On the 12th September 1914 an explosion ripped through the Ralph Mine in Huntly, New Zealand. 43 miners lost their lives and many were horribly injured. I t was the second worst mining disaster in New Zealand.
One of the men who died was James Holden. He married Elizabeth Bennie in New Zealand in 1886. They were both from the Irvine, Kilwinning area. James's sister Janet Holden had previously married Elizabeth's brother Boyd Bennie.
Both couples had gone to Greta, New South Wales in Australia in the 1890s but returned to New Zealand. Boyd qualified as a mine inspector in 1905.
This centenary has been marked in Huntly, New Zealand
Read more here
Family tree
