Case 5
- Isabel Reed
Framed portrait of Isabel Reed, ca. 1899, with caption in A.H. Reed’s calligraphic hand.
Reed met Harriet Isabel Fisher (known as Isabel) while boarding with her parents in Auckland in 1895, when Alfred was 19 and Isabel was 28. The two had strong common ground: Isabel hailed from Tottenham not far from Alfred’s place of origin; the Fisher family were also devout Methodists, who had emigrated to New Zealand two years prior to the Reeds, in 1885.
Alfred had become engaged to Isabel some time before his shift to Dunedin in 1897. The couple were married at Auckland in 1899 and agreed that Isabel would only move south once Alfred had secured suitable lodgings.
The displayed framed portrait of Isabel Reed dates from around the time of their wedding and was Alfred Reed’s own copy.
Photograph of the Reed home in Granville Terrace, Belleknowes, 1920s.
After initially renting a small house in the suburb of Littlebourne, the Reeds had their first home built in Belleknowes in 1903. This remained their residence until they moved to Mornington in 1929.
Photograph of Isabel Reed outside 155 Glenpark Avenue, 1930s.
A two-storey brick house of substantial size, 155 Glenpark Avenue in Mornington was the Reed family home from 1929 until the death of Isabel Reed in 1939.
A smaller residence was subsequently built on the vacant section adjacent to the larger Reed family home. This became the home of A.H. Reed for the next 36 years. His former, larger home was sold to the Mornington Presbyterian Church.
Portraits of Alfred and Isabel Reed, ca. 1935.
Pamphlet “In memory of Isabel, beloved wife of A.H. Reed” issued by A.H. Reed, 1939.
A short tribute to Isabel Reed issued in 1939 while Isabel Reed, Her Book was in preparation.
A.H. Reed. Isabel Reed, her book. Dunedin: A.H. & A.W. Reed for the Alfred and Isabel Reed Trust, 1940.
Isabel Reed died at the age of 72 in 1939 after a year of serious health ailments. The marriage had been a close and happy one and in the long years following her death, Reed never lost faith in eventual reunion with her.
Soon after Isabel’s death, Reed wrote a little memorial book entitled Isabel Reed, Her Book. Printed for private circulation, it is written in the form of an extended letter to ‘My Beloved’ in which he reminisces about their life together.
A.H. Reed. Isabel Reed, her book. Dunedin: A.H. & A.W. Reed for the Alfred and Isabel Reed Trust, 1940.
Open image in new window
A.H. Reed and Marian Reed (compilers). Heaven's morning breaks: an anthology of the afterlife. Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed for the Alfred & Isabel & Marian Reed Trust, 1941.
Alfred endured a three-year period of solitude in his new cottage at 153 Glenpark Avenue. He was joined for a time by his unmarried sister Marian, who used the unoccupied downstairs bedroom, after the death of their father Jamie in 1942.
The booklet of short quotations about life and death Heaven’s Morning Breaks was a collaboration between Alfred and Marian Reed compiled during this period. Alfred wrote an introduction in which he offers hope for reunion with departed loved ones. Further editions were issued in 1957 and 1968, and the significance of these is described in Wall Carrel 1.
A.H. Reed and Marian Reed (compilers). Heaven's morning breaks: an anthology of the afterlife. Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed for the Alfred & Isabel & Marian Reed Trust, 1941.
Open image in new window
Photographic view of 153 (with A.H. Reed outside) and 155 Glenpark Avenue, Mornington, 1950s.
