KIDDELL TRAGEDY

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 89, 6 July 1927, Page 9

KIDDELL TRAGEDY

NEUROTIC GIRL EVIDENCE AT INQUEST PARENTS VERY MUCH WORRIED (Continued from page 1.) Evidence of identification and the story of the Rev. F. S. Harty, who was a fellow-passenger with the Kiddells on the Remuera, was taken by the Coroner, Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., before the inquest was adjourned this morning. The bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Kiddell and. of Lorna Kiddell were identified by Margaret O’Hara, matron at the People’s Palace, Queen Street, and by the Rev. Mr. Harty. The body of Collen Kiddel was identified by J. G. McLean, on the reporting staff of THE SUN, and a former acquaintance in Taranaki. Mr. Harty, in a statement to the court, said he became acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Kiddell and Miss Lorna Kiddell, who were second saloon passengers on the Remuera, on the voyage out from England. He was on close terms with Mr. and Mrs. Kiddell, who frequently mentioned to him their anxiety concerning their daughter Lorna. “A NEUROTIC TYPE” “Miss Kiddell was a very well educated girl, about 27 years of age, who had lived for some time on the Continent, and was quite a linguist, but of a rather neurotic type,” the statement continued. “Her father told me that she had had nervous attacks, which manifested themselves by excitability and an inclination to talk to excess to anyone. These attacks generally ended in a complete collapse, when the girl would not wish to see anyone but her parents. “While the excitable phase was in evidence, one peculiarity was her rude treatment of her parents, and refusal to allow them to interfere with her in any way. One of these attacks developed during the voyage, and according to Mr. and Mrs. Kiddell the girl was not sleeping. The attack was no doubt aggravated by the fact that she had left England very unwillingly, and looked forward with extreme distaste to life on a farm. Mr. and Mrs. Kiddell had sold their home in England with a view of making their future home with their son Collen, who, they told me, was a farmer in the Taranaki district, and had been in New Zealand about five years. Mr. Kiddell informed me that he was a retired Civil servant of the Customs Department, England, and had recently had a serious illness, which involved the removal of one kidney. He intimated that his pension was sufficient to keep himself and his wife, but his daughter would have to seek employment, since she had no intention whatever of living with them on the farm. END TO TROUBLES “During the last week of the voyage the girl’s behaviour caused more acute anxiety to her parents- than before, and it was manifest that both* Mr. and Mrs. Kiddell were suffering acute mental stress. “On one occasion Mr. Kiddell and Mrs. Kiddell came into my cabin, and Mr. Kiddell unburdened himself to my wife and myself, stating that he felt quite hopeless about the future. In the course of conversation to me he said: ‘Provided everyone else was saved, I wish the boat would go down with the three of us, and thus end our troubles.’ “Mrs. Harty and myself did all we could to comfort them. We promised them to be their friends in New Zealand, and even undertook to find temporary quarters for the family in Hamilton so that they could be near us. On arrival at Auckland 1 had to leave hurriedly for Hamilton, and did not get an opportunity to see them before leaving, but Mr. Kiddell rang my wife, and promised to write. “On the arrival of the boat at Auckland their son did not meet them, but they received news that he was unwell, and would call to Auckland in a few days. This was in a way a relief to Mr. Kiddell, as he dreaded his son and daughter meeting on the wharf in case the daughter said something unkind to her brother for being the cause of bringing them out. I never met the son. t “I saw Miss Kiddell frequently on the voyage, but never noticed anything in Miss Kiddell’s conduct to which exception could be taken. “There is no doubY that Mr. Kiddell was a man given to worrying.” The inquest was adjourned. HORROR ON REMUERA KIDDELLS A POPULAR FAMILY Press Association. BLENHEIM, To-day. Members of the crew of the Remuera, now at Picton, were horrified to hear the news of the Kiddell tragedy at Auckland, the family being well remembered by many on board. A reporter ascertained that Mr. and Mrs. Kiddell and their daughter were very popular during the voyage. It was understood that they were comfortably off. The family travelled secondclass. Mr. Kiddell was believed to have been a retired official of the British Customs Department, having been stationed at various times in London. Folkestone, Cardiff and Southampton. He was understood to be enjoying a pension of about £3OO a year. He brought with him a sporting rifle, and possibly a revolver or automatic pistol on the ship. Leaving Southampton on May 6, Mr. Kiddell was accorded a great send-off and made the recipient of a presentation by the Customs officials.