Agnes McKinnon Morice

Agnes McKinnon Morice

Agnes McKinnon Morice (née Smellie) was born in North Taieri in 1864. She married Francis Morice, head of the Dunedin branch of the Public Trust Office, in 1895. They had six children together and were living in Caversham when Francis died of a heart attack in 1912.

Agnes became involved in patriotic causes soon after the First World War began in August 1914. Throughout the war years Agnes donated useful items to the local branch of the Red Cross and canvassed the Caversham area raising funds for various wartime causes, chief among them the Belgian Relief Fund. For her work on behalf of Belgium, Agnes was awarded the Médaille de la Reine Elisabeth (Queen Elisabeth Medal) by the Belgian Government.

Family information

Parents: James Smellie and Isabella Smellie (née Easton)

Born: 1864

Died: 19 October 1944, aged 80 years

Buried: Southern Cemetery, Dunedin, Block 27P, Plot 20

Married: Francis Henry Morice, 1895

Children:

  • Rose Augusta Morice b. 1896
  • Francis Charles Morice b. 1898
  • James Easton Morice b. 1899
  • Arthur Robin Morice b. 1900
  • John Lewis Morice b. 1900
  • Agnes Zoe Morice b. 1902

Active in: Dunedin

Obituary/death notice:

MORICE – On October 19, 1944, at Dunedin, Agnes McKinnon, wife of the late F. H. Morice. – Service at St Peter’s Church, Cargill road, on Saturday, the 21st inst., at 11 a.m. – The funeral will leave immediately after for the Southern Cemetery. – Hugh Gourley, Ltd., funeral directors.
Otago Daily Times, 20 October 1944, p. 1

Selected sources

'Belgian Relief Fund', Otago Daily Times, 19 September 1914, p. 11

'Otago Patriotic and General Welfare Association', Evening Star, 8 May 1915, p. 5

'St. Clair and Caversham Red Cross Branch', Otago Daily Times, 11 November 1916, p. 8

'The Otago Patriotic Fund', Otago Daily Times, 5 December 1916, p. 6

'The War', Otago Daily Times, 21 July 1917, p. 8 

'Soldiers and Dependents' Fund', Evening Star, 20 October 1917, p. 9

'Belgian Awards for Dunedin Women', Otago Daily Times, 5 January 1920, p. 6

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