The Muir Family
BSLJO - this family includes your Great Grandma Mary/Minnie and Grandma/Kathleen/Kay who is Baba’s mother - 3 generations.
Muir family in Great Granddad and Grandma’s taxi - the first taxi in Dunedin - a Packard. Kids - Allan in front seat, Frank on his mother’s knee, Thelma and Kathleen.
Muir family - Frank, Thelma, Allan, Kathleen and their mother Mary Jane (Knox) Muir. Their father, died when they were young
Mary Jane Knox was born in Dunedin on 19 January, 1886. She married James (Jim) Muir on May 12, 1909 in Dunedin. They lived in North Dunedin and later in St Kilda. They had 4 children; Thelma was born in 1909, Kathleen was born in 1911, Allan was born in 1913 and Frank was born in 1915. Jim was a carpenter and one day when he was working in the Wakari electricity sub-station he was badly electrocuted. This event damaged his heart and he had to give up being a carpenter. He bought a car (an American Oakland) and started one of the first taxi businesses in Dunedin. Unfortunately he got the Spanish flu in 1918 and because of his weak heart he died. This meant that his wife, Mary had to bring up her 4 children by herself. Thelma was 11 and Kathleen 9 years old when their father died. This was very hard for the family. Mary got assistance from the NZ Government but as well as that she took in work like sewing and laundry to help with the family finances. As soon as Thelma and Kathleen were old enough they went out to work for the family. Thelma never married. She was a seamstress and had her own successful dressmaking business, Regent Gowns in the Octagon. She made hats too and dressed very fashionably. Kathleen worked in a South Dunedin shoe shop. On his return from the war, Allan worked back at his job as a plumber but Frank who was a clerk never returned from the war as he was killed in the battle of Monte Casino in Italy, 1944. The family were Methodists and went to the church in St Kilda. They were keen card players - especially 500. The children and grandchildren were taught how to play when they were young. However they were not allowed to play cards on Sunday because that was thought to be gambling.
Allan was a pilot of Mosquito planes in the War. He was part of The Pathfinders and received a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and bar. He married Mayda and they had 2 adopted children - Robert and Janice. They lived in Waverley and the Gibbs family used to visit them whenever they came to Dunedin. Allan was very interested in the stars and planets and shared his knowledge and enthusiasm with Erris in particular. The Gibbs and Muir families (including Thelma) used to go on summer holidays together - Wanaka in Central Otago, Peel Forest, Hakateramea and Nokomai in Southland. They stayed in tents at camping grounds and always went fishing. Kathleen and Mayda would wait patiently at the campsite with the frying pan ready to cook the trout when the men came back. Allan died early (57) playing golf on the St Kilda golf links.
In 1944-45 Kathleen married Malcolm Gibbs. They moved from Dunedin to Owaka in South Otago. It was 72 miles away and the condition of the roads made it difficult to get to. There was a train that went fom Dunedin to Owaka and further south. The Gibbs family, Malcolm, Kathleen, Erris and Joan used to visit their Muir relations in Dunedin and the Muirs used to come and visit them in Owaka. Trips to Dunedin were always long and tiring. Erris used to get carsick!
