Rose Hall née Dryden (1828—1900)

Rose was born on 22 December 1828 at Cottingham, near Hull, in Yorkshire, England. She was the youngest of eight children born to solicitor William Dryden (1789—1876) and his wife Jane (née Ritson, 1787—1839). Once old enough, Rose took over running the family home. Her sister Agnes married George Hall in 1850, and they immigrated to New Zealand in 1853.

On 3 April 1861, Rose married John Hall at Holy Trinity Church, Hull. She then immigrated with her husband to New Zealand, arriving in the emerging colony of Canterbury in September 1861. They first lived in Latimer Square in Christchurch, where their first child, a son Godfrey, was born and sadly he lived only thirteen days.

Rose and John moved to Hororata during the summer months and once the homestead there was extended in 1867, it became their principal family home. Of this extension, Rose wrote: "The house has been greatly enlarged since we left in April and would now make a truly comfortable home if my Honorable husband would only make up his mind to leave politics and stick to sheep but it's not in his nature to do so and I find I must abandon all hope of ever having a settled home." At this time there was also the prospect of living in Wellington for the parliamentary sessions.

As John was involved in politics for forty years, life for Rose was not always easy. On one occasion he was away for five months on political business. Rose’s letter to Grace had this to say: … “[he] unfortunately is so much away from home that he is better known amongst his children by his letters and messages than by his actual presence.”

Rose was a tireless correspondent and wrote continually to her family in England. Many letters to her sister-in-law Grace Neall, written between 1861 - 1876 survive. These, along with letters from Agnes, wife of George, and Sarah, wife of Thomas, were published in 2011 as Letters to Grace. Though out of print now, this book is occasionally available second hand.

The family of Rose and John were Mildred 1863-1945, Wilfred 1864-1943, John Dryden 1865-1941, Mary 1867-1888 and Godfrey ii 1868-1953. A granddaughter of Godfrey, Kate Foster, lives in the Hororata homestead today.

Rose was a woman of her times and place and her life revolved round her family, supporting her husband, nourishing and admonishing her children – and supporting them too when necessary. She was a shy woman, not one for the centre of attention. In the ‘Votes for Women’ campaign of the late nineteenth century, Rose collected signatures for the petitions but declined Kate Sheppard’s invitation to have her name at the head of the petition.

In 1895 Rose established Hororata branch of the Mothers' Union.

In the obituary in The Press was written: "She was a lady highly esteemed by all who knew her. In Wellington when Sir John was Premier ... … she did a great deal to maintain the friendly feeling which existed in private life between members of the different parties of the day. In later years she was a hard and enthusiastic worker in every good cause and her many acts of unassuming kindness shown to those living around her home at Hororata, will not be forgotten."

Rose died on 12 May 1900 in their home on Park Terrace, Christchurch.

Rose Hall