Melbourne woman Christine Chisholm (nee Reid) and her husband had been in Covid-19 lockdowns the same as everyone else until they were lifted.
Being one of the first Australian Kiwis able to fly back to New Zealand, the couple travelled to Dunedin to visit Mrs Chisholm’s mother, who was having a 90th birthday party.
The couple decided to take her to Queenstown, which would be her final holiday.
"We were driving through Lawrence, and I asked my husband if he could stop off at the cemetery," Mrs Chisholm said.
"We searched in the rain and found the resting place of my great-grandparents, Creighton Reid and Sarah Anne McCombe.
She said she became curious about them.
"Looking at the surrounding hills, I wondered about their lives together."
Later research revealed they migrated to Otago from County Down (Northern Ireland) in the early 1880s and married in 1885. They had three sons: William, Robert and John.
The family lived in Evans Flat and one of the sons was born at Tuapeka Mouth.
Creighton Reid worked as a miner and farmer until he died in 1928.
Mrs Chisholm said she would be interested to hear from anyone in the area who might know details about their lives and the era they lived in Lawrence.
Her email is christine.chisholm57@gmail.com.
