Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (2024)

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Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (1)[...]awatu Flows On, 1993. John Bevan Ford. Collection of Massey University
Library. Reproduced by permissi[...]30-2005) was born in Christchurch. His mother was of Ngati Raukawa ki Kapiti
ancestry and his father of English/German descent. He lived in the Manawatu[...]was a full time painter for the last twenty years of his life.

This painting has its origins in an invitation to travel to the Netherlands, with a series of works
commemorating, and giving a Maori perspective on, the anniversary of Dutch explorer Abel
Tasman’s arrival in New Zea[...]acrylics, on
watercolour paper. The taniko border of the cloak above the land signifies mana, and that the land
is a land of distinction; the floating threads emanating from the sacred upper edges of the cloak
symbolise the local people’s whakapap[...]active space. Below, the Manawatu River flows out of Te Apiti, the Manawatu Gorge, and meanders
across[...]who became a totara tree and carved out the path of the river on
his way from the Wairarapa, east of the ranges, to the west coast. The canoe of the next navigator,
Kupe, can be seen to the left of Okatia. One of Kupe’s wives was Ruahine, after whom the ranges
to the left of the picture are named. The third great navigator was Tasman, and his boat is also in
the sky, to the left of Kupe’s. Constellations and single stars in the sky are the Maori equivalent
of the compasses that Tasman used as navigational to[...]e Manawatu River
meets the Pohangina was the site of an outpost of the Rangitane people. The site has since been
was[...]y including at
the bottom right edge the patterns of some very old flax belts from the Manawatu Museum (now
Te Manawa). Some of these patterns also appear in the traditional taniko borders of the cloak. The
unusual vertical pattern in the centre of the cloak, which is not traditional, was inspired[...]hapes from that carving also appear on the figure of Okatia.

Lucy Marsden

ISSN 1176-9602

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (2)[...]ushla Scrivens

“CLEARED TO LAND”

EARLY DAYS OF AVIATION IN
PALMERSTON NORTH
Graham Parsons

DESI[...]Two)

PROPHET NOT WITHOUT
HONOUR: GUTHRIE WILSON
OF PALMERSTON NORTH
Malcolm Prentis

TEACHING NCEA H[...]e Manwatu -

The Manawatu Savage Club’s
Century of Achievement

By Noel Watts

Reviewed by Noelene R Wevell

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 @

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (3)The Manawatii Journal of History is an initiative of the Palmerston
North Heritage Trust in conjunction with the Manawatu Branch of the
New Zealand Historic Places Trust. It is publ[...]Subscriptions:

The Treasurer

Manawati Journal of History Inc.
PO Box 1702

Palmerston North 4440[...]opyright permission necessary for the publication of articles.

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ——— 2

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (4)[...]I outlined our aims: having
a wide representation of historical articles
over many fields, such as arts, horticulture,
places, times and people of historical interest,
education, farming, sport, c[...]ri tradition
and history and the ethnic diversity of the
local population.

Despite these aims, our collection of
articles for 2010 is once more somewhat
eclectic.[...]ton
North are also included, with the second
part of Ivan Mandahl’s reminiscences and an
article on Charles Pemberton, the founder of
Pemberton, once near Rangiwahia.

As I have been compiling this issue of the
journal I have become aware of the extent
to which writers are using websites as a
research tool. The accessibility of historical
resources has meant that research is m[...]tion is growing, and
now includes the first issue of this journal.
The photograph collection is a trea[...]pful. Massey
University has an archivist and some of their
material, particularly photographs and lists
of what is available, is on line. Feilding has its
l[...]chive is also
being developed.

But from my point of view, the advent
of Papers Past has been a revelation. This
year, thr[...]already there. They are searchable, and are
full of fascinating material, easily obtained.
On a perso[...]the material has added
hugely to my understanding of my own
family. [have found that my grandfather, S[...]professional runner and won a considerable
amount of money and several trophies that
we still have, ran off a handicap, often of
several yards (so much for our theory that
he was[...]ned the bootmaking business

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Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (5)[...]. We
then found a report by ‘Amateur Bushman’
of a trip to Pemberton. It gave us a view of
what life was like there, for the men, women
and children. Don was able to incorporate
some of this material into his article, which
turned it from a fairly pedestrian account
into a lively piece of social history. Resources
like this enliven articles and give us a much
clearer understanding of the times.

This year I am pleased to report that[...]ttee member. Eljon
Fitzgerald, a whangai mokopuna of
Rangitane and Ngati Raukawa, is an
experienced so[...]and raised in Palmerston

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North, Eljon is an active member of sports,
iwi and community organisations across
th[...]anawatii region. Eljon was
a collaborating author of Manawatii and Its
Neighbours (2000) and maintains a strong
interest in the history of settlement of in
the Manawati. We are delighted to add his
expertise to our committee.

Again, I want to thank the members of
the committee for their work. They have all
helpe[...]d thoughtful advice over the
contentand structure of the material and Betty
Williamson has been our en[...]aining advertising revenue,
which keeps the price of the journal down.
James Watson, who joined the co[...]vice on
more technical matters such as the ethics of
historical research. This journal has been[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (6)“CLEARED TO LAND”
EARLY DAYS OF AVIATION
IN PALMERSTON NORTH
D

GRAHAM PARSONS

W[...]nd land in John Gillespie’s paddock on the edge of the

city on Saturday 31 July 1920, Palmerston No[...]s not, however, the
first person to view the city of Palmerston
North from the air. This distinction g[...]veral spectacular balloon ascents during
her tour of New Zealand in the early 1890s.
After an abortive[...]2 metre balloon as
it rose to an estimated height of 900 metres
before drifting off to the north-west,[...]orses. She landed by
parachute in the sheep yards of a Kairanga
farmer, and was escorted back to Palme[...]by an
enthusiastic crowd.

Following in the wake of Richard Pearse’s
remarkable 320 metre historic[...]i, South Canterbury in 1903, and the
achievements of the Wright Brothers at Kitty
Hawke, North Carolina, a number of intrepid
aeronautical enthusiasts made attempts t[...]ion. In
January 1910, the Barnard Brothers gave
a demonstration of their aeroplane in the
Palmerston North Showgroun[...]was a glider attached to a buggy by a long
length of rope. When towed by horses at
full gallop, it ros[...]tenance
breaks, which severely tried the patience ofof 6
metres, piloted by his intrepid 16 year old

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Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (7)[...]reported by
the local newspaper as being ‘a man of large
heart... with no fear or timidity in his fr[...]d when Vivian and Leo Walsh,
fired by the success of a sustained controlled
flight by Vivian Walsh in[...]ram in Christchurch, had trained
300 pilots.

One of these pilots was Captain Russell,
who, flying a Walsh Brothers plane, toured
the southern part of the North Island as an
aeronautical publicity exe[...]th on his itinerary. With the
greater reliability of aircraft in the post-war
years, air passenger tra[...]fields at this
time, Vivian Walsh travelled ahead of the
plane, selecting suitable landing paddocks.
H[...]dock on Gillespie’s
farm, on the western corner of Gillespie’s
Line and Boundary Road (since renamed
Tremaine Avenue).

The visit of this first aircraft caused
considerable excitemen[...]tion, 2009N_Av9_TRA_2254

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Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (8)[...]lot
and his passenger, 15 year-old Violet Hibbard
ofof
flowers over Woodville and three over The
Square[...]plot’.

Local, national and international feats
of aviation were constantly in the news,
and when in[...]h with his Southern Cross
made the first crossing of the Tasman,
aviation fever was running high. Carried
by this wave of enthusiasm, talk inevitably
turned to the development of aviation in
Palmerston North. At a Council Meetin[...]he
incoming Council be recommended to place
a sum of money on next year’s estimates, to
be devoted towards the purchase of a Moth
aeroplane’. The motion was seconded Cr
E[...]grant being made.

On 20 November 1928, a meeting of
local enthusiasts was held, chaired by Mr
M A Elliott, president of the Chamber of
Commerce, and on a motion proposed by Mr
MH Oram[...]McKenzie. Thus the Manawatu
Aero Club became one of the eleven such
clubs then in operation in New Zealand.

The establishment of aero clubs had come
about through the enthusiasm of a small
group of war pilots anxious to maintain
their flying skill[...]artly
by a government anxious to maintain a
corps of trained pilots, and partly by funds
earned throug[...]ining and air
charter. The government’s subsidy of £25 to
each pilot trained to ‘A’ Licence (pr[...]roviding
aircraft, greatly helped the development ofof whom about 60 had
been trained in Palmerston North.

The aims of the Manawatu Aero Club
were to establish an airfi[...]require considerable time
and energy on the part of volunteers, and a
substantial amount of money.

It was estimated that £500 would be
required to achieve their first aim of acquiring
buildings and making surface improvemen[...]sewhere — much to the
relief, one would assume, of the residents of
Park Road!

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Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (9)A lease was finally secured for 50 acres of
land from Mr W T Terry, on approximately the
present site of Palmerston North International
Airport. The land[...]eing waterlogged. R.
Linklater was given the task of clearing and
preparing the land. He provided his[...]the then
agents A S Patterson and Co. Guarantees of
fuel, seed and other supplies were obtained
from[...]to Setters
Line, by Mr David Watson, with the aid of
men on the unemployment scheme. The
facilities, somewhat reminiscent of a country
club, included a pilots’ dressing roo[...]Aerodrome Inc. was formed, under the
chairmanship of David Smillie.

By the end of 1930 the land had been
ploughed, levelled and sow[...]and used by aircraft to

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

fly urgent supplies to Na[...]rome
was opened by the Hon] G Cobbe, the Minister
of Defence. Rated as a Class B aerodrome, the
field had a landing distance of 457 metres
heading 250/070 degrees into the preva[...], Mr Smillie eulogized
Mr Oram as the prime mover of aviation in
the Manawatu and the Mayor congratula[...]ld, and
would continue to do so within the limits of
the economic conditions.

M H Oram, first President of the Manawatu Aero
Club, speaking at the opening,[...]1931
was a thrilling spectacle for the thousands
of spectators who attended. Fifteen planes
were pres[...]colm McGregor,
reportedly gave a stunning display of
aerobatics.

Milson airport received its share of visits
by pioneer aviators through the 193[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (10)[...]ack cat. A more dramatic visit
to Milson was that of Sir Charles Kingford
Smith who, on 4 February 1933, damaged the
wing, propeller and leg bracket of his plane
Southern Cross when his undercarriage s[...]y for local families suffering from the
hardships of the depression.

For the club, the next task was[...]d

later a second Gypsy Moth ZK-ABV from Mr
Mills of Auckland for £800. Buying aircraft
was always to[...]ve exercise and
so, to facilitate the acquisition of new aircraft,
the neighbouring aero clubs at Feil[...]n with aviation in Palmerston North
was brief but of considerable significance. He
commenced his dutie[...]tion
on the national and international map.

Born of Scottish descent on 4 March 1896,

‘Mac’ grew[...]a nineteen year old anxious

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Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (11)[...]the fledging aviation industry. With the
arrival of the reliable de Havilland Gypsy
Moth in New Zeala[...]ices were established,
mostly short-lived. A lack of finance and
public support, and the fickle nature of
New Zealand’s weather were factors in their
dem[...]m his air transport ambitions by
the announcement of an International Air
Race between England and Australia with a
prize of £15,000.

This was an international event with
entries from fifteen countries. Within two
hours of the closing of nominations for
the air race, an emergency meeting of the
Manawatu Aero Club was called and Mr

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10

Oram proposed that th[...]their plane that the
deadline for the completion of the plane had
not been conveyed to the manager an[...]oint for that day. Hence
their ‘waiting’ time of fifteen hours was
counted as flying time s[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (12)[...]turned his attention yet again to the setting
up of an airline. 1934 to 1936 saw a rapid
expansion of air transport in New Zealand
with a passenger services established
between Hokitika and Okuru (South of
Haast) by Air Travel (NZ) Ltd in December
1934, G[...]rth service to become operative was
Union Airways of New Zealand Ltd. based at
Milson Aerodrome, Palme[...]Transport Board, and Union Airways, an

offshoot of the Union Steamship Company,
was formed in 1935 with a capital of £100,000.
The two men were subsequently appointe[...]ction, 2009N_Av28_TRA_2265.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (13)[...]s. Milson
Aerodrome Inc managed to obtain a lease
of 125 acres, including the 50 acres already
occupie[...]dertaken by unemployed labour
under the direction of the Public Works
Department.

