Sources:
[1] Tonga Island is a small (0.15 km2) island now within the Abel Tasman National Park, about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) off Onetahuti Beach. The island has a flourishing fur seal colony, and is surrounded by the Tonga Island Marine Reserve, which was inaugurated in 1993. The island is accessible by water taxi or kayak and visible from the Abel Tasman Coast Track.
[2] Underground Evangelism was founded in 1960 to minister to pastors living under the atheism and persecution behind the Iron Curtain, and was smuggling bibles across borders. The group now operates as Mission Without Borders.