• Born: 29 January 1867, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
• Marriage (1): John FISHER on 4 January 1888 in Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand ¹
• Died: 16 January 1904, Riverton, Southland, Southland, New Zealand at age 36 ³
• Buried: 1904, Riverton, Southland, Southland, New Zealand ³

  Death Notes

Lilias and her sister-in-law drowned while trying unsuccessfully to save the life of a young niece (Nellie Steven) in the sea

  Burial Notes

Riverton Cemetery (New), Presbyterian Section, Row 1 of E, Plot 9

  Recorded Events in Her Life

• She had a residence in Otautau, Southland, Southland, New Zealand. ³

• She has conflicting birth information of 17 January 1867 and Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland.

• She was buried at the Riverton Cemetery (New), Presbyterian Section, Row 1 of E, Plot 9, in Riverton, Southland, Southland, New Zealand in 1904.
  
  Memorial Inscription:
  
  In Loving Memory of
  LILIAS PORTEOUS
  BELOVED WIFE OF JOHN FISHER, OTAUTAU,
  AGED 37 YEARS
  AND NELLIE STEVEN, THEIR NIECE
  AGED 14 YEARS,
  WHO WERE ACCIDENTALLY DROWNED AT
  RIVERTON, 16TH JANUARY 1904.
  MARGARET GRACE DALKIETH,
  THEIR ELDEST DAUGHTER, DIED AT
  OTAUTAU, 22ND JUNE 1919, AGED 29 YEARS.
  GEORGE EDWARD FISHER, OTAUTAU
  DIED 24TH AUGUST 1926, AGED 87 YEARS
  MARGARET GIBSON FISHER, HIS WIFE
  DIED AT INVERCARGILL, 8TH DECEMBER 1928
  AGED 89 YEARS.
  At Rest.
  
  Note: Margaret Fisher's second middle name has been carved incorrectly on the gravestone; the correct spelling should be "Dalkeith" (not "Dalkieth").

• News of Lilias's death was published on page 6, column 1 of The Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 13, on Saturday, 16 January 1904 in Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. Similar blurbs were published in newspapers across New Zealand. Although the initial newspaper reports cited the deaths of four people, in reality there were only three deaths (the "niece" and "Miss Steven" being the same person).
  
  
  BATHING FATALITY.
  FOUR PEOPLE DROWNED.
  [BY TELEGRAPH--PRESS ASSOCIATION.]
  
  INVERCARGILL, This Day.
       A distressing bathing fatality occurred at Riverton this morning. Mrs. John Fisher (wife of the former manager for Sir J. O. Ward), Mrs. D. Thomson and a niece of nine years, and Miss Stevens (from Timaru) were all drowned. The girl got out of her depth, and the ladies went to her rescue and were carried away with the tide.

• Additional details about Lilias's death and the fatalities at Riverton were published on page 5, column 1 of The Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 14, on Monday, 18 January 1904 in Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
  
  THE RIVERTON FATALITY.
  ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.
  [BY TELEGRAPH — PRESS ASSOCIATION.]
  INVERCARGILL, 17th January.
  
       Further particulars of the bathing fatality show that about 11 o'clock yesterday morning Mrs. John Fisher and Mrs. D. S. Thomson, visitors to Riverton, walked along the southern side of the Estuary, accompanied by their niece, Nellie Steven, aged fourteen years (daughter of the schoolmaster at Glenavy, South Canterbury), with the intention of bathing near the Pilot Station. The girl entered the water to bathe, the tide being at about half flood. She had not gone far when she dropped over a steep scarped face into deep water. The two ladies ran in, fully dressed, to her assistance, but, being unaware of the sudden dip, they also slid over it.
       The rush of the tide is very strong on that bank, and they were all quickly carried up the river, struggling and screaming. Mr. J. Beer put off in a boat and recovered the bodies of both ladies, floating about four hundred yards from the scene of the accident. They were quickly got ashore, and for an hour and a half strenuous efforts to resuscitate them were made by Miss Williamson (South African nurse), Mrs. L. D. Petchell (an ex-hospital matron), Mr. Livesey, and others, but without avail. The body of the girl was found early this morning, still nearer the town.
       Mrs. Fisher, who leaves six children, was the wife of Mr. John Fisher, at one time manager of the Ward Farmers' Association, but now of Otautau. She was a Timaru lady, and sister to Mr. Thomson, whose wife was the other victim. The latter was a daughter of Mr. W. B. Scandrett, for a long time Town Clerk at Invercargill, and afterwards Mayor. Mrs. Thomson leaves two children.
       Had the tides been full probably there would have been no fatality, as the girl would not have required to wade out so far to seek deeper water. The pot-like hole in which they were drowned is known to residents to be dangerous, but no warning notices appear to have been thought necessary.

• Newspaper Gallery: Death notices for the three drowning victims were published in column 4, and a more extensive account of the accident was published in column 7 of the 2nd page of The Southland Times, Issue 19255, on Monday, 18 January 1904 in Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand.
  
  Fisher.- At Riverton, on 16th January, 1904, as the result of a boating accident, Lillias Porteous, beloved wife of John Fisher, Otautau, Southland, and third daughter of James Thomson, Timaru ; aged 37 years. Funeral private.

Lilias married John FISHER, son of George Edward FISHER and Margaret GIBSON, on 4 January 1888 in Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand.¹ (John FISHER was born on 8 July 1863 in Clifden, Invercargill, Otago, New Zealand, died on 2 November 1950 in Woodlands, Southland, Southland, New Zealand ³ and was buried in 1950 in Otautau, Southland, Southland, New Zealand ³.)

  Recorded Events about their Marriage

• The wedding of John Fisher and Lilias Porteous Thomson was announced page 2 of the Timaru Herald on 6 January 1888 in Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand.
  
  Marriage.
  FISHER - THOMSON. At the residence of the bride's father, Munorcroft, on the 4th inst., by the Rev. Wm. Gillies, John Fisher, of Invercargill, to Lilias Porteous, third daughter of Mr James Thomson, Timaru, late of Dalkeith, Scotland.