As early as 1932 th[...]er,
the ratepayers at the time were not in favour
of raising the £1700 required to buy the
interest i[...]proached the Council. The ratepayers
had a change of heart and on 22 June 1937
the Council took over t[...]the
improvements. The Council remained the
owners of the Aerodrome until it was taken
over in January[...]f that passengers
would be reassured by the sight of four
engines. The airliners arrived in late 1935[...]ako, Kotuku, and
Karoro.

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12

Meanwhile Maurice Clarke was busy
supervising the building of a huge hangar
and up-to-date workshops at Milson. Another
hangar was built in Dunedin, the southern
terminal of the trunk route. The task of
laying a suitable runway surface was barely
compl[...]edin. Safety standards were high, and
maintenance of the aircraft was rigorous and
thorough. With the help of radio aids set up
and run by the Post Office, and[...]move came in
1947 when Union Airways and a number
of smaller operations were amalgamated
to for[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (14)1 “és eo

Funeral of Squadron Leader M C McGregor, 21 February 1936. I[...]to the grass surface arose
with the introduction of the DC3 aircraft by
NAC in October 1947 and in th[...]way unusable
in wet weather, the expensive option of a
sealed runway had to be considered. On
9 March 1955 Mr Shand, the Minister of
Civil Aviation, received a Palmerston North
deput[...]ilson. Alarming photographs showed
graphic images of aeroplane wheel tracks
in a sea of mud. Aerodrome Committee
Chairman, D T Spring put[...]lson, accessible by road and rail,
virtually free of fog and low cloud and with
surrounding flat land[...]ards a sealed runway but shied away
from the idea of an international airport,
stipulating that it be[...]l 1958 the
1220 metre runway was open at the cost of
£101,040, paid half by the government and

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (15)[...]Air New Zealand. Over time all
the accoutrements of a modern airport were
acquired: lights for night[...]ntrol and crash
fire services. Passenger comforts of sorts
were not fully addressed until 1956 when
th[...]stablished by the Manawatu Aero Club with
the aid of volunteer labour and donations, has
now become a[...]wer and Massey
University’s buildings and fleet of planes

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14

lies the Manawatu Districts Aero Club
headquarters. With the development of
Milson as a commercial airport, the Aero
Club’s[...]reement was struck with the local council
for use of the land in exchange for free
perpetual flying ri[...]ce this
enterprising establishment, the initiator of
what has come to be a thriving centre of
aviation will continue to foster interest in
flying. Many of the pilots trained here will
no doubt continue in[...]flying
either for commercial airlines or in areas of
defence, thus assuring our future in aviation
in[...]Cunningham, G.H. Mac’s Memoirs. The Flying Life
of Squadron-Leader McGregor. Wellington, A. H.
& A. W. Reed, 1937.

Gardiner, H. Skyways of Maoriland. Wellington,
McKenzie Thornton Cooper, 1934.

Johnson, J. W. Union Airways: a Short History of
Union Airways of New Zealand Ltd 1936-1947.
Wellington, Aviation Historical Society of
New Zealand, 1985.

White, Leo. Wingspread. The Pioneering of Aviation
in New Zealand. Auckland, Unity Press, 1[...].co.nz/history.html.

Linklater, R.G. The History of Milson Airport
“How It All Began” Air[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (16)[...]n Area in Palmerston North is

the best preserved of the early state housing schemes developed

by the[...]significance

is now widely recognised.

The lack of satisfactory housing for workers
was not at that[...]standards increased,
concern focused on the slums of the inner
cities which were regarded as sites of disease
and crime. Housing construction had slowed
in the Depression of the 1930s; this resulted
in a critical shortage of houses and a major
survey showed evidence of overcrowding.

The new Labour Government, elected[...]Housing in New Zealand published by the
Ministry of Works in 1949, the architect Cedric
Firth explain[...]an adequate road
system, and to a certain amount of medical
care. Probably it would be true to say th[...]long-standing problem. Walter
Nash, the Minister of Finance, announced
in the 1936 Budget that 5,000[...]ens, had
shown the West End block to the Minister
of Education, Peter Fraser, who was at once
interested and facilitated the purchase of the
land by the Housing Department. The land
had[...]ciples and
will not have the rectangular severity of

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (17)[...]square or reserve. ... The residential
settlement of this large block would bea large
factor in the development of West End which
has lagged behind other sections of the city.’

Immediately the Savage Crescent sch[...]older resident recalled
that before their family of five obtained a
house they had been living in ten[...]division between
1938 and 1944. Forty-six percent of the houses
had two bedrooms but as families grew[...]he first tenants represented a wide
cross section of professional and _ skilled
occupations. For examp[...]o librarians, two managers, three drivers
and one of each of the following trades:
baker, carpenter, upholster[...]as intended that tenants

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16

could rent their home for life. A few of the
original Savage Crescent residents have done[...]th overly ‘cheerful’ colour
schemes. The lack of garages wasa continuing
disadvantage.

The Nation[...]e at 12/6 a week for up
to 40 years. Now only 30% of the houses in
the precinct are still state rental[...]its tenants
the opportunity to purchase. A number of
the remaining rental units, however, are not
on s[...]ployment and a
stimulus to the economy at the end of the
Depression was another important objective
of Labour’s housing scheme. The new
subdivision pr[...]d. The
firm also provided employment for a number
of the early tenants.

Another important loca[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (18)Staff photograph of HE Townshend Ltd.

polished marble and cement com[...]for the sink benches and the firm
grew to be one of the largest in Palmerston
North. Other firms also[...]ndertaken by
Higgins, Arcus and Co. Forty percent of
the houses were required to use some form
of brick veneer and this provided stimulus
to local[...]de in
Palmerston North. The well-established firm
of Alexander Clark Ltd provided paint and
wallpaper.[...]loyed in
housing construction.

17

Collection of Te Manawa Museums Trust.

The Savage Crescent Conservation Area
illustrates perfectly some of the influential
town-planning principles of the time; this is
one of the reasons for its heritage status. From
the beginning of the twentieth century there
was a growing belief[...]ing should contribute to the health
and happiness of the residents and should
also be aesthetically pleasing. The concept of
the ‘garden suburb’ which would create an
environment for families away from the evils
of the city became the ideal. This was the
emphasis of the Town Planning Conference
held in Wellington i[...]termination by the Labour Government.
The success of the original Labour state
housing scheme as compared with earlier

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (19)[...]a te 3]
Eiko
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& Re Se" Bl g
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Early plan of Savage Crescent State Housing Area. (Street names[...]lace; islands for tree planting; varied positions of houses on
sections. The hatched squares on houses[...]Matheson City Archives.

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Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (20)[...]widespread popular
support.

A noteworthy aspect of Savage Crescent is
its connection with some of those key public
servants — the planners and de[...]s. The most important is Arthur
Tyndall, Director of Housing Construction
(1936-40). John A Lee, the f[...]time,
is often credited with the initial success of the
Labour state housing scheme. However, in
the[...]aries 1936-40 Lee wrote that
Tyndall was ‘[O]ne of New Zealand's great
civil servants. He is the one mind capable of
doing what we proposed administratively
if I prov[...]was awarded
the CMG for his services in 1939. One of
his achievements was attracting a team of
talented staff such as Gordon Wilson and the
Town[...]the plans
and Hammond is commemorated in the
name of Hammond Place in the precinct.

Hammond was train[...]intment as Town Planner to the
Housing Department of the State Advances
Corporation in 1936. His plan[...]escent Block illustrates perfectly the
principles of the garden suburb. The central
street, Savage Cre[...]re enhanced by
tree planting. An active programme of tree
planting and maintenance continues today.
Th[...]ubs were also provided to new
residents and a few of the original flowering
cherries are still flouris[...]ardens with low nib walls
would create the effect of a large community
garden and after seventy years parts of the
inner streets retain this aspect. This enhances
the heritage value of Savage Crescent since
in later subdivisions the H[...]ironment. To further enhance
the park-like effect of the streets, electricity
and telephone services were supplied to the
precinct via overhead wires at the rear of
the sections. This was a major innovation
and Sav[...]ter.

Gordon Wilson, the other outstanding
member of Tyndall's staff, was first the Chief
Architect of the Housing Division, then
Government Architect.[...]lity
for approving plans provided by a wide range
of government and private architects. Four
hundred d[...]onstantly revised, often in response
to the views of residents. Wilson’s name
appears on most of the Savage Crescent house
plans. He was a modernist and won awards
for his designs of large city buildings such
as the Dixon Street fla[...]t shapes
and introduced the open plan arrangement
of living rooms. Though many private

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (21)[...]re
regarded, probably correctly, as too far ahead
of public taste to be acceptable. A range of
more familiar cottage styles generally termed
the English Domestic Revival were used. The
use of different cladding and roof design,
combined with[...]duced

Most designs are variations of the English Domestic
Revival style (top). The Mod[...]Pat Scrivens, July 2010.

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20

simplified versions of Arts and Crafts, Art
Deco and other architectural influences.
Several duplexes are notable examples of
the Art Deco/Moderne style. The houses
are regard[...]arefully
designed to meet the taste and functions of
the modern family of the 1940s. Unlike the
earlier villas and bungalow[...]inued round the north facing
living room for most of the day. These solar
principles were applied through detailed
calculations of the position of the sun in
winter and summer. A small ‘sun room[...]tility room. Kitchens were
transformed with banks of floor to ceiling
cupboards, better lighting and the provision
of the new terrazzo or stainless steel benches.
The[...]here beyond
the wash house.

The decorative style of the interior, with
its light colours and lack of ornamentation,
echoed the latest contemporary trends. The
fire surrounds were tiled with a simple
framing of native wood and many owners
have seen no reason t[...]ro styles are keen
to restore the interior design of the period
and the glow of the matai floors in perfect
condition whic[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (22)of walls to increase the convenience of the
living space was often the first action of those
who bought their homes. From the sixties
a[...]were added
at the back. Alterations to the front of houses
can be seen in houses facing the main road[...]erving the original streetscape.

The development of community life was
another emphasis of town planning at the
time. The neighbourhood was[...]the early years, drawn together
by the activities of the many children and
by the work of establishing homes and
gardens. One of the first residents said that
the pride in the bl[...]esidents to maintain their sections. The
majority of the children went to West End
School and the many[...]e cul de sacs to the main roads
brought all parts of the suburb into easy, safe
walking distance. Olde[...]iation raised funds for
a hall planned at the end of Hodgens Place

21

but when there were objections[...]ng children was erected
in the 1960s. Though part of the area is now
used regularly for junior sport o[...]d up. The reserve is however
the defining feature of the whole suburb
and there would be no support fo[...]precinct began early. In 1946, a large
collection of documentary photographs were
made by the Prime Mi[...]workers in
New Zealand’ as well as the benefits of
social security. Jack and Betty Evans of 5
Mansford Place, who were the first tenants
in t[...]sociates to prepare a Conservation
Plan. Stage II of the Plan contained a series of
fourteen recommended conservation policies
for the future use and development of the
Precinct. At the same time Ian Bowman, a
cons[...]ed to be distributed to all

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (23)The photographs on these pages are of the Evans family
of 5 Mansford Place. Taken in 1947 for publicity
pur[...]urniture and new vacuum cleaner, and, at the
rear of the section, the standard trellis and power pole.

Jan Matheson City Archives.

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ————— 22

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (24)[...]nsistent with the uniqueness and long-
term value of the area. The Savage Crescent
Heritage Trail book[...]nawa Savage Crescent
Exhibition, curated by staff of the Museum
and the Design Studies Department of
Otago University. More recollections were
recorded, one by Steve Maharey, a former
Minister of Education, now Vice-Chancellor
of Massey University. ‘Soon after buying the
house[...]houses are fit for Cabinet
Ministers. In the case of Mansford Place —
two Cabinet Ministers.’

