"I regret to inform you that Mr Niven, the purchaser of Farm 940 in the Carnamah Subdivision, died suddenly on the 25th ultimo on his way to Perth. It appears that his health had not been too good for some time past, and that he was on his way to Perth to get medical advice but expired in the train at Mogumber. An inquest was held and the cause of death was certified to be the rupture of a blood vessel. I instructed Mr Woods, the Company's Ranger, to give Mrs Niven any advisory assistance she might require, and requested him to inform me whether he considered Mrs Niven would be able to carry on the farm alone, or what the family proposed doing, and having seen Mrs Niven he replied that she was quite able to carry on the work of the farm, although financially she did not know how she stood as her late husband consulted her but little on this subject."
"I have seen Mrs Niven. She tells me she is quite able to carry on the work on the farm, but financially she is quite in the dark as to how she stands. Mr Niven, it appears, consulted her very little in this respect. She is getting assistance from the Industries Assistance Board, and will have under crop this year about 250 acres. The early sown crop looks well. Mr Niven (as far as Mrs Niven can gather) was going down to Perth to consult Messrs Stone and Burt on a matter connected with a sum of money left to him by his late brother in Scotland. These papers she says were lost or destroyed. She is quite in the dark where her husband died, and who was with him at the time of death."
The death occurred at Midland Junction on Sunday the 1st inst., of an old resident of Carnamah in Mrs. Annie Niven, widow of the late Robert Niven formerly of "Craigend," Carnamah. The deceased lady was 79 years of age and is survived by seven daughters and seven sons. The late Mrs. Niven was among the first settlers to come to Carnamah. The funeral took place at Karrakatta and was attended by a large number of relatives and friends."