Mrs William Blackie (née Jane Maitland)

Jane Maitland was born in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England in 1811. She married shipmaster Captain William Blackie in 1833 and the couple had six children before moving to New Zealand. Their eldest daughter Ann died as a child in 1846. The Blackie family travelled to Otago on board the Mooltan, which left Greenock, Scotland in September 1849. Ten days into the journey tragedy struck when a cholera epidemic swept through the ship. The epidemic killed seven passengers and two crewmembers. Adding to the tragedy, a further six passengers died from other illnesses. Amidst such devastation, music and dancing served to lift passengers’ spirits. As Jane transported an accordion from Scotland to Otago one can imagine she used her musical abilities to liven the ship’s atmosphere during the long journey.

Luckily everyone in the Blackie family survived and they arrived in Port Chalmers in late December 1849. Jane and her family soon settled in Caversham where her husband established himself as a pioneer farmer. They lived in one of the first four houses built in Caversham Valley. Jane gave birth to an additional son, Walter, in Caversham in 1853. That same year, however, her eldest son, William, died from cancer.

In subsequent years Jane and her family settled in East Taieri where her husband continued to work as a farmer before his death in 1862. His will reveals that he left his property and the administration of his estate to Jane. One year following his death Jane remarried. Her second husband was James Forrest, another farmer in East Taieri. James often competed in ploughing matches and before marrying Jane he even competed in a match alongside her first husband in 1860. In 1881 Jane died in East Taieri from asthma and lung congestion. She is buried in East Taieri Cemetery.