Ōtautau - Later Town & District Settlers, George & Charlotte Low family: George Jnr. with his car

Shared by Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive

Ōtautau - Later Town & District Settlers, Low family of Bayswater. Seen here is George jnr. with his car. The number plate gives a clue as to the age of the car and photo. Prior to 1925 each region (here you can see the plate bears the letters WL - WALLACE for the Wallace county district), had their own number plate prefix before these were combined into one system for the whole of the country. When we asked a group of car enthusiast's what car this is, a kind person Mark, replied: "The car is a 1924 Buick four, Model 24-35. A one-year only model, it was the last year for the four cylinder Buick and the first year for front wheel brakes, and the new Packard-esque radiator shape. There are no records of how many were imported to NZ but there are a few survivors. At this time Buicks were imported by several importers, some coming from McLaughlin in Canada and some from the main Buick operation in Flint. Michigan. GMNZ was established shortly after and from then on, all GM products came in through them. The four cylinder Buick is distinguishable from the more common sixes by its painted, rather than plated, radiator shell, its shorter bonnet, and its use of conventional semi-elliptic rear springs where the sixes used cantilever rear springs....The four cylinder model Buick was replaced for 1925 by the new Standard Six." Thanks for that info Mark! NOTE: Later settlers, are considered those arriving after 1880, as the arrival of the Railway in 1879 changed the face of Ōtautau Township and District, significantly, and forever. The town became a bustling agricultural metropolis in the centre of the Wallace County, of Murihiku Southland. A lot of families moved in to support the many trades and services the district both needed and provided. There were also many public and civil servants who were posted to the Township for a time, so many, many families have a connection to the town now. LOW FAMILY - SUMMARY OF GEORGE Jnr's HISTORY: George and Charlotte’s son George Davidson Low (pictured above), was born in Scotland on 15 Oct 1895, to parents George and Charlotte Low. He also served in WW1 and this photo was taken after his return from that. More photos on his WW1 days will follow in these Community Archives soon. George (jnr.) Davidson Low, had been working prior on his father’s property at Bayswater, Ōtautau, prior to signing up to fight in WW1 where he was sent overseas for a short time. When he returned, he married Jessie Manson and they had a property on what used to be called Merrivale Road to the north of Ōtautau, before the turnoff at Kings. George Davidson Low, or George Jnr. as he was known, shown standing above with his car, was the father of the owner of the photo donated above. There are more more photos of him and his family still to come, so watch for these if interested. George jnr. who was wounded in WW1, died on 20 June 1953 at age 57 years, when his daughter Elizabeth (Betty) Margaret Low was young. She grew up to marry Stewart Mouat of Eastern Bush. George jnr’s wife Jessie, who was much younger than her husband, lived on until 26 November 1980, dying at 67 years old. Their daughter Betty grew up in Ōtautau, she was well known and well liked in the district and she sadly passed away on 28 Sep 2014 while the family were living at Ohai, Southland, New Zealand. George jnr., and Jessie also had a son, Donald Alexander Low, he later moved to live in the North Island. Before she died, Jessie, George Jnr’s widow had left her brother Gordon Alexander Manson and also her brother-in-law Alexander Low, both farmers of Bayswater to be executors of her will. However, Gordon Manson formerly of Bayswater and late of Ōtautau, retired sheep farmer had predeceased his sister Jessie by dying on 26 August 1974 and Alexander Low formerly of Bayswater but now of Lorneville, a hospital patient was “unable by reason of his advanced state of senility, to make application for probate of said will…”. So the Court heard a petition from Elizabeth (Betty) Margaret Mouat of Eastern Bush, married woman, a daughter of the deceased and one of the beneficiaries of the will, to be granted the Letters of Administration. And this is how so much of the family history came to be in the Mouat's possession. LOW FAMILY ORIGINS: George and his wife Charlotte are said to have sailed from Glasgow to Bluff in 1896. George snr., managed farms in Otapiri and Gladfield before buying Lot 18 of the Bayswater Estate, Southland from the Scottish & New Zealand Investment Co Ltd in Mar 1897 and naming the property "Oakleigh". The farm was passed down through the family and in 2006 the farm was owned by his grandson John Davidson Low, well-known in Ōtautau district circles. Their son George Davidson Low immigrated with them, but it is not clear if other children also immigrated with their parents, but we do know, that after their arrival in Aotearoa NZ, George and Charlotte had the following children: 1899 - John Alexander, who married Louisa Eves in 1935. 