Biography contributed by Petina Danenberg.
Jane Kyle married Henry (aka Harry) William Bowler, a carpenter, at the house of Mr James Murray in Castle Street Dunedin on February 16, 1874 when they were both of full age.
Their only child Jeannie Bowler was born on 20 December1875 in Dunedin. By 1883 the family had moved to Ōamaru where Harry was a carpenter living in Trent Street.
Harry was killed in a flash flood in the Kakanui River in February 1892 aged approximately 50 years old. At the time he was employed as a rabbiter and had been staying in a tent next to the river when it flooded. A fund called 'The Bowler Relief Fund' was set up by the people of Ōamaru for Mrs Bowler who had been left destitute with an invalid child and without any means of support. Donations were made by individuals and businesses with concerts and bazaars also being held. By the beginning of April more than £56 had been raised by the citizens of Ōamaru. It had been originally hoped that there would be enough money raised to purchase a two-roomed cottage and a piece of land for Mrs Bowler but instead the money was handed over to the Benevolent Trustees to administer. Along with the fund other kindnesses were shown to the family with the Oamaru Mail reporting that 'a friend has signified his intention of leaving for an indefinite period a pint of milk daily at Mrs Bowler’s house'.
Jane is shown on the 1893 electoral roll living at Torridge Street, Oamaru.
Jane died on 11 December 1894 at Nen Street, Ōamaru aged 58 years. She is buried in the Wesleyan section of the old Oamaru Cemetery.
Her only child Jeannie died on 6 September 1898 in Ōamaru at the age of 22 of pleurisy and asthma. She was a nurse.
Sources
Presbyterian Church Marriage Registers
National Archives – Inquest
Papers Past – Oamaru Mail
Death Certificates