Maker: Jan Connett

Panel number: 231

Petition sheet number: 283

Person honouring: Emily Bland

Relationship to maker: None

When Emily Watson arrived fresh off the boat from England in 1877, Ashburton must have been a shock. At 19, she had been ‘sent for’ – to join her parents and the eldest of her nine siblings: pioneers, carving out farms from the swamps, bush, and endless, tussocky Canterbury plains.

It was relentless hard work, punctuated by frequent tragic accidents. Fire devastated townships; trickling summer streams became raging winter torrents, trapping and drowning animals and people. Firearms added to the dangers. 

Emily married farmer William Bland in 1884, but he was dead within 18 months, killed by his own loaded gun as he lifted it down from the rafters in the barn. Emily now faced raising Dora, their tiny daughter, and running the successful sheep station on her own. She engaged a station manager and occasionally employed William’s brothers and nephews as farm hands.

Electoral rolls and other documents show her as a farmer over the following years, variously listed in Greenstreet, Winchmore, Methven, and Ashburton. 

In 1900 Emily took Dora to England. There, the 16-year-old caught diphtheria and died. Emily returned Dora’s ashes to Ashburton. The elaborate memorial in the cemetery is a beautiful tribute to Dora and William, and in 1938, for herself. Emily was 79 when she died.

Despite the setbacks, Emily was known as a ‘larger than life character’, forever exploring photography and technology. She made a darkroom by throwing a thick blanket over the dining room table and climbing under … I am in awe of her stoicism, curiosity, and achievements.

Panel materials: Donated fabrics from Vinnies Re-Sew. Purchased old maps, postcards, and recipe books that were contemporary to Emily’s life.