HISTORIC GRAVES OF MILANG CEMETERY
HISTORIC GRAVES OF MILANG CEMETERY

HISTORIC GRAVES OF MILANG CEMETERY

THE GRIERSONS

by Alvyn Hopgood

Mr Magnus Grierson was quite a prominent man in the Milang district. His home was situated on a double block that ran from Watson Street through to Stirling Street. Dentists have always been feared, but not so much Mr Grierson was known as the local practitioner in this field. His main job was extracting teeth without anesthetic.
On one occasion, my Aunty May, Mrs Harry Woodrow (nee Overall), was having a hard time with tooth-ache, so she went to Mr Grierson for help. I never heard whether she went alone or in company, but apparently, she was very frightened…but being between a rock and a hard place, she had little option but to renege. She was about 12 years old, and she clearly remembered the experience for the rest of her life.
Mr Grierson, I believe, had quite a following in this profession, so he must have had ‘a way’ with patients and pain. On the back door of his home, he had ‘Grierson’ carved in a vertical panel of the door. I don’t know if this door let to his dentistry room. Magnus and his son Herbert were both interested in town affairs. Their positions in local events included: Chairman of Bremer District Council, committee member of the Regatta Club in the 1920s, and supporting the Church of England in 1911. Herbert was also a golf club patron in 1929.

Magnus and his first wife, Elizabeth, had one son, Herbert, born in 1968. Sadly, Elizabeth passed away on the 9th of October, 1870, aged 48. Magnus’s second wife was also called Elizabeth, and they had three children, who tragically all died at an early age. Flo passed away on the 13th of March 1875, aged 21 months. George passed on the 19th of November 1877, at four months. And Mary died on the 8th of May in 1882, aged eight days.
In all, seven of the Grierson family are buried in the Milang Cemetery. Magnus died on the 16th of May 1924, aged 83. His first wife, Elizabeth, died on the 9th of October, 1870, Magnus’s second wife, Elizabeth, died on the 19th of April 1936, aged 88. Their son, Herbert died on the 21st of July 1937, aged 69. Another member of the Grierson family, Norman, lived in South America. The Grierson name has been associated with the Milang area for many years. They were a highly respected family.

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