Catherine Lucy Innes

Written By Julia Kennedy

‘a perfect treasure house of old Canterbury lore’

Catherine Lucy Williams was born in England and came with her parents on one of the First Four Ships sent to Canterbury in 1850, when she was about 10 years old. In 1860, Catherine married David Innes, a South Canterbury sheep farmer. Their only child David Theodore Charles was born in 1861.

Catherine’s husband died in 1865 and it is from this time that she started to write a series of weekly articles for the newspapers describing the progress of Christchurch and Canterbury. Subsequently she published a book called ‘Canterbury Sketches’ under the nom de plume ‘Pilgrim’.

The purpose of the book was to celebrate the efforts and achievements of the Christchurch settlers. It covered the development of the church; accounts of civic, political and religious events; domestic life, social events, picnics and balls; with jokes and amusing stories to lighten the narrative.

Catherine also wrote a ladies’ column for the ‘Canterbury Times’ under the signature ‘Clio’. After she moved to Wellington, Catherine used the same name to also write a ladies’ column for the Evening Post supplement. She wrote in her first Evening Post column:

‘All matters pertaining to the well-being and well-doing of woman should be touched on, and would prove interesting to many . . . . Notices of the progress of the many good works in which the ladies of Wellington are engaged in, would be desirable’. (Evening Post, 6 October 1888).

Catherine was also an animal lover and worked for the protection of and kindness to animals. In 1884 she accepted the position of judge of cats as part of the Sydenham Poultry and Pigeon Society. At the 1884 Sydenham Poultry Show, Catherine won 1st prize in the tortoisehell and white cat category with her cat ‘Mrs Toodles’.

After the move to Wellington with her son, they lived at Oriental Bay. Catherine died in 1900 and is buried in an unmarked plot at Karori Cemetery. Her obituary read with respect to her early days ‘[Catherine] shared in all the vicissitudes, hardships, and rough experiences of that period. She was a perfect treasure house of old Canterbury lore’.

David junior married Julia de Tracy Gould in 1898. They did not have any children and are also interred at Karori Cemetery.

Karori Cemetery: Plot: *Ch Eng/N/21

References: https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1i2/innes-catherine-lucy

Julia Kennedy
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