Not long after my great grandparents, Peter and Margaret Gaffaney, moved to Rangiora in North Canterbury, Margaret died “unexpectedly” at the age of 46 (though her death certificate gives her age as 42) on 16th November 1931. The cause of death was “Perinephritic Abscess, Toxaemia and secondary Haemoerrhage”.1 My grandfather was just 21 when his…
