Trenwith Maurice MacFarlane^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]}

1876 - 1925  (49 years)

• Name	Trenwith Maurice MacFarlane  [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
  Birth	29 Nov 1876	Port Chalmers, Otago, New Zealand   [4, 5]
  Gender	Male
  Birth	1877	New Zealand   [6]
  Residence	1902	New Zealand   [2]
  Death	7 Dec 1925	Whaupuhunga, Waikato, New Zealand   [3, 4, 5]
  	Cause: suicide by strychnine
  Burial	9 Dec 1925	Kihikihi Cemetery, Te Awamutu, Waipa, Waikato, New Zealand   [4, 5]
  Person ID	I282740898903	MacFarlane
  Last Modified	7 Feb 2026

  
  

  Father	John MacFarlane,   b. Abt. 1842, Bushmills, Antrim, Ireland d. 25 Jun 1909, Victoria Home, Oamaru, Nth Otago, New Zealand (Age 67 years)
  Mother	Julia Lehane,   b. Dec 1844, Bantry , Co Cork ,Ireland d. 10 Jun 1896, 10 Howe St, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand (Age 51 years)
  Marriage	29 Aug 1871	Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand
  Family ID	F72	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Louie Helen Bremner,   b. 4 Feb 1884, Wellington province, New Zealand d. 1 Mar 1972, Nelson, Marlborough, New Zealand (Age 88 years)
  Children	1. David Gordon MacFarlane,   b. 5 Mar 1909, Durban, Natal, South Africa d. 4 May 2009, Nelson, Marlborough, New Zealand (Age 100 years)   2. Ian Trenwith MacFarlane,   b. 28 Dec 1912, Durban, Natal, South Africa d. 20 Apr 1986, Nelson, Marlborough, New Zealand (Age 73 years)   3. Morna Helen MacFarlane,   b. 7 Sep 1916, Wellington province, New Zealand d. 11 Jun 1997, Nelson, Marlborough, New Zealand (Age 80 years)   4. Neil Roberton MacFarlane,   b. 19 Feb 1920, Wellington province, New Zealand d. 12 Nov 1996, Levin, Horowhenua, New Zealand (Age 76 years)
  Family ID	F66	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	7 Feb 2026

  
  

• Notes

  Born at Daly Street, Port Chalmers 29 November 1876, where his father was a schoolteacher at the time. Attended North East Valley School (Dunedin) from 14 June 1880, then Waitahuna Gully School from 4 June 1888 to 21 Dec 1891. His 'School Admission Record' shows his intended destination as North East Valley School again. Story is that Trenwith moved to South Africa as a clerk with a shipping company in or before 1907 and Louie Bremner later followed him. There is a postcard sent to Louie at 30 Tinakori Road in Wellington by Trenwith from Durban in August 1907. They were married in Durban in 1908. Louie Bremner's family had connections to the Union Steam Ship Company, so it is possible that Trennie worked for that company LDS Microfilm #1795570 Natal Marriages Item 9 Entry #501 Husband: Trenwith MACFARLANE Wife: Louie Helen BREMNER Date: 4/7/1908 The family understands that Trennie came home from work one day saying that he had 'felt something snap in his head'. The doctor ordered a long sea voyage so they returned to NZ in 1913 or 1914 with a young Gordon and baby Ian. Trenwith worked at the 'cable station' at Cable Bay, near Nelson during WW1. During that time Louie and the children lived at Tahuna because there was no married accommodation at Cable Bay. Trennie cycled home each weekend, quite an effort on the roads of the time. Trenwith abandoned the family (by then living in Wellington) before Neil was born, and little is known of the rest of his life. He eventually committed suicide in a remote part of the North Island. He is believed to have taken strychnine. His death certificate lists him as a farm labourer and shows that otherwise almost nothing was known about him. Neither Ian nor Gordon was ever able (or willing) to say much about their father. Gordon in particular clearly considered himself more of a Bremner than a Macfarlane as they didn't know any of their Macfarlane relatives when growing up. A letter from Eric Stevenson to Don Macfarlane in 1987 commented that Trennie had made "an unfortunate marriage" and that the rest of the family knew little of him (and nothing about his descendants). It looks more like Louie made the 'unfortunate' marriage! 2 - REFERENCE 1906/869 DESCRIPTION: [from] PREMIER , WELLINGTON NEW ZEALAND . M R J MACFARLANE SEEKS INFORMATION AS TO THE WHEREABOUTS OF HIS SON "TRENWORTH MACFARLANE , AND THINKS IT POSSIBLE THE CAPTAIN MACFARLANE TMR KILLED IN ACTION MAY BE HIS SON (National Archives of South Africa (NASA) Database: Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository) [http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm30ddf0?2014040505381541FEDB63&DN=00000011] 3 - Burial: Lawn / Block : UNKN, Row 0. Plot 0 (no headstone)

  
  

• Sources

  [S1027704383] Ancestry Family Tree, Ancestry Family Tree. [S1027704428] Ancestry.com, New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-2010, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), BAB Microfilming; Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981. [S1027802910] Ancestry.com, New Zealand, Death Index, 1848-1966, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), New Zealand, Death Index, 1848-1966. [S1027704281] Ancestry.com, Australia and New Zealand, Find a Grave® Index, 1800s-Current, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S1027802828] Ancestry.com, New Zealand, Cemetery Records, 1800-2007, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), New Zealand Society of Genealogists Incorporated; Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand Cemetery Records. [S1027802920] Ancestry,com, New Zealand, Historical Birth Index, 1840-1902, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Department of Internal Affairs; New Zealand; New Zealand, Registration Birth Index, 1840-1901. [S1027704059] Donald Featherston Macfarlane, Donald Featherston Macfarlane NZ, (Gedcom recieved as e-mail attachment 5 November 2009).