Dec[...]il had a
far reaching influence on the protection of
the area. In June 1996, rules were stated in
the[...]onservation Area. The important
Section R 10.74.1 of the Plan deals with rules
governing alterations a[...]ves.

the change will have on the historic values
of the Savage Crescent Conservation Area.

I have talked with a number of residents
and my impression is that most people
a[...]a conservation area, even though their
knowledge of its history may be rather
hazy. Most approve the[...]den without damage to
heritage significance. Much of this may be
attributed to the influence of the Guidelines
which accepts that owners will wan[...]regulation and generally this
has worked in spite of the lack of progress on
many recommendations in the Conservation
Reports of the 1990s. It may be time for these
to be revisit[...]visitors
could interfere with the quiet enjoyment of
their homes.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (25)[...]n, 2010. The cherry
tree by the letterbox was one of those provided to tenants
by the Government in th[...]still
demonstrates the original design principles of the
garden suburb.

Donated by Mrs Joyce Gordon to the lan Matheson City Archives.

The general satisfaction of residents, the
warm recollections of those who once lived
there and the continued interest of first home
buyers suggest that the decisions of the
original planners and of the City Council have
been good ones. The precinc[...]ising degree its residents
remain a cross section of the community
and with its popularity for first home buyers
a new generation of children are appearing.
The Savage Crescent Conservation Area
provides a model of the way which town
planning and architecture can[...]ving. It remains a distinctive feature on any
map of the city and it continues to provide as
satisfact[...]th, Dunmore Press, 1994.

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

24

Firth, Cedric. State Housing in New Zealand.
Wellington, Ministry of Works, 1949.

Schrader, Ben. We Call It Home. A History of State
Housing in New Zealand. Auckland, Reed,
200[...]b. BArch 373 Research Report, Victoria
University of Wellington, n.d.

Curran, NJ. Residents’ Percep[...]n TV New Zealand, 1994.

Note: With the exception of Curran (1990),
Ferguson (1994), and Firth[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (26)[...]ller and Killer) derive from the Strathmore
lands of Easter and Wester Keilor. The direct
ancestors of the New Zealand Keillers were
the founders of the Keiller Company, which
began in Dundee in abo[...]business was run
by Janet Mathewson Keiller, wife of John
Keiller, a Burgess and tailor of Dundee.
John may have been instrumental in
buying a parcel or two of Seville Oranges
that had arrived unexpectedly in the Tay
[Dundee is a port on the Firth of Tay] passing
these on to his wife for her attention. Janet’s

25

attempts to make good use of the sours
proved successful, according to all accounts,
and jars of orange marmalade soon appeared
on her shelves alo[...]nd to Guernsey
in the Channel Islands, as a means of
reducing costs and avoiding the sugar tax
imposed[...]9, when the sugar tax was
abolished. The 22 years of trading from
Guernsey, withtheadvantageoflowercos[...]and colonial markets, established
the foundations of a worldwide company,

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (27)[...]use on the island, set in a very
English ambience of formal gardens and
rolling pastures’ in the cou[...]n
in 1879, he bought a large house for his
family of six children, his ailing wife
Mary and his wife's[...]an open
air lower storey verandah, on either side
of which were prominent gabled corners,
with one cor[...]and there was
space for the family dogs. Elements of both
these houses can be found in the design of
Atawhai.

After Mary’s death in 1883, her sons,[...]ealand
is unclear. However, they did have letters
of introduction to people in New Zealand
and these m[...]e replicated in
Atawhai.

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26

Photograph cou[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (28)[...]and buying the Raumai property, three
miles west of Bulls. By 1889 they owned 7,500
acres of flat land, two flax mills, and a number
of windmills for pumping water. There are
photographs of horse-drawn wagons full
of hay; Albert developed a Polled Angus
stud, winnin[...]ta A&P Show.

They also owned several houses, one
of which became the centre for their other
siblings[...]farming community hada very self-contained
circle of friends. Family and relations were
the main visit[...]irch and went to live on the North
Island station of Erewhon. In 1904 Ethel
married Frederick Watson,[...]courtesy Patricia Keiller.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (29)[...]/supervisor,
Geoffrey Potts, New Zealand-born son
of Thomas Potts, a Canterbury botanist.
The househol[...]idow, Janie
Emerald Waitt, whose husband had died of
tuberculosis in Timaru in 1879. With her was
her[...]y and moved to their own property,
Tawhera, north of Levin.

In 1900, Edwin Keiller married Muriel
Wai[...]ile
Muriel, in 1903. In 1905, Muriel Keiller died of
tuberculosis while carrying her third child.
Concerned for the welfare of his children,
Edwin asked his mother-in-law, Jani[...]urtesy Patricia Keiller.

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

28

Albert and Edwin deci[...]re on low-
lying land and the conventional wisdom of
the time was that living on high ground with
plenty of fresh air was needed for protection
against tuber[...]and
Edwin's children. Eventually, after the sale
of the Bulls property, both Albert and Ernest
Keille[...]sed in domestic residences, was
known for his use of seasoned timber and
had designed houses for other members of
the family in the Rangitikei. In 1908, Natusch
ha[...]North,
so he was on hand to oversee the building
of what was to be a very different-looking
home from[...]n, Tudor
style houses. Albert and Edwin had ideas of
what they wanted their house to look like,[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (30)[...]nt
door. This balcony could serve as an extension
of the upstairs drawing room, through long
double-hu[...]lar to the Guernsey house.

The north facing side of the house has two
large open verandahs. The upsta[...]ded gallery, it too
could be used as an extension of the upstairs
drawing room but was more often used[...]n behind three wide arched entrances,
reminiscent of the entrance to Fernwood
in Wimbledon Park. These[...]uare feet each, with slightly sloping
floors made of heartwood Australian jarrah.

The four solid vert[...]g the
verandahs are each a single continuous slab
of kauri, measuring the full height of the
house with its ground floor stud of fifteen
feet and first floor stud of twelve feet.

The three square bay window areas on
each corner of the L echo the tower corners of
the Wimbledon Park house and were also a
Natusch[...]style. The
wide, low-tread staircase on the right of the
hall led up to a gallery, from either end of
which a further four steps at either end went
to the wings of the house. The balustrade
was painted in black la[...]rass lamps
on the ground floor posts at the start of the
staircase. On the left of the hall was a dark-
stained panelled wall leadin[...]Wace poaah ype rayine

Plan of Atawhai (Fergusson Hall) before the alterations i[...]Massey University Archives.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (31)[...]g a passageway into the
dining room, to the right of the large fireplace.
Throughout the inside of the house there are
touches of board and batten; the upstairs

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

30

Photograph court[...]side the ‘L’ at the back was the working
part of the house. On the short side were
bathrooms, both[...]ing room. Added on to the original
neat structure of the house, at a slightly lower
level, were two wa[...]with very small wire
mesh), a dairy on the corner of the house
with a marble shelf table used t[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (32)[...]tled
fruit and salted beans.

On the kitchen side of the back door
was the laundry with three wooden t[...]ert and
Edwin. But first they had to devise a way
of getting the materials up to the top of the
escarpment. There was originally only a
narro[...]a side drive to the stables. The
outer buildings of stables and a workshop
were also built of heartwoods. The stables
were of a traditional design, three sides of
a square. There were two large loose boxes
on the[...]and the garden equipment.

The workshop consisted of a loft for hay,
and on the ground floor a large e[...]as well as
building up two tennis courts in front of the
verandah side of the house.

D>

Edwin died of tuberculosis in 1909, leaving
Janie Potts with the responsibility of bringing
up two grandchildren. In 1910 Albert Kei[...]inesses and
enterprises. Albert remained the head of the
family finances, keeping meticulous records
ofof the family finances. The
design of the sunken rose garden was based
on the focal point of a ponga tree in a clump
of residual bush at the far end of the garden.
The 1936 cyclone smashed many of the trees
that Geoffrey Potts had planted and som[...]ens; this forced further
clearing and restructure of the plantings
in the garden. Glasshouses, built a[...]undary, were used first for

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (33)[...]ler one continued to be used
for tomatoes and out of season vegetables and
seedlings. Beside the glass[...]the
east was specifically built for the five rows
of Lloyd George raspberry canes, planted
in rows, ea[...]-sufficient with up to 90 laying fowls
(a variety of breeds), five to eight milking
cows in a two-bale walk-through shed and
a number of sheep for grazing the land and
household consumption.

Over the years the house itself had a
number of changes, starting after Brian

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

32

Photograph Courtes[...]Harcourt
in 1932. Helena took over the management
of Atawhai, accepting all the family already
living[...]’s first change
was to install an Aga stove for cooking and
warmth in the kitchen. It was the first Aga
i[...]es and versatility to at least
fifteen people per demonstration. It burnt
coke, hence the need to convert[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (34)[...]ld War. A small
bedroom was added on to this area of the
house in 1939.

The bedrooms were mainly move[...]al way in the smoking
room, in the central corner of the house. This
was the main room for afternoon t[...]the war
an air-raid shelter was built in the side of
the hill facing the wattle filled gully. Later,
i[...]ishings. It
also became the holiday home for many of
Brian and Helena’s friends’ children and a
ba[...]ee
for supper on the lawn outside, along the
side of the house. The rooms and marquee
were magnificent[...]were available each week during the
year for any of the Church floral arrangers,
apart from Helena Keiller’s rostered time of
every third week of the month for over 30
years.

The house provided[...]paddock beyond the blossom

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (35)[...]nd entertainment, Atawhai became a focus
for many of the large social gatherings
in Palmerston North a[...]ended, as they
were highlights during that period of food
and petrol rationing.

Atawhai to the
Trust[...]has continued to
be a welcoming home for the care of young
people, a home in which kindness and
friendship and the enjoyment of life and
learning can be fostered and taken out i[...]odgson, T. E R. Charles Tilleard Natusch: A Folio of
Houses. Wellington, Eastgate, 1979.

Joblin, D. Behold the Plains: The story of the old houses
of Massey. Auckland, Longman Paul, 1970.

Mathew, W. M. The Secret History of Guernsey
Marmalade: James Keiller & Son Offshore,[...]ciete Guernesiaise, 1998.

Mathew, W. M. Keillers of Dundee: The Rise of
the Marmalade Dynasty. Dundee, Abertay
Historical[...]ONE sal Neco TLLOLE Cel

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

Bali

326 Main St,[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (36)[...]EMBERTON VILLAGE

D>

DONALD G

IRVINE

The story of the early settlement of New Zealand is one of

coastal occupation by both Maori and Europeans, followed

by subdivision of the land. For the most part the early Maori

established settlements on the coast and on the open areas ofof the east coasts of both islands. Their

subdivision of the land, however, was based on English principles

of private land title, developed since the Norman Conquest.

The importance of the early surveyors
in this process should not be overlooked.
There were early charts of the New Zealand
coastline, but the interior of the new country
was largely unknown and unmapped. It
was the role of the surveyor to provide the
topographical maps th[...]rovided a
government guarantee as to the accuracy of
the land title surveys.

The new country of New Zealand after

35

1840 was subdivided into P[...]Farm Association was founded,
with the intention of purchasing Wairarapa
land for closer subdivision. This was the
beginning of planned small scale farming
in New Zealand. It me[...]1885 established the Waste

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (37)Lands (ie. the unsold Crown Lands). The
Land Act of 1885 allowed settler associations
to establish special settlements of smaller
farms, on deferred payment or special
lease. The arrival of emigrants under the
government-funded Vogel Scheme and New
Zealand depression of the 1880s gave further
impetus to the government's drive to settle
more of the growing European population on
smallholdings. The bush-clad Waste Lands of
the North Island interior were to be opened
up to ‘put the small man on the land’, in the
words of the political slogan of the day.

The early settlement of Wanganui (now
Whanganui) and the surrounding open
grasslands meant that by the 1880s it was the
centre of farming, trade and commerce in the
northern part of the Wellington Province.
Further population growt[...]. In 1885 a Wanganui
Small Farms Association, one of several in
the Wellington Province, was establish[...]sequently
he acted as Engineer to the Road Boards of
the district and as Consulting Engineer to
the Ra[...]By 1884, he was
responsible for the construction of about
2,000 miles of roads in the district.

