Cemeteries
Spittal Kirk Cemetery
Glenshee is the ancestral home of the Aysons.
Just months before Peter and Douglas departed for New Zealand they sadly buried and left behind their eighth child Duncan Fraser Ayson, aged seven.
Several Aysons from New Zealand have searched in vain for Duncan's grave.
To honour our family members buried here, and those who emigrated to New Zealand, a plaque was erected on the wall of the graveyard in early 2009. This was with the kind assistance of Jean Lindsay who resides at Glenshee.
Warepa Cemetery
The cemetery at Warepa, near Balclutha in South Otago, is the ancestral graveyard of the Aysons in New Zealand- the Peter branch especially. More Aysons are buried here than anywhere else. Pioneers Peter and Douglas and the Robertsons, Margaret and James, are buried at Warepa. Some twenty descendants lie here.
One of the objectives of the Clan Society, from its formation, has been the upkeep of the graves of the Ayson pioneers. Through the generosity of Mabel Neame and other clan members, a fund was set up from which the interest is used to keep the Warepa Cemetery in tidy condition. As the interest rate is decreasing, there is the need to top up the fund. Donations, channelled through the executive of the Society, would be appreciated.
Photo. The restoration of Warepa cemetery was a project of the Balclutha Lions Club. ( L - R ) Gordon Watt, Wayne Sim, Alan Linklater and Robert Walker.
The following is a report in the "Clutha Leader" of 9 September 1881:
"The Warepa Cemetery trustees held a meeting on Monday last and resolved to open a public subscription list with a view of putting the cemetery in a thorough state of repair. It is contemplated to erect a new fence, to clean and deepen the outside ditches, to survey the ground and to carry three or four deep drains through the whole plot so as to keep the ground sweet and dry.
The various members of the committee undertook to canvas their respective districts for subscriptions. It is to be hoped the public will generously support them in their efforts, and enable them to render this last resting place of the dead somewhat more comely in appearance and more serviceable for the purpose for which it has been set apart, 'God's acre' is surely holy ground, and districts which have become directly interested in it, ought to feel that it is their sacred duty to honour the memory of their dead by at once putting it and keeping it in thorough repair.
Due to a generous donation from Mabel Neame the restoration of the Warepa Cemetery was completed for the 150th reunion in 2003.
More than 200 relatives and descendants from all over New Zealand met at Warepa Cemetery to unveil a plaque to commemorate the families arrival in South Otago in 1853.
Photo: Chief Peter D G Ayson.
Retiring Clan Chief Peter Ayson, of Gore, said he was proud to see so many members making the effort to formally recognise the family's early generation who were regarded as the first European settlers in the area.
Clutha Mayor, Juno Hayes, said the family should be applauded for continuing to mark the efforts of Peter and Douglas Ayson, who, with their ten children, emigrated from Scotland.
"The Pioneers contributed so much to this country and it is wonderful to see you all here remembering them. It is hard for most people today to comprehend the hardships and battles those early settlers faced when they arrived in this part of the world,"
The reunion included a dinner at Rosebank Lodge and finished with a Church service at Warepa.
Acknowledgement :
Otago Daily Times 03/03/03
May They Rest In Peace
Warepa Cemetery
| Peter Ayson | 1807 - 1897 | |
| Douglas (Lamond) Ayson | 1811 - 1905 | |
| Margaret Ayson (Robertson) | 1809 - 1902 | |
| James Robertson | - 1902 | Husband of Margaret |
| Peter Ayson Jnr | 1833 - 1905 | |
| Ann (Ayson)Watt | 1839 - 1924 | |
| John Watt | 1829 - 1889 | Husband of Ann |
| William Ayson | 1840 - 1938 | |
| Mary (Giffen) Ayson | 1850 - 1935 | Wife of William |
| Robert Mackintosh Ayson | 1849 - 1939 | |
| Elizabeth (Fergusson) Ayson | 1860 - 1943 | Wife of Robert |
| Mary Robinson | 1851- |
Wyndham Cemetery
| Alexander Ayson | 1814 - 1895 |
| Joan (Fergusson) Ayson | 1821 - 1893 |
Andersons Bay
| James Fraser Ayson | 1837 - 1928 |
| Christina (Robson) Ayson | - 1930 |
Balclutha
| James Ayson | 1819 - 1906 |
| Margaret (Flemming) Ayson | - 1905 |
| Elspeth Fraser (Ayson) Low | 1847 - 1941 |
| John Low | 1845 - 1917 |
Linwood Christchurch
| John Ayson | 1842 - 1928 |
| Edith (Hunt) Ayson | -1915 |
Havelock North
| Douglas Duncan ( Davidson) Ayson | 1853- 1927 |
Palmerston North - Terrace End, Kelvin Grove
| Duncan Fraser Ayson | 1857 - 1923 | TE |
| Elizabeth (Harwood) Ayson | 1858 - 1922 |
Taita Cemetery
| Lake Falconer Ayson | 1855 - 1927 |
| Alice (Dabinett) Ayson | 1857- 1910 |
| George Dabinett Ayson | 1888 - 1971 |
Avarua Cemetery, Rarotonga
Chief Judge-Hugh Fraser Ayson 1884-1948
Hugh Ayson (3rd son of Lake Falconer Ayson) died at Days Bay, Wellington, on 1 February 1948. His wife Ivy Ella (nee Hollard) died 3 November 1955.
Their ashes are buried in front of the old London Missionary Society Church at Avarua, Rarotonga - Cook Islands. He was survived by two daughters, Myra Harriet Evelyn and Myrtle Alice.
The “Judge” held the post of Resident Commissioner of the Cooks Is for 21 years to 1943; and, from 1922 he was also Chief Judge of the Native Land Court of New Zealand. For his services to NZ he became a Companion of the Order of St Michael and Saint George that was awarded on 21 Jan 1930.