Linwood Cemetery Tour Guide - Christchurch City Libraries

Sali Mahomet was short and plump, had a large clientele, lived in a stylish home,
which is still standing, at 69 Caledonian Road and married a European
woman,Florence Henrietta Johnston. The couple had four daughters whose Eurasian
good looks made them the beauties of Christchurch in the 1930s and ‘40s. One of
Sali’s daughters, Florence Wylie, lived from 1916 - 1998 and is buried with her father
and grandfather.
Sali’s marriage certificate and death documents are worth perusal. His marriage
certificate reads:
Sally Mahomet, 27, bachelor, ice cream vendor, was born in Ceylon, resident
and usually resident in Christchurch, a son of Sultan Mahomet and -
Mahomet, and married on 5 January 1906.
His bride, Florence Henrietta Johnston, 19, domestic, spinster, was born at
Oamaru, resident and usually resident in Christchurch and the daughter of
John William Johnston, railway employee, and Frances nee Otto. Marie
Foster, Brightlings Lane, Christchurch, and J. H. Upham, solicitor,
Christchurch, were the witnesses. [John Hazlitt Upham was the father of the
Victoria Cross winner, Charles Upham.] L. C. Williams, the Registrar,
officiated.
Sali’ death certificate shows that he died of a stroke at the Old Men’s Home,
Ashburton, on 7 October 1943. His mother, whose name is omitted from the marriage
certificate, is given in the death certificate as Addul Mahomet nee Khon. His place of
birth is given as Punjaub, India, rather than Ceylon, and his age is given as 77. Sali
was probably almost 40 when he married Florence Johnston, 19. In 19 th and early
20 th century certificates, it is reasonably common to see mature grooms deduct a
decade or more from their age when marrying younger brides.
Row M
No. 3471-72
Button and Moore
Here lie Anna Button, who died in 1909, aged 91, her husband Robert, who died in
1911 aged 83, and daughter, Isabel, ‘Miss Bella Button’ , 1863-1921, a noted
horsewoman whose stone, although decayed, yet remains.
Robert bought North New Brighton land where there had once been a Maori
settlement. In Robert’s time, the property housed the New Brighton Trotting Club. It
would become Queen Elizabeth II Park, venue of the 1974 Commonwealth Games.
Bella ‘a tallish woman …[was] perfectly fearless when handling the biggest outlaw
they bring along’ and was able to ‘build a trap or nail a shoe on a horse as necessity
requires’. She owned and trained horses and drove horses at trotting events until
women were banned in 1896.
In 1911, 48 but claiming to be 46, Bella married the dashing Augustus Moore, 31.
Alas, Gus was after his wife’s money and the couple separated. Thereafter Bella had
to be content with the company of her cats and horses.
Linwood Cemetery Tour Guide
Updated 2013
22