To be a surveyor in the l[...]upation. There were long

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

36

Wim GE
ee +
ie[...]mentioned in the text.
Map: Signmakers.

periods of living and working in a small
self-contained part[...]addition, there was resistance to the
activities of the surveyors from the local
Maori inhabitants. There are newspaper
records of three such occasions involving
Charles Pemberton. The first was in October
1883 at Karioi, when Aropeta of Murimotu
was arrested on the charge of ‘the larceny of
theodolites’ and taken to Wanganui by two
constables. The newspapers of the day lost
no opportunity to comment on the parlous
state of the roading networks when they
reported that: ‘[...]motu. They must add
their testimony to the chorus of witnesses
who are calling on the County Co[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (38)[...]on’s arrival we
hope to be placed in possession of fuller
particulars relating to the obstructionists and
their reason for stopping the progress of the
surveyors. Here is work for the new Native
Mi[...]sly, Charles was ordered off on
the ‘objections of some of the inhabitants to
its being surveyed.’ Survey pegs were pulled
up, despite the liability of a £50 fine.

>)

In the 1870s the governme[...]ed
several large land blocks in the northern
part of the Wellington Province as Waste
Land. These incl[...]and Oroua Rivers. In about 1871,
the western part of this block was leased by
W S Marshall and Ewen Mc[...]n in
June 1877, 104,000 acres in the eastern part
of the block was purchased for £51,961 from
Ngati H[...]The terms
required by government included: 1/3rd_ of
the area to be vested in the local authority
for[...]n half-
yearly instalments; they must be a member
of a Small Farms Association; and must
either live o[...]ter,
Marion Edith Wilkie, wrote: ‘My father was
of a restless nature’ so it is not surprising
that[...]85 he and a
Mr. Knox reported on their inspection of the
Otamakapua Block. At the meeting decisions
were made to acceptthe government valuation
of £1 per acre and request a detailed survey
of the chosen area. A subcommittee was
formed to est[...]erton Small
Farms Association.

The first meeting of this new Association
was on 1 May 1885. By 22 May a set of rules
was adopted. A management committee
of fourteen prospective settlers, including
Charles,[...]l land. On 4 June 1885, the

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (39)[...]tler would
be 100 acres, there would be a maximum of 69
settlers and the total area of the block would
be 7,245 acres. The letter also noted that:

‘It is observed that the names of some
women appear on the list of members. If these
are the wives ofof Charles and
Avice; her name is recorded on a sect[...]e deed for the same section.

The Under-Secretary of Lands also
advised the new association that surveying
would commence immediately, on payment
of the first instalment of 7% pence/acre. A

survey party under A E Ashcroft[...]200 acre rural
sections, together with a network of ‘paper
roads’. Ashcroft’s diary records on[...]harles took up a 107 acre section at the
junction of the present roads to Ohingaiti,
Mangaweka and Kim[...]rnest Pemberton had an adjoining
section. Members of the Field family also took
up land nearby. Ashcro[...]urvey
land in the district to complete the survey of

16

100.0.98

J. Stent

JF Ruscoe[...]HARuscoe |

Pemberton Corner

The names of the owners, shown on the sections, are taken from[...]s L Pemberton'’s wife.

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

Map: Land Informat[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (40)[...]r later Small
Farms Associations blocks. The Town of
Rangiwahia and the Villages of Karewarewa
and Marshall were surveyed as future u[...]Messrs A Rose and C McKinnon were the
first party of settlers who set up camp on
Charles’s section a[...]first task was to clear the bush,
which was some of the densest and most
impenetrable in this part of the North Island.
On 7 October 1886 the Feilding Star reported:
‘Some of the new settlers for Pemberton are
finding their[...]e erected. We are glad to know
that they are some of the “right sort” to
subdue the wilderness’.

However, the beginnings of Pemberton
were not easy. In June 1888, Dudley J Eyre,
the Secretary/Treasurer of the Pemberton
Association, absconded to North Ame[...]id to the Land Office.
This action forced several of the members
to abandon their partly developed sec[...]Pemberton
Block development to succeed, a centre
of community in the district was needed.
He made lan[...]ter Marion wrote, ‘We were not
well off — few of the pioneers were and
Father would never borrow m[...]1893, a
substantial hotel opened; the Cyclopedia of
New Zealand reported in 1897 that Pemberton
Hotel was ‘a convenient building of wood
and iron... [It] contains thirteen rooms of
which eight are bedrooms, containing about
fiftee[...]r settlers
had developed the nearby surveyed Town of
Rangiwahia and several of the Pemberton
village businesses re-located to Rangiwahia;
it became the centre of the community.
Like many other transitory settlem[...]ngaged by the government to

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (41)[...]ubdivisions
for settlement provided for a network of
future public roads. Under the 1878
legislation, it was the task of the newly-
formed counties to construct and maintain
these paper roads. With such rapid expansion
of settlements in so many remote areas it was
a Herculean task, beyond the resources of
many county councils, to provide an adequate
road[...]roads for
many years. Countless newspaper reports
of public and council meetings highlight
the extreme[...]settlers faced in
their day-to-day lives, because of poor or
non-existent roads.

There is an enthusia[...]into life in the settlement, recorded
in a series of reports in the Wanganui
Chronicle in February 188[...]ved.
The articles describe the visit to Pemberton
of an anonymous correspondent, ‘Amateur
Bushman’[...]ks’ pony and horseback... We were not
appraised of the beautiful scenery awaiting
us on the track... at every conceivable point
of this serpentine road fresh scenery burst
upon our[...]yes, and we were fairly
entranced at the richness of the vast expanse
of country before us. About eight miles from
the commencement of this track is a trig
station, called the Peep o’ Day... It was from
this point of vantage that Mr Pemberton
and others picked out t[...]the eye can reach, there

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40

are vast tracts of unoccupied forest country...
Clearings in every direction were plainly
noticeable, and in scores of places burnings
were taking place, the smoke from[...]iry, stockyard, piggery and fenced
ina large plot of garden land... the growth is
wonderful, fruit tre[...]nces manifest...
A chubby little daughter [Helen] of some
four months old blesses with its presence th[...]it seems a trial at first to the
‘guid wifes’ of our noble backwoods men
to be isolated, as it wer[...]eautiful, light, buoyant feeling takes
possession of you.”

Overthe next few days ‘Amateur Bushman[...]ing companion visited to the
north, east and west of the Pemberton village
recording his impres[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (42)[...]en unmarried settlers; 20 or
thirty other holders of allotments have fallen
bush varying from 10 to 20[...]g about 1,700 acres. Settlers
feel the great want of a school and postal
communication, but these will[...]the day we left — to consider
the advisability of starting a butter packing
company.’

He ends his series of reports as follows:

‘IT cannot close my remarks without a
word of praise to those noble fellows who
have put up wit[...]but against an oppressive individual in the
shape of the Hon Richardson, Minister of
Lands, whose great aim seems to be to retard
land settlement, and grind the last copper
out of the hardworking backwoodsman.’ He
then comments[...]e realistic
insight into life in those early days of the
settlement:

‘My mother’s life at Pembert[...]est in all the world! While
he developed the farm of 200 acres, Mother
made butter and jam for sale, s[...]he tins when empty were very useful for
all sorts of purposes — water was generally
drawn from a wel[...]remember my mother putting some
hay in the bottom of the tin before placing
the mason jars full of fruit in. Of course there
was some water in the tin as well. A[...]far away days.’

D>

In 1903, at the age of 44, Charles was still
‘restless’. His younger[...]ere. By this time a terrible drought and
a plague of locusts had come down upon
that part of Africa. When Father was fit to
travel, all he saw[...]Charles purchased a 52
acre farm at Rapanui, west of Wanganui, to go
dairy farming. He commenced taking milk to
the Rapanui Creamery on 18 December 1903.
A team of carpenters was building the new
family home. Marion records that it was ‘a

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (43)nice little home of five rooms and far enough
forward for us to sleep in at night’.

Forty-six-year-old Charles was still ‘of
a restless nature’ in 1905, when he took up
1,100 acres of Maori leasehold covered in
standing bush. Situate[...]oad and about ten miles from
Raetihi, it was part of the Ohutu Block.
Marion gives an insight into events:

‘Gangs of bushmen were engaged and
Father spent most of his time there, while
Mother and I carried on at[...]aking butter. We had 500 hens and the
same number of ducks. The skim milk was
made into curds and thes[...]not unusual in the summer
for me to get the herd of 20 cows in at 2
a.m. Mother could not milk and Helen [the
elder daughter] was at College. Of course
there were no machines in those days. On
r[...]arion recalled:

‘Mother hated leaving in spite of all the

work. She dreaded being buried in the bu[...]bridle tracks for roads

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

42

and mail deliv[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (44)[...]onger exist,
but its influence on the development of the
Rangiwahia township and the seven other
Small Farms Associations Blocks to the north,
east and south of the Pemberton Block was
of great significance, as was the Pemberton
phase of Charles Louis Pemberton’s life. He
developed a farm out of the virgin bush,
continued his career as a survey[...]e area.
But let us also remember the contribution
of the settlers’ families. For the wives and
children, it was an unrelenting grind of daily
toil in an often hostile environment. Witho[...]iety today.

PRINCIPAL SOURCES

Books

Cyclopedia of New Zealand, Vol 1. Christchurch,
The Cyclopedia[...]itical Recollections and Leaves from the
Writings of a New Zealand Journalist, 1851-1877.
Dunedin; Hoc[...]bituary for H C Field. Transactions & Proceedings
of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Vol 44, 1911.
http://rsnz.natlib.gov[...]ww.robertembroideries.co.nz

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (45)[...]y today.

Pleased to support the Manawatu Journal
of History.

PRESTIGE

TINA A aD) MREINZ

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (46)[...]ng to pieces, either from neglect or as a

result of vandalism. The old chapel at the centre of the cemetery

was also derelict.

This is Palmers[...]were people so shocked and dismayed
by the state of the cemetery that they made
submissions to the Pa[...]ally
establish a group to be known as the Friends
of the Terrace End Cemetery.

Pat was elected to cha[...]Palmerston North City
Council. By 2004 the state of the Terrace End
Cemetery was testament to that. It was a
green oasis of trees and shrubs, dotted here
and there with colo[...]years, the cemetery has again begun
to show signs of neglect. Long grass grows
in some of the gravesites, piles of leaves blow

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (47)[...]trees and, once again,
there are shattered pieces of quite a number
of headstones lying around throughout the
cemetery.

Nevertheless, at least Pat’s years of work
mean that the cemetery is still, in 2010, at
the stage of needing just a spring clean, not
the massive reno[...]n that
Pat’s group faced back in the 1990s. One of
the enduring projects that Pat brought
to fruition as Friends chairman was the
publication in booklet form of a cemetery
walk, first researched by City Archivi[...]on, in 1986. Ian located information
on the lives of a number of the people whose
mortal remains were laid to rest[...]early demonstrated that cemeteries
are not places of death, but rather places rich
with life.

On 29 A[...]peace with his forebears
in the Catholic section of the Terrace End
Cemetery. His life story has become part of
the rich tapestry of experience that still, for
the most part, remains[...]n Pat’s case,
in 1996 he decided to record some of his
reminiscences and over a period of months he
spent many hours talking to me, answeri[...]pasted newspaper clippings
and other memorabilia of the events that
were important in the lives of the Kelliher
household. Extracts from the writings that
resulted from those meetings form the
content of this article.

‘Ttell people I was “born ina[...]on 23 December, 1912...

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46

I was the second eldest in a family of nine
and the second boy in the family.

‘My fat[...]acting work. He might do up to five
hundred acres of ploughing as one contract,
and he did very well f[...]ys! ...

‘My mother, Maria (Minny) Tierney, was
of Irish parentage, but born in New Zealand.
She met[...]and it must have been very hard rearing a
family of eight (one child had died by then).
However, we m[...]salted (my mother seemed
to know about that sort of thing)... Our diet

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (48)[...]would
make a big scone in the frying pan, plenty of
butter on it. Lovely!’