1901 - Alexander, who married Catherine Fallow in 1938. 1904 - Mary Davidson, who married Archie Buchanan in 1937. 1906 - James Dougal "Jim" who tragically died young (see more below). Charlotte sadly died on 7 June 1906 and is buried at the old Ōtautau Cemetery. We suspect her death may have had something to do with childbirth, as her youngest son was born the same year. The inscription on her headstone is rather sad and reads: “Erected By George Low, In Loving Memory of his wife, Charlotte Low, Who died 7th June 1906, Aged 33 years. Also their sons, John & James, Who died in infancy.” In an extra tragic state of affairs, her youngest son James Dougal, known as "Jim" was shot to death in what was termed by the subsequent Inquest to be an accident, on 5 January 1927, at just 20 years of age. What a dreadful blow it must have been to his father George snr. The young James was buried with his mother and brother, at the old cemetery in Ōtautau. Presbyterian Marriage Records show us that George LOW, a widower, was married again to Jane HENDERSON aged 30, on 15 August 1917. George snr., passed away on 4 June 1937 at 64 years of age, he is buried with his second wife Jane, who died herself on 4 March 1956, outliving her husband by nearly 20 years. She was living at Invercargill at the time of her death. Jane was born 1st January 1888 the daughter of Edward Henderson and Margaret nee Templeton. George and Jane are buried at Ōtautau Cemetery. It seems that George and Jane had a child late in life, as in his will, written in 1935, George snr., names Jean Morven Low as one of his children. She was born 18 February 1926 and married a Smith. She was to pass away in 2007. George snr’s. estate after his death, has his assets listed as 63 shares in the Ōtautau Co-operative Dairy Factory Company Limited, valued at £25.4.0 and 200 shares in Clifden Lime Co. Ltd valued at £75. He was listed as owning the following land holdings: Lot 18, 19 DP 239 of Sections 6, 9, 10 and CR Oreti Hundred, containing 410 acres, valued at £6,460, also a large part of the Town of Hodgkinson, being Sections 36-38, 40-42 + 42R, 55-58, 60-65, 67-74, Part of 35, Part of 76, consisting of 96 acres and 20.7 poles, and valued at £1260. George snr. also had a life insurance policy (smart man!) worth £238.3.0 while his farm stock, horses, implements and vehicles were valued at £1,750.2.0. George snr. also had a tidy sum in the bank, over £539, with another over £467 cash in the house at his death. From humble beginnings as a farm worker, George Low snr., who appears to have been a hard worker and astute businessman, gained a family farm and small fortune. THIS COLLECTION – We have a lot of photos of the Low and Manson families in the archive, as one of the main contributors so far, the Mouat family, has connections to them through Stewart’s wife Betty (née Low) of Ōtautau. A lot of these photos have unidentified people and places in them, so we would be grateful if anyone from the family, Township or surrounding district could help us out. Hopefully this entry will be added to as more information comes to hand. If you or anyone you know has any more information or photos to share or accounts of the Bayswater Estate, the Low family and related Manson family during the years, please do share this with us in the comments section. You can do this by making a comment in the space provided under the image page. Or you can make contact with us as per the archive front page. Note: these entries are compiled with information provided by donors with the records, from locally reported news, from national and occasionally international reports in publications, from personal records made by the people themselves - such as their electoral enrollments, wills, war records etc., also from government and council held records such as births, deaths and marriages or cemetery information, and lastly, from community memories, such as those passed on by friends, family and contemporaries. It is not always possible to verify memories from others, so please let us know if you believe we have any incorrect information. If you believe that any public or personal record information quoted is wrong, if you can provide proof of any alternative fact to us in a document showing evidence of the correct details, that would be very helpful to us. Thank you.