Vege garden
Caroline Martin was in unusually good spirits on a February afternoon in 1924. The 40 year had only been married a few months and was the third wife of Thomas Martin, Mangapiko farmer.
She and Martin had had a cup of tea about 4pm then he had gone to the milking shed. Around half an hour later Caroline decided to get some vegetables from the garden. She put on a Macintosh cape and left the house in drizzling rain.
Caroline had not been well and was being treated for goitre and heart trouble. The previous November she had been in a low state of health and Dr Hall advised a holiday. She went to Palmerston North early in December and had returned a few days ago very much brighter.
Vege garden
Goitre, an enlargement of the thyroid gland, usually resulted in a painless swelling of the neck, and was often caused by iodine deficiency. The condition was sometimes called the ‘Derbyshire neck’ and the swelling could turn into a distressingly disfiguring enlargement.
Its cause in the past had not been understood. Pastry, scones, sweets, and aerated waters were named as culprits. One doctor whose practice treated mostly women observed that the pressure of life, nerve strain, and overwork among women and girls was very closely connected with goitre. Women, he said, were less able to stand the strain and worry of life than men, and thyroid activity being greater in females, cases of goitre were more common among them. By 1924 it was understood that the cause of goitre was a lack of iodine which hopefully spared Caroline any questionable diagnoses or quack remedies.
When Thomas returned to the house after milking at 7pm he was informed by the maid that Caroline had gone to the garden at 4.30 and had not returned. He went in search of her, crossing a paddock toward a clump of ti tree, where he thought she might have been sheltering from the rain.
Instead he found her lying about 200 yards from the house with her head in a field drain. The drain bank was steep and slippery, and it appeared she had slipped and fell, losing consciousness and drowning. Her Macintosh cape added to her difficulty in getting out of the drain. It was thought she had changed her mind about getting garden vegetables and went across the paddock to gather some mushrooms instead.
Many people learned with sincere regret of the death of Caroline in such a painfully tragic manner. The inquest established that Caroline at times became depressed about her health but never gave any indication of taking her life. The evidence showed that suicide was extremely improbable. The drain was almost waterless, while about 100 yards away and somewhat easier to reach was a large pond of comparatively deep water. The coroner recorded a verdict that she was accidentally drowned, there being no evidence as to exactly how she got into the drain.
The newlywed Caroline was privately interred at Te Awamutu cemetery.
