Although resident in Australia for the last 30 years, I returned to New Zealand in March 2006 to pay my last respects to my mother, who had just passed away. It was a time of reflection, for it was unknown when I would be next back in New Zealand.
I was determined to catch up with many friends and relations during my time on the east side of the Tasman, and while traveling from Tauranga to Auckland, I remembered that my Uncle James Cowan, his wife Agnes and daughter Mary apparently used to own a farm at Hunua. I decided to drop in and see if I could find them.
I certainly did. To my delight, they were still at Hunua, right where they had been for the last eighty to a hundred years. After making enquiries at the local ‘Parks’ office as to the existence of an old cemetery in the area, I was directed to the Hunua Presbyterian Church on Lockwood Road. There they were, down in the back corner of the graveyard. The gravesite was obviously cared for by the groundsman for the church, for which I am very grateful. The headstone had at some stage fallen, and was lying across the plot but it had been placed so that the headstone was legible. To those concerned, thanks for that!
I didn’t know my uncle, as he was born at Mahurangi, north of Auckland in 1855 compared to my birth almost 100 years later. James was the fourth child to Henry and Catherine Cowan, Catherine Lochead having arrived in Auckland from Scotland on the first immigrant ship “Duchess of Argyle” on 8 October 1842.
James Lochead Bradly Cowan married Agnes Wilson Mackie in Auckland on 25 December 1880, and had three sons and five daughters between 1881 and 1897. Their youngest son Robert Mackie Cowan was born at Drury in June 1891, an indication that at least by this date the Cowan family was already farming at Hunua. Two subsequent daughters, Mary and Ivy, were also born at Drury. I would love to find out more about their time in the Hunua area.
So you can see that James and Agnes Cowan and their family were relatively early residents in the Hunua area.
When I dropped in to Hunua that day, ANZAC day was just around the corner, so I reflected on the cost of the Great War to the family of James Cowan. Of James and Agnes’s three sons, two were killed and one wounded.
Second son Private James Henry Lochead Cowan (regimental service number 20971) was serving with the 1st Battalion, Wellington Infantry Regiment NZEF in France, where he was wounded during action against the enemy. He died aged 29 on 8 June 1917. James Cowan is remembered at a memorial in the Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord) in France. James had been educated at the Hunua School, and took an active part in all sports in the district. Prior to enlisting for service overseas, James Junior was manager of the Waikato Dairying Company’s cheese factory.
Eldest son Private Peter Mackie Cowan (regimental service number 51557) served with the 1st Battalion, Auckland Infantry Regiment NZEF in the Somme in France, where he was killed in action aged 33 on 20 July 1918. Peter Cowan is remembered at a memorial at the Gommecourt Wood New Cemetery in Foncquevillers, France.
James and Agnes’s youngest son Robert Mackie Cowan, who was also educated at the Hunua School, was wounded while serving overseas. At twenty five years of age, he was luckily able to return home. Robert is buried in the cemetery at the Pukekohe East Presbyterian Church on Runciman Road.
Aside from James and Agnes’s immediate family, the Great War also saw the death of three of their nephews. James older brother Henry Cowan, a brewer at Mangatainoka, and his wife Sarah had two sons, both of whom died of wounds sustained while serving overseas.
Lieutenant Henry Rawlings Cowan (regimental service number 10/116) was serving with the ‘D’ Company, Wellington Infantry Regiment NZEF at Gallipoli, where he was wounded in action. Henry died on 13 May 1915 at sea on board a hospital ship, after being evacuated from the Gallipoli peninsula. Henry Cowan is remembered at a memorial at the Alexandria (Chatby) Military and War Memorial Cemetery in Egypt.
Sergeant William Henry Cowan (regimental service number 13/2285) was serving with the 16th (Waikato) Company, 2nd Battalion, Auckland Infantry Regiment NZEF in France, where he was wounded in action. William died of his wounds on 15 September 1916. William Cowan is remembered at a memorial at the Quarry Cemetery in Montauban in France.
James Cowan’s sister Catherine and her husband Robert Henderson lost their son David Henderson, who died on 6 Nov 1918 age 31 of wounds sustained in action in France. David Henderson (regimental service number 66167) served with the 1st Battalion, Canterbury Regiment NZEF in France. David is remembered by a memorial at the Caudry British Cemetery in France.
I guess that this story is similar to many ANZAC stories passed down through the generations. As is said, ‘Lest We Forget’.
Robert
