Maker: Sally Gazzard

Panel number: 101

Petition Sheet Number: 104

Person honouring: Mrs Charles Forsyth

Relationship to makers: Maternal great-grandmother

Lucy Jane Forsyth (nee Hazell) was a housekeeper for a large Surrey estate when she met Charles Forsyth. He was the head gardener for the Duke of Buccleaugh when he was sent from Scotland to Surrey to prepare flowers for the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London in 1851. 

Lucy and Charles married in 1860 and their first child Jane died aged 10 months in 1861. On 5 May 1863, they emigrated from London on the ‘Crimea’ with their eleven-month-old twins Charles Jnr. and Elizabeth. They were accompanied by Charles’ parents Robert and Jean, and arrived at Port Chalmers on the 3 September. 

They stayed with other family members who had arrived to farm in South Otago in 1856. A year later, they purchased property in Milton which they named ‘Arn Hall’ or ‘Arn Hau’ after a locality near where their Scottish ancestors lived. They ran it as an accommodation house and inn. It was on Back Road, originally the main road approximately one day’s ride south from Dunedin. They had 100 acres and the family owned farms at Table Hill. 

Lucy Jane signed the petition as Mrs Chas Forsyth, Tokomairiro (now Milton). She took a great deal of pride in caring for her family and taught them how to become proficient needle-woman, dressmakers and milliners. Lucy signed the petition as did her daughter Maggie.Lucy died in 1906 aged 69 and is buried at the Fairfax Cemetery, Milton.

Panel materials: Old sheet, embroidered fine linen tray cloth which had belonged to my late mother. I purchased the small flowers which I dyed blue to represent the 62 signatories as ‘forget-me nots’ on page 104. Also transfer paper was purchased.