Mabel Kathleen (Ayson) Neame. 1901 - 1999

 

Mabel, youngest daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Ayson, was born at Tuiro, South Otago, on 13 May 1901.

 

Her parents lived in a two-room cottage through the hedge from the Corydon homestead.   They had three girls - Aggie aged seven, Annie aged five and Emily aged three years.   Another baby was about to come and for many reasons, the advent of the much wished for boy was sure in their minds.

 

For the event, Robert, who was blind, took his three little girls out of the way up the tussock hill at the back where they talked of the birds and the trees and they could  even have  a glimpse of the sea.

 

Meanwhile, in the cottage a baby girl was born.   Joy for the new baby but deep disappointment , that son was not to be.   Nevertheless, Robert had Mabel as his close companion for the years of her childhood.

 

She did not begin school until she was seven years old.   Instead she went everywhere with Robert while he worked on the farm.

 

This is one episode he related in later life :  A gum tree in the gully had been blown over and he was chopping the branches with great strokes of the swinging axe, while Mabel sat close by.   One extra strong swipe and the axe flew out of  his hands.   There was a  long silence:  Had he killed her?  After what seemed an age, a little voice said, "Here it is, Dad."

 

On the mornings when her father was riding off on his insurance business, she would ride for a short distance on the front of the saddle and then run home.   The cries of hawks up above would send her scurrying to the safety of  the kitchen .   She  had  heard  stories  of weasels  sucking  childrens  blood  and she thought they were weasels.

 

It was a happy childhood with so much time spent out of doors.  There were lots of pets - a  speckled  hen  that  flew in the bedroom window and laid eggs on the bed;  a special cat, Juno; the dog, lambs and the best of  all a black wild Captain Cook pig given to her by cousin Peter  Watt.

 

Mabel was sent to Balclutha District High school.  There she qualified as a pupil-teacher and went to Lawrence for two happy years.   Later at Dunedin Teachers' Training College and Otago University, she gained her teacher's certificate.   Over the years she taught in Otago, Canterbury and South Auckland.

 

She married Arthur Eric Neame in the 1930's and she, her husband and son, Arthur, lived in Christchurch, Cambridge and the Bay of Plenty.

 

Here are some things Mabel remembers of the past:

 

Hearing with awe of the dust storm from Australia that some people thought was the end of  the world; seeing Halley's Comet at 2am; at Sunday school learning lots about Moses and the Pilgrims' Progress; remembering how the Salvation Army lassies tramped around a wide district once a year collecting for "Self Denial" week; during the first World War, acting and singing at Patriotic concerts to raise money; dances in country halls; singing in Knox Church Choir, Dunedin, with Padget Gale roaring away on the pipe organ; seeing Kingsford Smith and the Southern Cross land at Balclutha; playing in hockey tourneys on Carisbrook; travelling everywhere in slow trains and expresses.

 

With two sisters and friends, Mabel spent many long summer holidays tramping, camping and climbing in the Southern mountains.   From a camp in Kinloch at the head of Lake Wakatipu, trips were made to Paradise where on the way they visited the gentleman  whose  property was called "Purgatory".   Camping  at  Routeburn, tramping  over the beautiful Harris Saddle with the keas and the mountain lilies and the lizards sunning on the rocks.   There were long tramps, with night stops from Owaka to Curio Bay then on to Fortrose.  But best of all, with her two sisters in 1927, riding from Makarora through the Haast Pass along an unformed, precipitous track on a retired racehorse and staying at Haast for three days at the Crons home, the only house there then, and riding back to Makarora.  Then on down the lake by launch  to Pembroke  (now called Wanaka) township where Uncle Lake was waiting.  He had feared that a terrible accident could have happened to "brother Bob's girls,"as he called us.   

Mabel Neame passed away at Tauranga on 4th December 1999 aged 98.

 

Mabel the last of the 3rd generation, was a great supporter of the Clan Ayson from her days  as secretary of the Bay of Plenty Branch right up to the time of her death.

 

She was  born  at  Warepa  13th May  1901  to Robert and Lizzie Ayson and was the youngest child in a family of four girls.

 

During her childhood Mabel shared a close relationship with her father who  had  been blinded by an accident as a child, and Mabel had enormous respect for the way he lived his life.

 

Her son Ace said his mother was a lady for whom material possessions were of little consequence, people were far more important.   She was a great reader.   Mabel eventually retired from teaching when she was in her 70's, but that didn't mean that she retired from life, it just meant that she had more time to indulge in the things she loved doing.

 

Chief Fergus asked her to  start  the Bay of  Plenty Branch of the Clan and for 10 years was secretary for the group.

 

People who appreciate the restored cemetery at Warepa can thank Mabel for the way it is today.   It was her generosity in providing $5,000 that started a fund for the restoration.

 

So it was her wish, and in keeping, that her ashes should be interred in the grave of her Mother  and Father and sister Aggie at the Warepa cemetery on 16th April 2000.   A good number of relations and friends gathered for a short service taken by her son Ace (1-10-4) and Chief Peter.    Ian Gold (1-9-7) played  the pipes as requested by Mabel.

 

A bowl of beautiful golden permanent  flowers was placed on the grave with a message of grateful thanks from the Clan.    A further request of Mabel's was that a social hour be held, and this took place in the Warepa Hall where the chief speaker, her son Ace.  paid tribute to his mother in a way that endeared him to all present.

 

Peter spoke of Mabel's loyalty and long time interest in the Clan, and invited local people who had known the Robert Ayson family, and they spoke warmly of their recollections.   It was a fitting celebration for a life well lived.

 

Mabel's will provided for a further $5,000 to the Warepa Cemetery Fund . This has been greatly appreciated and means the future caring of the cemetery is assured .

 

Mabel Kathleen Neame - 1901 to 1999