Pat attended the Loburn[...]but failed the Proficiency Examination at
the age of twelve. He worked picking apples
and laboured as[...]sit’. The certificate cost him 5/-: ‘The
rest of my family always said I bought it!’

‘In 1929[...]I was big and strong.
I got farm jobs for a wage of 5/- a week plus
my keep, living with my employers[...]s in
Linton Street and the big store out the back
of Hodder and Tolley, in Taonui Street. I then
worke[...]sixpence an hour. One day I saw the pay
envelope of a person who lived in Foxton.
He was working the[...]ing time and a half and
even double time for part of Saturday. I wrote
to the union in Wellington and[...]DX46 in the Australian Army.
Photograph courtesy of the Kelliher family.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (49)[...]rest in Palestine.

Pat described his experience of desert
warfare as follows:

‘Itwasa waiting gam[...]then a time would follow for
counting the losses of men and equipment
and reorganising for the next o[...]ours. Artillery had an observation
post up front. Of course there was little radio
communication in ou[...]signal machine, morse code, and they would
advise of any movements, activities and
positions and dista[...]d to capture the world, and that wasn’t
our way of life. That was the way I looked at
it, anyway.”[...]end in 1943. He was hospitalised in Cairo
because of sinus trouble caused by the desert
dust and was t[...]medically
unfit for front line service. The rest of his
division was sent to the Pacific Islands but[...]‘

~
—e
ose

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

On the way to New Zealand[...]about to start their voyage.

Photograph courtesy of the Kelliher family.

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (50)[...]ia, where he
was a security officer in a prisoner of war
camp for Italians who had been captured in
th[...]nd
their subsequent marriage, he was at the
stage of being ready to settle down so ‘it was
a case of meeting the right person in a weak
moment’. In[...]working for somebody else on a wage
for the rest of his life and after six months
he bought a Model A[...]ay. It cost what
now sounds like a ridiculous sum of money
— £1,900. Pat had taken his first step up the
property investment ladder. The seed of an
idea had been planted and after Pat injured
hi[...]and Pat at a nurses’ ball.
Photograph courtesy of the Kelliher family.

‘Istarted off by myself, bought the licence,
which you cannot do today. I knew of a land
agent who was giving up. What I did was to[...],
a building owned by Arthur Hopwood, at
the back of the Midland Hotel building. The
first Palmerston[...]to a working
partnership with Craigwin Homes, one of the
building firms that flourished during the era[...]aland Government made
loans with an interest rate of 3% available
to couples with a young family throu[...]amily benefit
capitalisation was an integral part of the
scheme. Pat describes the role of his agency:

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (51)[...]man just
on Craigwin... there was a huge shortage of
houses at that time. I did about 60 of those
sales a year, our top year was 1960... Craigwin
did the building part of the operation. I did
the selling part and arranged the loans. Of
course, coupled to that was the availability
of cheap sections. On modern building
regulations of that day you could subdivide
down to a fifth of an acre...

‘I bought the land on behalf of Craigwin
and had it surveyed and subdivided and..[...]ever built less than three-bedroom
homes, because of the loan and capitalisation
regulations. To get e[...]garage or a drive then they paid extra [but]
most of them did that work themselves.
Our biggest subdiv[...]ing properties for rental
and soon owned a number of houses dotted
all over Palmerston North. It was v[...]terprise:

‘The boys, John and Kevin, were part of
my maintenance gang. They would mow the
lawns and during school holidays they would
spend most of the time with me renovating
properties for the ne[...]two sections and then had
two two-storied blocks of 12 flats erected.
I paid £5,000 for the whole property and I

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50

only had £1,000 to p[...]hen the family would be in dire
straits.’

Many of Pat’s rental properties were
tenanted by young[...]ng them as ‘pigs’ for the
state in which most of them kept and left
their flats. It was a relationship of mutual
dislike — there are many ex-Massey stude[...]member Pat, in his role as their
landlord, as one of life’s less pleasant
experiences.

But if Pat h[...]for his student
tenants, he was always a champion of people
he saw as having a raw deal and tha[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (52)Palmerston North City Council and Heads of Department, 1955.

From left. Back row: Cr John F[...]rth City Library, 2007N_Cc21_PNCC_1011

beginning of a 31-year career in local body
politics. As Pat r[...]that
Council. Others were the ‘establishment’ of
Palmerston North - all business guys, bar
[Philip[...]hen I quietly sat down - to the extreme
annoyance of the mayor.’

Pat was a constant irritant, alway[...]to be
unfair, underhand or favouring one section
of the community over another. The local
newspaper quickly gave him the nickname
of ‘The City Watchdog’ and Pat was proud
to be c[...]Masonic Lodge be permitted

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Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (53)[...]It was to be restricted
to members. Several eyes of councillors went
down to the table and the applic[...]e than half that Council
belonged to one or other of the Masonic
lodges in the city, nine of them. There were
twelve on Council then.’

Desp[...]but not easy... I was never
ever given the honour of chairing acommittee,
not until 1971 when Brian El[...]nty
Councils and Feilding Borough [Council].
Much of our discussion centred round
raising the matter of dangerous corners and
so on with various councils[...]uccess in training drivers to become better.
Many of them were referred from the courts
after driving[...]d
for some years. Council had always had a
policy of stop-go building programmes. As
they could borrow Government money at
low rates of interest, I always felt it was a
golden opportuni[...]nity houses, on the grounds
that this was the job of private enterprise. My
argument was that as the G[...]ton North...

‘Iwas also given the chairmanship of Civil
Defence in the city. We had many successful
exercise days, and we built up a team of
volunteers to cover all facets of a disaster
and were considered one of the strongest
units in New Zealand. We had hundreds ofof Te Manawa Museums Trust, accession number 86.167/86

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (54)[...]Kevin, Pat, John
and Edith.

Photograph courtesy of the Kelliher family.

It is, however, the times when Pat was
prepared to stand out against the majority
of his fellow councillors for which he is best
remem[...]an money being raised and got the required
number of signatures to force a referendum.
When palm trees[...]sixth
when I retired!’

—— 53

The story of how Pat’s long council service
was nearly cut s[...]radio time signals were the most accurate
measure of time and according to these,
midday had passed se[...]ssion. By then, not only
had Pat earned the title of Palmerston North’s
longest-serving city council[...]ervice was acknowledged in the New Year's
Honours of 1985 when he was made an MBE
(Member of the Order of the British Empire).

Pat’s last service to his community was
his decade of work with the Friends of the
Terrace End Cemetery. In recognition of this,
in March 2006, a memorial seat was installe[...]n avenging angel, should
the current untidy state of the cemetery be
allowed to deteriorate any further.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (55)[...]on was best known to some as Massey’s Professor
of Geography and Dean of Social Sciences. But his diverse
enthusiasms and[...]al ambitions to her and in 1940 played the Bishop of Mid-Wales
intelligent son; she certainly encouraged him in Birds of a Feather and Leonidas in Lion of
in his academic career. Sparta. The latter play w[...]ar university studies by

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ——— 54

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (56)[...]finally came through he had
completed two-thirds of his degree. He had
also had some teaching experie[...]a plane on an
early solo flight but was also one of the first
of his group to do a solo night flight. He later
tra[...]produced by her, including Banquo
in a production of Macbeth, suggested the
possibility of an acting career, but on Marsh's
advice he decide[...]s
a hobby. He held a fellowship at the University
of Washington in Seattle, completing an MA
in Geogra[...]ained his PhD at Washington

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (57)[...]talents continued
to flourish; his 1950 direction of Ladies in
Retirement for the Gainesville Community
Playhouse was described in the Gainesville
Daily Sun of 27 March 1950 as ‘outstanding’.

From 1953 to 1961 he lectured in Geography
at the University of Adelaide, being promoted
to Senior Lecturer. His[...]ar reconstruction.
He also edited the Proceedings of the South
Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical
Society, was one of the founding members
of the Institute of Australian Geographers,
encouraged the Adelaide T[...]hich he directed several

plays.

During a period of overseas leave in
1960-61 he visited some sixty g[...]lington. He was invited to apply
for the position of principal at Palmerston
North University College[...]ve
closer to his family.

He took up the position of Principal of
PNUC in September 1961. The small college
had bee[...]sity.
In July 1961, a Council for the Development of

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

56

Keith Thomson as[...]ming well-
informed. He had made a thorough study of
Australian universities, the problems they
faced,[...]extramurally.
He favoured the eventual formation of a full
university in Palmerston North, but[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (58)before a merger, a view apparently shared by
the staff of PNUC. Nor did he favour a move
from the Hokowhitu[...]t the Massey site.

The Massey University College of
Manawatu Act, combining the two
institutions, wen[...]rliament in
September 1962, the inaugural meeting of the
new College’s Council was held 19 December[...]l
college would have little status.

The question of who would become
Principal of the new College was a delicate
one, especially si[...]position went, however, to Dr Alan
Stewart, head of Massey Agricultural
College, and Thomson was appointed
Professor of Geography from 1 January 1963,
at a salary of £3,000 a year. He was also made
Dean of the new Faculty of General Studies
for an initial term of two years, any extension
of that period to be at the discretion of the
College Council. In fact, he was to remain a
Dean for most of his career, a position calling
for academic and a[...]arguments. Stewart
was not initially a supporter of extramural
studies, and Thomson stayed largely to
protect that and other activities of the former
PNUC. Despite this uncomfortable start[...]llecting, museums and art
galleries.

The Faculty of General Studies, comprising
all the departments of the former PNUC,
expanded during its short life ([...]e degree
by studying extramurally, and a Bachelor of
Commerce was proposed. It was expected
that by 19[...]e 800 to as
many as 3,000. Meanwhile, a committee of
the University Council, set up to consider
the development of the arts, recommended
that General Studies be split into a Faculty
of Humanities, (comprising Departments
of English and Modern Languages and
later Philosophy) and a Faculty of Social
Sciences (History, which later moved to
Hu[...]ies came into being in 1965, with
Thomson as Dean of Social Sciences. In 1968
they moved from the Hoko[...]as growing world-wide, and he
was a keen advocate of the social sciences
in the university. During his tenure the
number of internal students enrolled in his
Faculty grew fr[...]06 in
1989 (the year he retired) while the number
of extramural students increased more than
fourfold, from 1201 to 5250. This growth was
second only to that of the Faculty of Business
at this time. Underpinnng it was Thomson’s
continuous encouragement of innovation in
the introduction of new subjects, many not
traditional subjects for university study:

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (59)[...]many subjects.

Professor Keith Thomson, Dean of Social Sciences,
early 1980s.
Massey University A[...]hich he was always well prepared.
Despite his air of formality and confidence
he was approachable, esp[...]dals, or with bare feet.

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————_ 58

He once calculated that he spent equal
amounts of time on teaching and research,
on work connected with the Faculty, and on
looking after the Department of Geography.
However, his work as Dean inevitably took
up more of his time as the Faculty grew,
and he later felt that he should have ceased
being Head of Department sooner. Some of
his colleagues shared this view, including
Bryan[...]ering their talents, but this led to
a perception of favouritism, adding to the
schisms and stresses t[...]ntacts
among geographers world-wide, and when
one of his staff was due to go overseas on
study leave w[...]You should
see ...’ He arranged a steady stream of highly
qualified visiting lecturers and professor[...]was held at Massey 1974 and
he was also Chairman of the Organising
Committee of the 56th Australia and New
Zealand Association for the Advancement
of Science Congress on the theme of ‘Science
in a Changing Society’ (1987). These[...]ts,
he taught a senior level paper on the history
of geographic thought, as well as some
introd[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (60)practical exercises. At one of these they all
stayed at Pahiatua District High S[...]ight
check up he went to investigate a noise; one of
the boys crept out and opened the door, and
ticke[...]in New
Zealand, and the socio-economic geography
of the Cook Islands. He contributed a chapter
on Dut[...]ther collection in 1973, with the
ambitious title of Contemporary New Zealand:
Essays on the Human Resource, Urban Growth
and Problems of Society. Trlin has commented
that while he learne[...]icult, because administrative duties took
so much of his time. While Thomson went
on to edit other geo[...]for his interest and expertise in drama. As
part of his efforts to make PNUC a more lively
place, he[...]owing
the merger this group led to the foundation
of the Massey University Drama Society.
Thomson appe[...]and in 1983 as
Prospero in an outdoor production of The

59 ——_—

Tempest. A reviewer in the Ev[...]s Vice-Chancellor Sir William Gowers
in Trelawney of the Wells at Massey.

