Mrs Christina Prouse, of Levin, who passed away recently, was born on February 1, 1860, at Wainuiomata and educated at the school there. Twice a week for seven years she carried the mail on horseback a distance of nine miles to Lower Hutt. She commenced this arduous task at the age of 12 years and maintained the service until she was 19, the year of her marriage, which took place in her home - the Post Office at Wainuioamta - on May 22, 1879.
Her husband the late Richard Prouse, was sawmilling in Whiteman's Valley and it was there that they set up their home and brought four daughters into the world - Grace (now deceased), Jessie, Gertrude and Mabel. In 1891 they moved to Levin, three children later born there - Eunice (now deceased), Allan and Phyllis. The journey to Levin was partly by road - if it could be called such - and partly by rail, the horse and buggy being transferred to the train run by the Manawatu Railway Company. Eventually she arrived at the home she was to occupy to her death. A two-storey wooden structure it was one of the first houses in Weraroa.
As there was no doctor nearer than Foxton, Mrs Prouse took upon herself the task of doctor-nurse and her prowess became legendary. Both she and her husband were foundation members of the Levin Methodist Church. The late Mrs Prouse and Mrs James Prouse laid the foundation stone of the present Methodist Church and she held various offices during a period of some 55 years until her death. Until a few years ago she was responsible for the floral work in the church. Her other interests included the St. John Ambulance Brigade, Levin Horticultural Society, of which she was a foundation member, and she was a member and patron of the Levin Native Flora Club. She was matron of the soldiers' hospital in Weraroa in 1915 and during the influenza epidemic of 1918 was second in charge of the temporary hospital at the Levin School. Mrs Prouse enjoyed her life to the full and looked forward to her birthdays with as much enthusiasm as in her youth.