Obituaries Australia

Phoebe Duffield, c1880

State Library of South Australia, B 25170

We regret to record the death of Mrs. Phoebe Duffield, widow of the late Hon. Walter Duffield which took place at her residence, Para Para, near Gawler, on Thursday, May 15. The deceased lady, who was seventy-five years of age at the time of her death, was (writes our Gawler correspondent) born in London, and arrived in the colony about 1840. She was married to Mr. Duffield in March, 1842, by the late Rev. T. Q. Stow, in Freeman-Street Church, that being the second marriage that had taken place there. Mrs. Duffield possessed qualities of a high order, and was never happier than when entertaining her friends or dispensing charity to some needy recipient. The poor and distressed invariably found in her a friend with a sympathetic ear and generous heart. She was identified with the Gawler Congregational Church from its formation, being one of the first eight who were received into fellowship by the Rev. T. Q. Stow on its establishment on Christmas Day, 1851. From that day until her death she took the warmest interest in its prosperity, and both by Christian activity and generous gifts proved herself a supporter that can ill be spared. The deceased lady leaves one son (Mr. D. W. Duffield of Adelaide), and five daughters, three of whom are married respectively to the following gentlemen:—Lieutenant-Colonel Makin, Dr. J. Davies Thomas, and Mr. T. H. Bowen.