As Vice Chancellor Sir William Gower in Trelawney
of the Wells, 1989, Massey University.
Massey Univer[...]and played President Roosevelt
in two productions of Annie (1982 and 1991).
He was also involved in th[...]merston North dramatic groups included
the Bishop of Poitiers in The Devils (1967) a
highly controvers[...]embers that he particularly

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (61)relished being asked to play the small role
of a doctor in an episode of the television
series Close to Home. As well as a[...]school drama competitions,
and served as Chairman of the Centrepoint
Theatre Trust.

Like his interest[...]nterbury Museum, and
studied anthropology as part of his masters
degree. In 1987 he said, ‘I think a[...]pressors is likely to be sterile and... in
danger of becoming totalitarian... [Artists]
make us look a[...]governments to be more generous
in their funding of all cultural facilities.
From the 1960s to the 1990s he served on, and
frequently led, the governing bodies of three
cultural organizations that were able to mo[...]in Palmerston North
in 1961 he joined the Council of the then
Manawatu Society of Arts, which put on
travelling exhibitions in a small (and leaky)
gallery on the corner of Grey and Carroll
Streets. He served variously as[...]4. Major grants were
received from the Department of Internal
Affairs and the Palmerston North City
Co[...]It cost less than $500,000, and is still, as
part of Te Manawa, a stylish and generally
functional building.

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60

Thomson was involved[...]nawatu Museum Society from 1970 to
1993, for much of this time as President
or Vice-President. From 19[...]ry Street was run by
volunteers; it was comprised of items from a
collection dating back to the early[...]h
the City Council and other bodies, and a
period of great uncertainty, it was finally
agreed that the[...]approach
to museology, had been appointed Curator
of the Manawatu Museum in the mid 1970s,
and other p[...]that advised
the Government on the establishment of the
Ministry of Culture, Thomson served on the
Council of the Art Galleries and Museums
Association of New Zealand (AGMANZ)
from 1963 to 1987, for some of this time as
President, which gave him a national[...]m 1973 he was the Government
nominee on the Board of Trustees of the
National Art Gallery, National Museum[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (62)[...]ent announced its intention to
establish a Museum of New Zealand and
erect a suitable, landmark, building. This
meant Thomson had early input to the huge
task of reorganization, and by the end of
1992 a transitional management structure
was in place to guide the development of
the institution established by legislation
in May 1992. This also dissolved the Board
of Trustees, which meant Thomson was no
longer directly involved, but he watched the
evolution of the Museum of New Zealand Te
Papa Tongarewa with great interest[...]et and tie, and announced the donation
to Te Papa of a Fred Graham carving, of
kauri, cedar and kahikatea, from his own
collection.

Luit Bieringa, former Director of the
Manawatu Art Gallery and appointed
Director of the National Art Gallery in
1979, suspected that[...]aland on bodies such
as the International Council of Museums
and the Commonwealth Association of
Museums. Bieringa described him as ‘a
cultured[...]uniary gain and with
a strong belief in the value of knowledge’.

Massey University Archives Photograph Collection.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (63)Korean folk drama mask for the part of a woman,
presented to Professor Thomson in 1991.

Collection of Te Manawa Museums Trust, Palmerston North,
97/197[...]recht, Milan Mrkusich
and Fred Graham. Forty-five of the sixty
masks, collected on his overseas trips,[...]eights, are now in Te Manawa.
He related his love of masks to his interest in
acting, since once you p[...]r Neil Waters, to allocate
money for the purchase of art works, and by
January 1986 a small committee[...]000 to improve this exhibition facility,
and part of the collection was shown at Te

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62

Japanese mask given to Professor Thomson by one of
his Japanese ex-students, Y Nakamura in 1980.

Collection of Te Manawa Museums Trust, Palmerston North,
97/197[...]mpuses.

Thomson edited Art Galleries and Museums
of New Zealand, 1981, republished in 1991
as A Guide[...]enduring legacy to the art galleries
and museums of this country was the
establishment at Massey of a much-needed
professional training course[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (64)[...]; by then some students were enrolled
in a Master of Arts in Museum Studies.
With the establishment of these professional
courses, the academic and cultural strands
of Thomson's life wove themselves tightly
together, since his personal interests bore
fruit in the context of his university career.

He was honoured with an MBE in 1975,
and made a Companion of the Order of St
Michael and St George (CMG) in 1987 for his
se[...]ndly and
sociable person, who maintained networks
of friends in Palmerston North, New Zealand
and over[...]nd a structured life, that he chose to spend
much of his time associating with actors,
artists and wor[...]ageous
when Thomson was around. He was
supportive of his family, but despite clearly
enjoying the company of women, never
married. Perhaps his peripatetic lif[...]nt to establish a close
relationship and a family of his own.

Professor Graeme Fraser was a long-term[...]nd friend who spent much time
with him at the end of his life. He saw him as
‘agood man, who strove[...]M. R. Campus Beyond the Walls: The
First 25 Years of Massey. University’s Extramural
Programme. Palm[...]Dunmore
Press, 1985.

The Palmerstonian: Magazine of the Palmerston North
Boys’ High School, 1936-19[...]ld.
Palmerston North, Geography Programme,
School of People, Environment and Planning,
Massey Universi[...]Post Office Guide, 1925.

Official Sources

Board of Trustees of the National Art Gallery,
NationalMuseumand Natio[...]ladies.htm. Accessed 19
October 2007.

University of Adelaide Theatre Guild|1950s http://
www.adelaide[...]r, 2007.

——————_ THEMANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (65)[...]ome in Feilding on 5 August

2008. The first part of the interview was published in Issue Five

of the Journal. This part traces Mr Mandahl’s life from the end of

the Second World War.

Before the War, Ivan Mand[...]hemistry was very different. During
the War a lot of things had changed, and
nearly all the old formul[...]We made a liquid with a

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

64

preparation called li[...]ashing liquid.

Then ICI in America made a tablet of it
and that finished it for us because the tablet[...]d still kept it going and for a while
I used part of the store; I built a dark room
and was doing the[...]very much
available cash; I did have quite a bit of money
tied up in the veterinary part which[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (66)[...]land had paid secretaries and treasurers
but none of us on our committee would accept
any money, becau[...]s given by the people during
the War for the sake of helping the soldiers. I
refused to take money for a bit of bookwork.
I actually provided the venue at the sh[...]u help us to make up a programme
to send overseas of what is going on at the
Rotary Club?’ I took the photographs, some of
the meetings and some of the town. We had
about 60 slides and we then made[...]response; it must have done
the tour trade a lot of good because we were
getting wonderful letters at[...]to learn more
about photography and get more out of it
because I've never been taught photography.
I[...]e I happened to pick up the

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (67)[...]s about buildings available and there
was a piece of ground that was up for tender,
next to Cleland’[...]d I get to it? I don’t know. Talked to
a friend of mine, he said ‘T’ll put you on to a
man in Pa[...]going to give it to one

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

66

Photograph courtesy Ivan Mandahl.

person, they want a number of people to get
an advantage out of this piece’ then he said,
“You put in this pr[...]it in
at so much a foot, I had to say the amount of
frontage I wanted so I asked for the corner
piece[...]e who you are’. He told me his
name, he was one of my camp cobbers in
the Army. It’s not wh[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (68)up’ so he came up and I got an extra 6 feet of
frontage there right through and that is how
I go[...]school for
photography there and brought in some of
the top chaps from around the country. I got
well known by many of the photographic
people and that’s why I got in[...]rs memories that
they would treasure for the rest of their lives.
That occasion possibly changed my at[...]we spent our first
Christmas after I had come out of the Army.

And then these sections came up. We ca[...]t that
stage Blanche and I moved in. We had boxes
of wedding presents that we had never seen
since our[...]ards. Then I built our furniture. I've
built most of it, and most of the furniture
at the shop. And I’m building two[...]right now in my spare time.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (69)[...]New
Zealand we received a letter from the leader
of the group. With the letter was a parcel and
in this was a hanging ornament that she had
made of pieces of coloured glass similar to
leadlight windows. She[...]s not
a happy one. But after meeting with the two
of us and seeing how we seemed to love
everything ab[...]eveloping a working museum.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (70)PROPHET NOT WITHOUT
HONOUR:GUTHRIE WILSON
OF PALMERSTON NORTH
——_— 95) ——

MALCOLM P[...]ol was
followed by controversy involving a review
of one of his novels in the Manawatu Daily
Times in 1956 an[...]er illustrates historian
Rollo Arnold’s concept ofOF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

———— 70

was in 1956, just before the start of sustained,
large-scale migration westward. His ca[...]ols
as well as the challenges faced by both kinds
of schools at that time.

The 1950s and 1960s were an era of change
and challenge for secondary schools in
Aus[...]ey moved unevenly towards
more progressive models of education. The
frequent occurrence of sackings and forced
resignations in Australian corporate schools
in the 1950s and 1960s were consequences
of conflict arising from appointments of
progressive heads, usually from outside the
‘normal’ sources of recruitment, and whose
experimental approaches al[...]ouncils.

Progressive education covered a variety
of emphases in independent schools, such

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (71)[...], _ self-help,
counselling and co-operation ahead of
mere duty, compliance, motivation by
examinations[...]South Island
Presbyterian educators and had many of the
same characteristics as Australian corporate[...]ics like
uniform, military cadets and the valuing of
sporting prowess but also to curricula and
intern[...]litterarum
in 1933, having already completed half of a
BA degree. He completed this at Victoria
Univer[...]Photograph: PNBHS Archives.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (72)[...]Boxing Day 1938, he married
Madge Svenson, sister of an All Black, with
whom he was to have a happy ma[...]aching
English, Latin and History. He became Head
of the Department ofof Rugby at Palmerston
North Boys’ High until the[...], in an interview with the Manawatu
Standard, one of his pupils, Gordon Cruden,
recalled Wilson’s ap[...]was modest,
unpretentious person who never spoke of his
war experiences. ‘Among other fine masters[...]He was
[the] school’s main disciplinarian. Many of
us were a pretty rowdy mob but when he
conducted[...]s not entirely content.
Some conservative members of the Board of
Governors objected to the earthiness of his
novels. He was frustrated in applications for
jobs. He wrote in his memoirs:

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

72

‘I came late to a b[...]there
was no way the conforming, frighten[ed] men
of an appointing Board of Governors would
invoke censure by selecting a man[...]e him to admonish his
pupils for the explicit use of those very same
words.

‘If you were not a resident of Palmerston
North at the time the Rectorship of the Boys’
High School was about to be decided y[...]ved amazing, if unexpected, support
from Old Boys of the school and from
returned servicemen, many of them former
pupils of the school also. Against them were
arrayed the forces of decency and opposition
to foul language. Decency won, Stan Craven
was appointed.

‘One of my strongest and most forthright
opponents was Blair Tennent, a_ local
dentist, a Member of the appointing Board
of Governors and the local Member of
the House of Representatives, who if
successful at the parliam[...]appointed
Rector, was to have been made Minister
of Education. But he was defeated by none
other than[...]rt due to Skog’s popularity, in part
the result of Tennent’s known opposition to
the candidature of me, Guthrie Wilson, for
the position of Rector of Palmerston North
Boys’ High School.’ A[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (73)[...]o wrote to two Sydney schools. L R D
(Lardy) Pyke of the Methodist Newington
College in Sydney offered Wilson the position
of Latin Master from January 1956, which he
promptly[...]lson moved to Sydney. There
was a stunning review of the new novel in
the Manawatu Daily Times in Sept[...]ugby team-mate, Richard Wild
(later Chief Justice of New Zealand), took
the case and the plaintiff tri[...]almerston North experience.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (74)Certain specific aspects of Wilson’s
experience as student and teacher in N[...]hool world where athletic proficiency
is symbolic of true worth. I do not say this
bitterly. Indeed, I[...]ings
considered.’

