Biography

Rose Florence Foster (1889 – 1922)

Rose Florence Foster, daughter of Frederick and Mary Ann Foster, was born in 1889 and died aged 33 years on the 5th of September 1922. Her occupation was given as a Clerk and she lived at Heriot Row. She is buried in the family plot.

From; The OTAGO DAILY TIMES

INQUEST OPENED.

An inquest into the circumstances of the death of Rose Florence Foster, who was killed in a motor accident near Evan’s Flat on Tuesday afternoon, was opened before Mr H. J. Dixon, S.M., as coroner, at the deceased’s home in Heriot Row yesterday morning. Sub-inspector Eccles represented the police.

William James Foster, Butcher, of South Dunedin, a brother of the deceased, identified the body. He stated that he last saw his sister before she left last Friday for Ettrick in a motorcar with Mr Fred Duncan. She was a single woman, 32 years of age. Her general health had always been good.

At this stage the inquest was formally Adjourned and the evidence of Mr F. G. Duncan was taken later. Frederick George Duncan, Solicitor, said that deceased kept the books of his office and also the books of the orchards at Ettrick. Deceased left with witness in his car about 3 p.m. on Friday on a business trip to Ettrick. It was annual balance time. They left Ettrick about 1 p.m. on the following Tuesday for Dunedin.

Deceased was in the front seat with witness. No one else was in the car. Before leaving Ettrick the car was in good running order, and nothing was wrong with the steering gear. Witness called in at Sunny Vale Orchard, Island Block, on the way down; and stayed three quarters of an hour.

After passing Bowler’s Creek it was a good straight road, and the car was travelling about thirty miles an hour until he slowed it down to twenty- five miles an hour at the corner. He knew the corner, which was at that time very bad, and cut up and full of ruts. A driver had to turn with the ruts, and not try to turn across them.

Witness picked what he thought was the best part of the road. The driving wheel on the right-hand side skidded. That put the wheels out of alignment and the front wheel jumped to the left. Witness straightened the car up, and by that time his left-hand wheels would be 2ft over on the grass. The road was narrow; and was very greasy from the heavy rain the previous day. Within three car lengths of running on the grass, the car turned right over—the wheels in the air. There was a bank of about 4ft deep at this point. Witness and deceased were both pinned under the car. There was a hole in the road. The steering whee1 was sticking in witness’s back. Deceased was alongside him. Witness could not get out, and he must have been unconscious for a while, as it was twenty minutes before relief came. He thought it was about half-past three when the accident happened. When they were extricated deceased was dead. They went the same road when going to Ettrick. When going, witness noticed the ruts at that point, and they passed them all right. The roads were dry then. They were on a downgrade when the car capsized. It was the ruts in the road and not the steering gear that made the car swerve. It never occurred to the witness that there would be any danger of the car capsizing when it ran on to the grass. He had the brake on and the speed would then be 15 miles per hour. When he saw the car was going to turn over he called out to the deceased to get under the seat. Witness had been travelling that road for ten years in all sorts of weather night and day and had never had an accident before. Deceased was taken straight from the scene of the accident to the Tuapeka hospital.