John Barter Luscombe, 1834-4/11/1871.

Drowned.

 — The death by drowning of Mr John B. Luscombe at Quartzville, near Cromwell, on the 4th inst., cast a gloom over the district, in which he was well known and highly respected. The deceased had gone into Cromwell on that day to transact some business, and on returning homewards in the evening he called at the house of a friend, by whom he was directed to take care of the water race which was close by. Some time afterwards, the owner of the hotel near to the race, noticing that the water flowed on to the road — an unusual occurrence — went to ascertain the cause, and discovered the lifeless body of the deceased laying in the race. From the traces left on the spot where he fell in, it appears that he must have stumbled into the race, his head coming into contact with a stone or hard gravel, thus stunning him. The deceased was thirty-seven years of age, a native of Chudleigh, Devonshire, and leaves a wife and five children to mourn his loss. At the coroner’s inquest a verdict of “accidental death by drowning” was returned.   -Evening Star, 10/11/1871.

Cromwell Old Cemetery. "...whose irreparable loss is deeply lamented by his bereaved widow and their children also by a numerous circle of relatives and friends."