Wilson’s approach was that of a tough
disciplinarian. In his Memoirs, he relate[...]rlining in the original.

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

——— 74

In February[...]ter awarded the Military Cross. He was an
officer of the school cadet unit after the war.

Some degree of cultural competence and
style was desirable and W[...]d frequently, translated, and sold over
a quarter of a million copies. He conformed
to one image of New Zealand males in his
era: tall men in uniform[...]destly
ambitious about his school leadership. One
of the characters in Sweet White Wine refers
to the opportunity of a headship. ‘That’s only
King of the Tweedledums.’

Not surprisingly then, Wilso[...]e
books produced in longhand on the kitchen
table of his Mosman home. His reputation
in independent sc[...]ecoming Acting Principal in 1966.

The traditions of The Scots College had
already been shaped by New[...]what old boys
came to portray as the golden years of a
glorious tradition. The ethos establishe[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (75)[...]McLucas, whose educational
philosophy was a blend of Christianity and
progressive education. He believ[...]ng his deficiencies and
defects’; and that boys of all abilities needed
to be able to achieve at app[...]e Principal. He had been hired
with the intention of boosting the academic
performance of the boys and helping them
negotiate the transitio[...]was a feeling that he
was more decisive and more of a
disciplinarian as well as more diplomatic
than[...]Scheme (implemented 1962-67) was a
modest reform of secondary education which provided a
common core[...]d 5th Year Leaving Certificate,
a potential total of six years.

75

the part and the disaffected segments of
Council, Old Boys and staff were impressed.
As unhappiness with McLucas_festered,
members of Council spoke to him about their
problems with th[...]again appointed Acting Principal.

Guthrie Wilson of Scots College.
Photo: The Scots College, Sydney.[...]d guard’,
resolved to seek a change to Clause 7 of
the College’s constitution which specified
that the Principal should be a communicant
member of the Presbyterian Church. Wilson
was an Anglican a[...]lson or else’; it was perhaps the
‘last fling of the old brigade’. They wanted
to preserve the tough old tradition of the
golden age of Anderson and fellow New
Zealander Wilson looked like the kind of

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (76)man to reverse the perceived silliness of
McLucas’s progressive notions. The Church’s
G[...]as seen to offer the Council
continuity in an era of change, also peace
and a restoration of the morale of the College
community. He was certainly seen by m[...]ld whip the College back into shape. In
the minds of the old guard, the Wilson era
did acquire the aura of a restored golden
age, ‘one of the most vigorous periods in the
development of the College’. The differences
in the personalities of McLucas and Wilson,
however, have tended to obscure the extent
to which Wilson continued the policies ofof the educational thinking in
the 1960s and 1970s.[...]2%, compared with 14% in 1956-65), partly
because of Wilson’s belief that the school
should not get[...]ed during the period but
most were the completion of the master plan
of McLucas.

Based on his own education at Palmersto[...]t surprising that Wilson

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

76

placed great value on[...]Speech Day address in 1966 and
his last as Guest of Honour in 1979, Wilson
quoted the same passage fr[...]nts
within its pupils. He also insisted on pupils
of all abilities getting quality teaching. Here,
clearly, was a liberal humanist of the old
school, but this attitude did not prevent[...]on’s leadership style was a very
important part of his success at Scots. Hemade
an unexpected, but inspired, choice of Senior
Master. Staff turnover increased noticeabl[...]ly than his predecessor, as his realistic
picture of the educational expertise of a
fictional school council in The Incorruptibles[...]cise, unlike the long, detailed and frank
reports of his predecessors. He knew that
to dwell in[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (77)[...]itional
and tough disciplinarian. An alleged lack of
discipline had been a major concern about
Wilson’s predecessor. On top of that, schools
in the 1960s and 1970s had to confr[...]new Assistant to the Principal pulled a class
out of an English lesson and caned the lot
of them for mucking up. His recollection is
of a narrow and old-fashioned ‘boss’. Some
PNBHS[...]979 than in the 1956-65 period, though the
nature of the offences became more serious.
Caning was also[...]pproaches
involving pastoral care and new avenues of
internal communication. Wilson was also
able to r[...]in 1975. Hair
length and uniform remained causes of
contention, nevertheless. In discipline, then,
he was also developing some of the policies
of his predecessor, while still looking the
traditio[...]ts. However, Scots stubbornly resisted
the claims of ‘new’ sports like soccer and
basketball (alth[...]sing morale,
but at the same time continuing some of his
predecessor’s progressive reforms to restor[...]ervices
to education and retired at 65 at the end of
1979. He was to enjoy retirement for only
five years, as he died of a heart attack on 9
December 1984. Fortunately, h[...]University Library.

Using Rollo Arnold’s idea of ‘perennial
interchange’, his second and _ thi[...]on their
third New Zealander. Arnold also speaks
of ‘Seeking the prophet of greater honour
from abroad ... unhampered by fami[...], which certainly also
applies to the recruitment of New Zealand
teachers for Australian schools. Aust[...]articles

Arnold, R. ‘The Dynamics and Quality of Trans-
Tasman Migration, 1885-1910’. Australian[...]ory Review, 26, 1986, 1-20.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (78)[...]Petersen & I. Brice.
Learning to Lead: A History of Girls’ and Boys’
Corporate Schools in Austral[...]E. & M. D. Prentis. Scots to the Fore:
A History of The Scots College Sydney 1893-1993.
Sydney, Hale[...]wain, P. L. Newington across the Years: A History
of Newington College 1863-1998. Sydney,
Newington Co[...]5 March 2006.

Primary Source

Wilson, G. Memoirs of a Simple Man. Typescript
in possession of the family, Wing Valley via
Walcha, NSW, Australi[...]Lupton and Bettina Anderson

A new hardcover book of photographs by David Lupton,
depicting the beauty of Manawatu “from the roadside”

Between Rivers[...]ir”.

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

78

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (79)[...]tudents have had to do

research projects as part of their formal assessment for their NCEA

history q[...]ston North
Boys’ High School that have made use of
local resources, as well as national (Alexander
T[...]In Year 13 (Level 3) students have researched
one of the 121 Old Boys of the school who were
killed in the Second World Wa[...]h done, a Memorial Booklet, entitled
‘The World of ****** as a Young Man’ is
developed.

This book[...]ing and/or significant in

New Zealand on the day of his death?

-

2.

gi

79

As most of these men were very young and
had little personal[...]udents. Naturally, some
students have found a lot of information about
their actual Old Boy — a bonu[...]shot down over Germany in 1942.
During the course of his investigation, he found
a website that referr[...]nt and
provided information about the whereabouts of
the actual crash site. There was a contact email[...]age where the plane crashed. He
provided a series of photographs taken of the
wrecked plane in which Spencer had been killed.
This sort of lucky break is what makes research
so exciting.

Other features of this programme that are
of note include:

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (80)[...]out that among the
128 dead, there are four sets of brothers
— Bruce and Lloyd Dickens, both in the[...]Strode Penny (both RNZAF - killed within
6 weeks of each other) and David and Peter
West (RNZAF and R[...]ing and poignant
discoveries.

e The sudden flash of realization that history
is actually about real p[...]o tend to get lost in
the intricacies and details of the course of
events. In my classes, I have actually seen
stude[...]ington where they
are introduced to a whole range of research
activities, such as detective work in the
genealogy section; poring through the huge
collection of WWII official photographs;
delving for the first time into the vast morass
of Hansard and scanning through page
after page of the newspapers on microfilm.
While these are stan[...]t in which students were

® THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

80

to choose a specific[...]om before 1960 and create a 5 minute
presentation of life in Palmerston North in that
year.

Most of the students delved into the PNCC
website — to the History timeline. They selected
a wildly eclectic range of events, ranging from
the Official Opening of Memorial Park in
1952, the opening to the new Gla[...]second bridge over the river and the
development of the Palmerston North Airport.
As many of these topics had never been written
about before, some boys found themselves in
the position of being young historians writing
brand new history[...]their account.

The students gained a huge amount of
information and material from the PNCC
Archives s[...]ely helpful.
Just using the archives was for most of the
students a new experience, and to then be
suc[...]that many students used to good effect.

The best of these presentations was produced
by Ryan Stockley, who provided a detailed and
interesting account of the development of the
Milson Airport. His work was submitted in the[...]ing for all concerned, the most inspiring
feature of the award was that a seventeen-year-
old student had produced a first class piece of
history using local primary resources —[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (81)[...]org

Two centenary celebrations, for the founding
of the Manchester Block and of the Feilding
Borough, were held in 1974 and 1981.[...]was used in displays and exhibitions. While most
of the lent items were returned to the owners, some[...]g
tutor and matron, was then a current councillor
of the local Feilding Borough Council and on the
org[...]opportunity to retain this material as the
basis of a community archive that could one day
be achieve[...]ilding Historical Society and the Feilding
Branch of NZ Society of Genealogists — thought
otherwise and approached[...]rmed a working committee to
oversee the formation of a community archive
that would operate as an inde[...]Manawatu Historic Vehicle Collection
Trust Board of the Coach House Museum offered
a location for the[...]heir horse drawn
carriage museum and after months of planning
and fundraising the building was complet[...]ed in archival approved conditions.
The first set of records to be housed in the new
archive came from the Feilding Library and
mainly consisted of photographs. The material
proved a good testing g[...]earn both conservation techniques
and cataloguing of the material. The second and
larger collection of records arrived in August
2009 from the Manawatu[...]munity records for the
last forty years on behalf of its ratepayers. All the
material relates to the c[...]s;
and some school records as well as the records
of local clubs that are still operational but need
a[...]tain all this material
as the temporary custodian of the area’s records
— over 300 boxes of records in all.

The new community archive purcha[...]actice to conserve records.

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (82)[...]FDCA continue to help with the
day-to-day running of the archive. Volunteers
from these groups — The[...]o regulate and set out the
necessary requirements of collection policy,
volunteer work programmes, fun[...]Churchill spoke these words
following the bombing of the House of Commons
in 1943. Whilst thankfully not a war zone[...]nity engagement. Our
collections are at the heart of these changes.

This development has been most of this
decade in the making. It has been through
se[...]ted
building shell, more than 2,000 square metres of
new galleries are being developed. Within each
of these new exhibitions, new concepts and ideas

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82

communicating the significance of our region’s
heritage are emerging.

These new galleries will include a natural
history of the region explored through the
impact of the Manawatu River, a new Tangata
Whenua gallery,[...]ocate the historic cottage
Totaranui to the front of the museum complex
and introduce overt symbols of our heritage
into the landscape. Our education facilities
are being located at the front of the building,
reflecting the important role educa[...]on.

In all these decisions we are the architects of
public spaces and the conversations that we are
constructing within them. The placement of
material culture in these spaces and experiences[...], I described research I had done
on the founding of the Bridle Track (Manawatu
Riverside Walkway) by members of the Tiritea
Pony Club in the 1960s. The walkway w[...]on
the Small property, Old West Road. At the time
of the article, the whereabouts of the Minutes
of the Pony Club were unknown, and so many
pe[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (83)[...]ertise’ certainly
has helped to locate a number of people, mainly
involved in the Tiritea Pony Club,[...]ony Club ponies were allowed
to graze.

With many of the people involved being busy
with various proje[...]Manawatu — The Manawatu
Savage Club’s Century of Achievement.

By Noel Watts

Published by the Man[...]9.

Reviewed by Noelene R Wevell

I’m sure many of us have wondered about the
jazz band that plays on the back of a truck in every
Christmas Parade. If one looks h[...]as written by Noel Watts reveals much.

It tells of a club first started by a group of
musicians and performers in London in 1857.
Its n[...]s were W S Gilbert and Charlie Chaplin.

The idea of such a club spread around the
world and came to N[...]atu Savage Club.

83

Noel Watts’ history tells of ‘raids’ (visiting
other Clubs), public concer[...]crest was to be Tane-nui-arangi.
In 2000 the use of Maori names was discontinued,
members feeling uncomfortable with this
appropriation of indigenous culture.

