MRS. THOMAS KIDD, CLARENCE RIVER, NEW SOUTH WALES.
THE death, on 9th June, 1917, at Iona, Lawrence, Clarence River, New South Wales, of Mrs. Kidd, has made another keenly-felt blank in our Brushgrove-Grafton Congregation. On 7th June, in her usual health, she attended the weekly prayer meeting. On the evening of the eighth she took ill, and expired peacefully on the ninth at 8.40 p.m. Her husband, a worthy Christian, predeceased her by five years.
Mrs. Kidd was born on the Hunter River on 18th December, 1843. She was for some time under the ministry of Rev. Allan Macintyre, and had the privilege of occasionally hearing the celebrated Rev. Alexander Macintyre, a native of Strontian, Loch Suinart. Of him she often spoke with the greatest respect. It gave her a reviving of spirit when she recalled the gracious words of that worthy servant of the Lord. Her early years were spent on the Hunter River, and the remaining part on the Richmond and Clarence Rivers. A few years after her marriage she underwent a saving change, and from that period till her death she was a devoted, steadfast, and consistent Christian. A keen sense of her own sinfulness and unworthiness kept her, for many years, from becoming a member in full communion. It was under the ministry of the late Rev. Walter Scott, Brushgrove, she became a communicant, and she enjoyed his ministry.
The various forms of Sabbath desecration on the Clarence, including the excursion steamer, caused her much grief. To the core she was a most loyal Free Presbyterian. She deplored the declension in doctrine, worship, and discipline so prevalent in Australia and in the home country. The Free Presbyterian Magazine was no small treat to her. It formed a bond of union with the home Church. She had the great joy of seeing a number of the members of her family walking in the truth. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth.” Her most exemplary and beautiful Christian daughter, Mrs. Janet Shaw, went to her eternal home a year previously. Now daughter and mother are re-united in the sinless and deathless kingdom of their glorious and adorable Redeemer.
Mrs. Kidd was eminently given to secret prayer, meditation of the Word of God, and the sacrifice of praise. She was lovingly attached to her youngest daughter, Miss Lily Kidd, who lived with her and affectionately attended to her to the last moment. They had much daily secret spiritual fellowship together in prayer, meditation, and praise. The writer of these notes, who, in 1914, had the privilege of residing for six months with the family, observed that an hour at least every afternoon was devoted to these soul-profitable exercises, and he was often refreshed in spirit by hearing the sound of sacred music coming from their secret chamber. “They that dwell in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
Of Mrs. Kidd, Mr. Hugh Grant, elder, Woodford Leigh, said that “she was a great help to the cause”; and Mrs. Scott, widow of the late Rev. Walter Scott, said, “The worthy mother of our lamented friend, Mrs. Shaw.” We vividly remember our sad parting with her and other friends at Lawrence Wharf on 8th December, 1914. Since then three of their number have gone to their eternal rest. Mrs. Kidd is survived by three sons and seven daughters. Two of the sons, Messrs. Alexander Kidd and James Kidd, are elders in the Brushgrove-Grafton Congregation. Two years ago they removed to Ballina on the Richmond River, and there every Sabbath regular services and a Sabbath School are carried on by them with encouraging success.
To the bereaved family and relatives we extend our heart’s sympathy, and commend them to God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
D. M’K.