DAUGHTER REDUSED TO LEAVE CITY FOR FARM

NZ Truth, Issue 1127, 7 July 1927, Page 7

DAUGHTER REDUSED TO LEAVE CITY FOR FARM

They : have, definitely satisfied : themselves I,'.'however,;,frbtti,1 ,'.' however, ;,frbtti, the '^lettei's left addressed to" the. police by tlie 'father,.' that itheV daughter's ..unhappiness over the prospect having to live on- a. . small^farm m "New Zealand, .which her. brother 'had just, purchased, had. caused considerable.:. domestic unhappiness,; m. whichVfthe son, Collen,. also •' played a corisiiierable -part.* * An English the Kiddells : hadld^cided to join theii* son^ Col-leh.i-vyho was farming at Hawera until recently. _. ' • . The^atter had come to New Zealand spmejthree years ago. . ' Ernest W. Kiddell, a retired. Customs |offlcer, living on a pension, was born atr Harwich. .'■'••■... HavlngV private means, it was apparently the custom ofvboth the mother and daughter to -travel on the Con-

tiiierit, .arid ' this is borne out by the family; passports. '"": , .'■"■{■ l ■ ! '■.'■ ' TheifatheiVs. passport shows; that it was issued o.h February 15, 1927, whilst that of . the daughter ..Lorna disclosed that she had paid a' visit to Switzerland .and Italy .m 1925,. and . that the passports had been issued on April 23,1 923. . ' . • The family left England on May 6, 1927; by the Remuera, and on arrival m New Zealand ' stayed for some six days at the Salvation Army People's Palace in' Upper Queen Street. ' •. . From the /story told- by Rev. ,. Mr. Hardy, who came out on -the ship with the Kiddell family/the voyage was a very, unhappy one because of the. girl Lorna's nervous cbnditidn. Described as a highly-educated ; ■^and accomplished, linguist, Lorna, Kiddell was. force.d, to resign her

: position at Cardiff m i order to'accompany her parents to New Zealand to join the son,' Collen. She' agreed to make ';'••; the 'voyage much against her will, and her par--ents feared 1 "that on their arrival m New .Zealand there . wouid be trouble between the brother and sister, fearing that the girl would upbraid her brother as beingvthe direct cause of her own unhappiness. The son did not meet his parents when they landed at Auckland, but notified them that he was ill. ■■ ' : Kiddell ' senior 1 asked Rev. Hardy °to keep m touch with. them. in New Zealand and to try : and get the family a cottage to live m. at Hamiltorii The day after the vessel arrived- m port at . Auckland Rev. Hardy Received a telegram from Kiddell' isenr. remind-; ing him of. his promise to secure them

a house .m Hamilton. Apparently he was not able to meet their wishes' at once.' •"'■ '' -.. ■ -'■ :' ". ; ; ■''"' ''..■•■' ' .-.■''■ '■■ It seems evident that matters did not go well with the Kiddell family and, to add to the troubled ••. minds of the parents over the girl Lorna's definite refusal to leave the city and goto live on her brother's farm. at Mangaweka, was the illness of Collen Kiddell, the son. "As the result of a visit to the doctor the father was advised not to allow his / son to return to his farm -,, for, a riionth. As he wa? m a melancholy state of mind arrangements were made to take the cottage m West Street for three months, Kiddell informing the . laridlady that he was not at' all worried about his son's health, though it had been apparent at first that he had been considerably exercised m his '; mind ;over this. •