Who is the unidentified victim of the 1931 Napier earthquake?
Who is the unidentified victim of the 1931 Napier earthquake?
The 1931 Napier earthquake has one remaining victim that has never been identified. Hawke's Bay Today editor Craig Cooper and Hawke's Bay historian Michael Fowler explore the theories - how did this happen?
Jane Doe.
It's as close to a name as anyone can get, for the sole remaining unidentifiedvictim of the February 3, 1931 Hawke's Bay Earthquake.
She was definitely someone's daughter, and who knows, maybe a mother or grandmother as well.
So how is it, that no one asked after her, in the aftermath of the devastating quake that killed 256 people - 161 in Napier, 93 in Hastings and two in Wairoa.
That would mean Napier's Jane Doe was born in the 1860s, when New Zealand was undergoing a population explosion as military settlers, assisted immigrants from Britain and people leaving Australia for hopefully greener pastures arrived. Where Jane Doe was born though, no one knows.
"Their descriptions were given as short, slight build, grey hair, thin features, no teeth, few hairs on chin, blue eyes, rather large nose, flesh-coloured stockings, no ornaments and the other as medium height, slight build, without teeth, clothes burned. One of those ladies was later identified," Fowler says.
However, such is the state of the post-quake records, it is difficult to tell which woman was identified.
An inspection is made of the rubble that was Napier's inner city.
So we are limited, at best, to a description of an elderly woman, with no teeth, of slight build.
Did she live in seclusion, or with a family. Was she a local?
In 1931, Napier was a town of about 16,000.
Not quite small enough for everyone to know everyone's business. But it was divided into specific suburbs, and within those, a strong sense of community existed.
A depression was taking hold of New Zealand, in a country yet to establish a form of unemployment benefit or assistance.
Marine Parade's iconic Norfolk pines are visible in the background of this post-quake shot Photo / Earle Denford
Fowler says the town also hosted shopkeepers, head offices for government/ insurance companies, plus railways, hospital and post office workers.
An elderly spinster who lived locally would have stood out - it is unfathomable to consider that she lived with someone else or a family.
Even taking into account her relatives were all killed in the quake, she surely must have been on someone's radar if she was part of a family.
Hawke's Bay historian Michael Fowler.
Fowler concurs - but says at best this is a guess - all theories as to who Jane Doe was and why no one "claimed" her are purely speculative because of the lack of facts.
And the facts are not plentiful.
Fowler says we do know that many of the bodies recovered after the earthquake were unable to be identified.
This is because they were inside buildings that were destroyed by fire.
"This was particularly true of Napier. Their location on the day of the earthquake was used to confirm that the body was likely belonging to a particular person, or personal effects on or around the body."
After the quake, confusion reigned.
"Around a dozen [people] who were reported as being dead, were later found to be alive, such was the confusion."
Casting the net wider, was Jane Doe homeless, perhaps?
Unlikely in 1931, reckons Fowler. There was a male vagrant known to sleep rough in the Marine Parade area.
Even in 1931, Napier was a visitor destination. Could Jane Doe have arrived via train or ship? Was it common for women to travel alone?
A scene of devastation in Napier after the 1931 earthquake.
The existence of ship passenger lists and the potential for cross checking suggest she did not arrive via ship.
If she was a visitor, again, it is speculative, but "entirely possible – but then you'd think someone would have claimed her'', Fowler says.
Many of the town's hotel registers were destroyed by fire.
Permanent resident in temporary lodgings?
But it is here that Fowler puts forward some careful, considered speculation.
"One explanation is that some elderly [and about 70 was considered old then] women used to be permanent residents in hotels.
"If she was staying in the Masonic for instance, all her belongings and any record of her being a lodger would have gone.
"If she had no family – then sadly – no one would recognise her – although you think the hotel staff or managers might have."
There is also the possibility that her existence is explained because she was counted twice. Again, a theory - no one knows for sure.
Where is she now?
She is likely to be buried in the communal grave for quake victims, on Park Island.
Grave number 66 is an unidentified woman in her 70s, according to Napier City Council records.
At the cemetery, the memorial for victims of the earthquake stands out like a beacon amongst the old and run down headstones and graves scattered around the cemetery.
Looking over the memorial you can see the names of some of those victims of the terrible disaster, some of whom lay at that very site.
Historian Michael Fowler at the grave site of an unidentified woman who could be the Jane Doe of the 1931 earthquake. The unmarked grave is in the grass in the foreground. Photo / Paul Taylor
Mothers, fathers, sisters and daughters, brothers and sons - all who have been identified almost 88 years on, except for one.
Having considered the options, the possibilities, the theories, there is one point that Fowler is able to make with conviction about Napier's Jane Doe.
