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An update on this one.  As there were three names on the headstone at the Eastern Cemetery, Edinburgh (Margaret Jane Caskey Seatter, husband William MacKenzie and their son William Holland MacKenzie)  I assumed that the son William Holland MacKenzie had not married and likely had no children. 

I have now confirmed that he did in fact marry and was living in Leeds with wife and family at the time of his death.  He was cremated in Leeds.  Perhaps some of his ashes are buried in the Eastern Cemetery. Or perhaps he is just recorded on the stone.

I still have no knowledge of where Margaret Jane Caskey Seater's brother David Brodie Seatter is buried.

It is very difficult to get information on the Eastern Cemetery.

I will make a further enquiry to the Presbyterian Archives in Dunedin to see if they hold any additional information on John. They have been very helpful in the past. While I have a transcript of the marriage of Elizabeth and John, it tells me nothing of their parents. I assume that this information was not collected at that time.

Thanks Minniehaha

There is a Mary Bell Johnston recorded on BDM NZ.  She was born on 9 September 1870 to Mary and George.   The Bell middle name is interesting.

My Mary Bell Johnston's  death record and marriage record state her parents are John Johnston and Elizabeth Bell,  A close DNA match between myself and a descendant of Jane (b1864) also supports my Mary Bell Johnston being a child of John and Elizabeth.

I also note the birth date of the Mary Bell Johnston on BDM is only six months before Joan born 25 March 1871.

I have made two of approaches to BDM NZ to see if there is a mistake in the system.  In each case I have been told to expect a reply in 15 days but none has been forthcoming.

All legal documents indicate there were 7 children in this Johnston family. And the commitment of William, Catherine and Mary to the Caversham Industrial School in October 1876 links these three children together as siblings.

I suspect an issue with the BDM NZ records but not proven.  I guess there could be two Mary Bell Johnstons and mine just has not been recorded. But it seems unlikely.

Me again. That John Johnstone seems to have died in the first half of the year.
By way of an update two days ago I received records from Archives on Caversham Industrial School in 1884 and 1885.  The older two William and Catherine would have left before then.  There is a Mary Johnston and a Mary Johnstone.  The latter is the correct age.  Could be her.  Agin the spelling is Johnstone.  Interestingly the court record which records the readmitting of Catherine and Mary in 1881 (Evening Star) spells their surname as Johnstone.  So it could be her but cannot be certain.

Archives advised that they have no records for the school prior to this date.

My guess is that John Johnston and his wife Elizabeth are buried at Popotunoa but the records of that are lost.

Thanks for your help
Murray

Hi Wivenhoe

Answers to your questions below.

The children were aged 0 to 12 when their mother died.  She died of uterine hemorrhaging according to the death record.

I agree unlikely that father could not look after them.  From information above William (b1866) was sent to the Caversham Industrial School before the death of his mother. So he was possibly running wild? Or hard to manage locally!

The Parliamentary report of 1882 suggests the youngest (Joan) was in the care of a local lady after the death of John Johnston.  One could guess the same lady was helping before his death. But that is a guess.

A person whose research encroached on the family of Jane (b1864) has indicated she was looked after by the Clifford family.  Can I prove that?  No.  Jane (who became Jane Forno) did name one of her children Clifford which of course could be a coincidence.

The best I can do is assume the eldest two (Elizabeth and Martha) finished their schooling locally with support from local families (Cliffords again?).

Who looked after William, Catherine and Mary is a mystery. I have unsuccessfully chased school records. We now know they were in the Caversham Industrial School shortly after John Johnston's death.

The wedding record I have is a transcription written in one hand so cannot tell whether they were literate.
 
The researcher mentioned above has indicated that

"I believe the children were raised by a Mr Clifford, possibly a post master, which is where the Clifford name comes from.
Other than that -  only John Johnston (Length of Residence for Intention to Marry- 9 years, age 35.)  (Elizabeth Bell L of R for Intention to Marry - 8 months, age 25.)"

Spades has indicated the possibility of confirming that.

I do not have a cause of death or a death cert for John Johnston.

Any hints would be greatly appreciated.

As an additional piece of information, Peter McGill, who was discharged with John Johnston at Port Chalmers seems to be the same person who died at Milton 21 October 1894 aged 68. He was a native of Stonykirk,  Wigtonshire, Scotland according to his gravestone.