Murdoch Munro and Emily Key
Marriage 1885-1897

"My father had married and run away from home at a very early age and taken his young wife to the Coromandel district. With a rapidly growing family and no knowledge of any business save that of farming, and no money, the going must have been tough, but father had a keen zest for living, as shown by the exciting tales he had to tell of adventures in his coaching days, through Paeroa, Karangahake and Waihi."
(From daughter Edith's notes written in the late 1950s)

We don't know how or where Murdoch met Emily Key. Was she a housemaid at Lochinver? Were they living together in Oropi? Emily's first child, Alberta, was born in Hamilton in April 1884. Murdoch and Emily married in Cambridge in March 1885, a town quite distant from both their families. Murdoch was 23 and Emily only 17. She was 6 months pregnant with her second child, Colin.

Murdoch's parents strongly disapproved of the marriage - this was not the future his parents had planned for him. But it must have been a relief for Emily, given her troubled family background and the precarious situation of unmarried mothers in those days.

The marriage certificate describes Murdoch as a labourer. But his new circumstances called for more secure employment.

From August to October that year he placed advertisements in the Waikato Times promoting his newly established Livery and Bait Stables. This was the beginnings of his "coaching days", which, as far as we know, was his trade for the next 15 years or so.

By the following year, 1886, the family were resident in Paeroa. A newspaper report quotes Murdoch as a witness at the inquest of a woman who drowned herself in the Waihou River. Murdoch had driven her from Thames to Paeroa on the day of her death.

From 1887-1889 he was employed at Phillips and Son, general merchants, in Paeroa. Then, for the next 10 years he was "engaged in carting and express work on his own account". (Cyclopedia of New Zealand, v.2. Auckland Provincial District, p. 907)

During this time his children Isabel (Dolly) in 1887, Millicent in 1890, Edith (Edie) in 1892, Alan in 1893 and Might Murdoch in 1895 were born.

This must have been an increasingly difficult existence for Murdoch, Emily and their 7 children. While the Coromandel was booming with the second gold rush of the 1880s, the growing railroad network was providing stiff competition for the coaching and carting companies.

Then, on March 14 1897, Emily died in Auckland Hospital, where Murdoch had taken her for treatment during a difficult pregnancy. She was 29.

The following is her obituary from the Ohinemuri Gazette:

"It is with sincere regret that we have to announce the death of Mrs Munro, the wife of Mr Murdoch Munro so well known to most of our readers from her long residence in Paeroa. This sad event occured in Auckland on Sunday last where Mrs Munro had gone for professional treatment having been in bad health for some time. The funeral will take place today starting from Mr Munro's residence in Francis St at 9.30 am punctually for the Pukerimu cemetary. Universal sympathy is felt for Mr Munro in his bereavement and the seven little ones who are left motherless."

And the report of her funeral from the same paper:

"The funeral of Mrs Munro took place on Wednesday last leaving her late residence at 9.30 am for Pukerimu cemetary. There were a large number of friends in carriages and on horseback when the cortege left the house and by the time it reached the cemetary there was a very large attendance showing the respect in which the deceased was held and the sympathy held for the bereaved husband and children. the funeral service was conducted by the Rev. T.A. Norrie in a very impressive manner."

Widowhood 1898-1908