After their evening meal on a Sunday in early March 1923, 28-year-old Te Mapara farmer Raymond Sefton told his wife Ethel he would have a shot at some rabbits while going to muster the cows. He asked for the cartridges then left, taking a shotgun. It was routine for Raymond, a returned soldier, to do this when bringing in the cows to be milked.
But after an hour Ethel had heard no shooting and as he hadn’t returned, she went out to look for him. She called repeatedly but received no answer. Then, in the distance she saw him. He was lying beside a fence; the gun against the bank, the muzzle pointing towards him.
Ethel rushed for help, meeting Cecil White. Dr Cross of Piopio was called and on arriving at Te Mapara was taken to the scene of the shooting, a few hundred yards from the back of the house. There was nothing the doctor could do.
At the inquest, held at the residence of Mr Helms, Te Mapara, Dr Cross said it appeared Raymond had rested the gun against the fence, prior to climbing over. The third wire had been spliced at this point, with the ends of the knot protruding, and the trigger had apparently been caught in the splice as Raymond picked up the gun on the other side of the fence. Cecil White gave formal evidence of identifying Raymond. He had chatted with him about an hour before the shooting and found him in his usual cheerful spirits. The coroner returned a verdict that death was due to the accidental discharge of a shot gun.
Raymond was born at OKains Bay, Christchurch, one of six siblings. He lost both his parents when he was fairly young – his mother when he was 12, his father when he was 18.
He enlisted with the Main Expeditionary Force during World War One, in 1915 when he was 20. While in training camp he was injured by a kick from a horse which caused Periotitis tibia – a painful inflammation of the membrane covering the shinbone. In early 1916 he left with the Ninth Reinforcements for Egypt but he broke down and was returned from the front during April and discharged from the military.
He found employment with the Christchurch tramway service and in June 1916 married Ethel Hearfield. They would go on to have four children.
After a lapse in judgement, a short time after getting married, he was charged with forgery while paying incidental expenses connected with his marriage. He had intended to make restitution but Drayton’s department store had put the matter in the hands of the police before he could. Thomas Wilkins, of Akaroa, gave evidence as to Raymond’s general good character. The court, aware of the effect the war had had on him, was lenient, ordering only that the money be returned and court costs paid.
The past behind them, the Sefton’s came to Te Mapara but luck was not to be found there either.
Raymond was buried at Piopio cemetery, his headstone inscription saying he was “accidentally killed on his farm at Te Mapara… So loved, so mourned.”