A glance at the names associ[...]the
present day can also be found in memberships
of the Palmerston North Orchestral Society,
the Palm[...]ever, it was not until 2004

THE MANAWATU JOURNAL OF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010 ©

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (84)[...]men had been allowed to
play piano accompaniments of concert items, but
only from the floor of the hall — and of course they
had always been there for their cater[...]00 years later, and with several recesses
because of war, the Club is in good heart and
continues with[...]musical
ability. The Club is yet another example of a
small group ofOF HISTORY, ISSUE 6, 2010

84

My one regret with Mr Watts’ excellent
history is the occasional use of the term ‘Savage
and Orphans’ Club’.[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (85)[...]PURANGI

Manawatu Memory Online

View a selection of digitised resources from our collections[...]

TXT

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (86)[...]awatu Flows On, 1993. John Bevan Ford. Collection of Massey University
Library. Reproduced by permissi[...]30-2005) was born in Christchurch. His mother was of Ngati Raukawa ki Kapiti
ancestry and his father of English/German descent. He lived in the Manawatu[...]was a full time painter for the last twenty years of his life.

This painting has its origins in an invitation to travel to the Netherlands, with a series of works
commemorating, and giving a Ma-ori perspective on, the anniversary of Dutch explorer Abel
Tasman’s arrival in New Zea[...]acrylics, on
watercolour paper. The taniko border of the cloak above the land signifies mana, and that the land
is a land of distinction; the floating threads emanating from the sacred upper edges of the cloak
symbolise the local people’s whakapap[...]active space. Below, the Manawatu River flows out of Te Apiti, the Manawatu Gorge, and meanders
across[...]who became a totara tree and carved out the path of the river on
his way from the Wairarapa, east of the ranges, to the west coast. The canoe of the next navigator,
Kupe, can be seen to the left of Okatia. One of Kupe’s wives was Ruahine, after whom the ranges
to the left of the picture are named. The third great navigator was Tasman, and his boat is also in
the sky, to the left of Kupe’s. Constellations and single stars in the sky are the Ma-ori equivalent
of the compasses that Tasman used as navigational to[...]e Manawatu River
meets the Pohangina was the site of an outpost of the Rangita-ne people. The site has since been
wa[...]y including at
the bottom right edge the patterns of some very old flax belts from the Manawatu Museum (now
Te Manawa). Some of these patterns also appear in the traditional taniko borders of the cloak. The
unusual vertical pattern in the centre of the cloak, which is not traditional, was inspired[...]hapes from that carving also appear on the figure of Okatia.

Lucy Marsden

ISSN 1176-9602

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (87)[...]wo)

5 “CLEARED TO LAND”
EARLY DAYS OF AVIATION IN 70 PROPHET NOT WITHOUT[...]ILSON
Graham Parsons OF PALMERSTON NORTH[...]WEAVING THE STRANDS Century of Achievement
Lucy Marsden[...]1 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (88) The Manawatu Journal of History is an initiative of the Palmerston
North Heritage Trust in conjunction with the Manawatu Branch of the
New Zealand Hi[...]r
Manawatu Journal of History Inc.
PO Bo[...]opyright permission necessary for the publication of articles.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 2

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (89)[...]collection is growing, and
a wide representation of historical articles now includes the first issue of this journal.
over many fields, such as arts, hor[...]collection is a treasure
places, times and people of historical interest, – easy to search and[...]pful. Massey
and history and the ethnic diversity of the University has an archivist and some of their
local population.[...]of what is available, is on line. Feilding has its
Despite these aims, our collection of library historical collection onlin[...]ture strongly, with But from my point of view, the advent
articles on Pat Kelliher, Guthrie Wilson and of Papers Past has been a revelation. This
Keith Tho[...]on line, and supplement the Wellington,
part of Ivan Mandahl’s reminiscences and an[...]papers
article on Charles Pemberton, the founder of already there. They are searchable, and[...]once near Rangiwahia. full of fascinating material, easily obtained.[...]has added
As I have been compiling this issue of the hugely to my understanding of my own
journal I have become aware of the extent family. I have found that[...]and 1910, was a
research tool. The accessibility of historical professional runner and won a[...]s meant that research is much amount of money and several trophies that
easier than it wa[...]we still have, ran off a handicap, often of
began this journal. On a national level, there[...]3 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (90)[...]suing North, Eljon is an active member of sports,
creditors or going to complain to the cou[...]her wedding in a collaborating author of Manawatū and Its
1906 (pale blue silk voile).[...]interest in the history of settlement of in
On a professional basis, it helped Don[...]Again, I want to thank the members of
journals but he was a fairly laconic diary[...]proofreaders; Margaret Tate has provided me
of a trip to Pemberton. It gave us a view of with excellent and thoughtful advice ov[...]or the men, women content and structure of the material and Betty
and children. Don was able[...]illiamson has been our entrée into Feilding
some of this material into his article, which hi[...]d has been invaluable in that
into a lively piece of social history. Resources role and in obtai[...]and give us a much which keeps the price of the journal down.
clearer understanding of the times. James Watson, who j[...]more technical matters such as the ethics of
have a new committee member. Eljon[...]urnal has been a
Fitzgerald, a whāngai mokopuna of combined venture by the whole[...]d raised in Palmerston

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 4

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (91) “ C LEARE D TO LAN D ”
EARLY D AYS OF AV IATION
IN PALMERSTON NORTH[...]nd land in John Gillespie’s paddock on the edge of the
city on Saturday 31 July 1920, Palmerston Nor[...]however, the Following in the wake of Richard Pearse’s
first person to view the city of Palmerston remarkable 320 metre historic[...]ist, Leila Adair, who made achievements of the Wright Brothers at Kitty
several spectacular[...]during Hawke, North Carolina, a number of intrepid
her tour of New Zealand in the early 1890s. aeronaut[...]inally managed a successful flight from a demonstration of their aeroplane in the
The Square on 26 May 1894.[...]r her 24 by 12 metre balloon as length of rope. When towed by horses at
it rose to an estimated height of 900 metres full gallop, it rose three and[...]lengthy maintenance
parachute in the sheep yards of a Kairanga breaks, which severely tried the patience of
farmer, and was escorted back to Palmerston[...]aeroplane’ flew 455 metres at a height of 6[...]5 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (92)[...]en, in 1917 on his farm One of these pilots was Captain Russell,
in Shannon, a M[...]ane, toured
the local newspaper as being ‘a man of large the southern part of the North Island as an
heart… with no fear or t[...]me in contact greater reliability of aircraft in the post-war
with a yearling calf and[...]time, Vivian Walsh travelled ahead of the
fired by the success of a sustained controlled plane, sel[...]chool farm, on the western corner of Gillespie’s
at Kohimarama. With the dual-contro[...]hedge! By 1919 they, The visit of this first aircraft caused
along with a similar s[...]on, 2009N_Av9_TRA_2254

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 6

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (93)[...]d C Anderson, H M Carter, Major F Potter;
of Dannevirke. Miss Hibbard announced[...]with her flight and Aero Club became one of the eleven such
reported that she threw three bouquets of clubs then in operation in New Zealan[...]would surely be both The establishment of aero clubs had come
unlikely and illegal today! Many took a short about through the enthusiasm of a small
flight over the city. A newspaper reporter group of war pilots anxious to maintain
described how, whe[...]own contracted to a mere village, the corps of trained pilots, and partly by funds
giant wings m[...]charter. The government’s subsidy of £25 to[...]standard, and its assistance in providing
of aviation were constantly in the news, aircraft, greatly helped the development of
and when in September 1928 Sir Charles[...]ed 649 private pilots and
made the first crossing of the Tasman, 29 commercial pilots, of whom about 60 had
aviation fever was running high[...]been trained in Palmerston North.
by this wave of enthusiasm, talk inevitably
turned to the development of aviation in The aims of the Manawatu Aero Club
Palmerston North. At a Cou[...]will be available for defence or commercial
a sum of money on next year’s estimates, to pu[...]ng these aims was
be devoted towards the purchase of a Moth inevitably going to require co[...]seconded Cr and energy on the part of volunteers, and a
Elliott and carried unanimously. substantial amount of money.
Unfortunately, the incoming Council would[...]required to achieve their first aim of acquiring
reference to the grant being made.[...]a figure that
On 20 November 1928, a meeting of seemed unattainable in a country[...]b-committee searched for a
M A Elliott, president of the Chamber of suitable field and initially had its[...]resident, Mr relief, one would assume, of the residents of
M A Elliott; interim committee, Messrs H C[...]7 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (94) A lease was finally secured for 50 acres of fly urgent supplies to Napier, stricken by[...]proximately the earthquake.
present site of Palmerston North International
Airport. The land[...]tioned close to main roads, railway and of Defence. Rated as a Class B aerodrome, the
the ci[...]eparation field had a landing distance of 457 metres
was required, however, as it was cover[...]rlogged. R. Mr Oram as the prime mover of aviation in
Linklater was given the task of clearing and the Manawatu and the Mayor[...]ould, and
agents A S Patterson and Co. Guarantees of would continue to do so within the limits of
fuel, seed and other supplies were obtained[...]to Setters
Line, by Mr David Watson, with the aid of
men on the unemployment scheme. The
facilities, somewhat reminiscent of a country M H Oram, first President of the Manawatu Aero
club, included a pilots’ dres[...]been considered advisable at the time to of spectators who attended. Fifteen planes
set up an[...]reportedly gave a stunning display of
chairmanship of David Smillie. aerobatics.

By the end of 1930 the land had been Milson airport received its share of visits
ploughed, levelled and sown, and in[...]our record solo flight

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 8

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (95)[...]cat. A more dramatic visit Mills of Auckland for £800. Buying aircraft
to Milson was that of Sir Charles Kingford was always t[...]so, to facilitate the acquisition of new aircraft,
wing, propeller and leg bracket of his plane the neighbouring aero clu[...]Malcolm (‘Mac’) McGregor, appointed
hardships of the depression. in[...]measure Manawatu was brief but of considerable significance. He
joined the Western[...]y was able to purchase three Born of Scottish descent on 4 March 1896,
aircraft: an Av[...]9 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (96)[...]the fledging aviation industry. With the
arrival of the reliable de Havilland Gypsy
Moth in New Zeala[...]urne Air Race in 1934.
mostly short-lived. A lack of finance and Palmerston North City Ph[...]1229
public support, and the fickle nature of
New Zealand’s weather were factors in their[...]n in country deadline for the completion of the plane had
and knew the overall terrain and as[...]Mildenhall, Suffolk on time
After the collapse of his various commercial for their flight vi[...]Zealand pilots landed and waited
the announcement of an International Air out the storm[...]timed departure point for that day. Hence
prize of £15,000. their ‘waiting’ time of fifteen hours was[...]they broke the England to Australia record
hours of the closing of nominations for for a single engin[...]n the process,
the air race, an emergency meeting of the succeeded in putting the Manawat[...]the international map.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 10

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (97)[...]from the air race, Mac offshoot of the Union Steamship Company,
turned his attention[...]ing was formed in 1935 with a capital of £100,000.
up of an airline. 1934 to 1936 saw a rapid The two men were subsequently appointed
expansion of air transport in New Zealand as s[...]as the logical
between Hokitika and Okuru (South of base for a national airline[...]ng in the evening. Incredibly, when
Union Airways of New Zealand Ltd. based at the firs[...]11 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (98)[...]rder to supervising the building of a huge hangar
accommodate commercial airliners. M[...]hangar was built in Dunedin, the southern
of 125 acres, including the 50 acres already terminal of the trunk route. The task of
occupied, with the option to purchase the[...]General, the Hon F Jones. The
under the direction of the Public Works following day reg[...]ed to sell its interest to the maintenance of the aircraft was rigorous and
Palmerston North City Council. However, thorough. With the help of radio aids set up
the ratepayers at the time were[...]and run by the Post Office, and sufficient
of raising the £1700 required to buy the[...]s North and Dunedin.
had a change of heart and on 22 June 1937
the Council took over t[...]metal Lockheed Electras, the ultimate in
owners of the Aerodrome until it was taken luxu[...]Gregor flew to England to select the of smaller operations were amalgamated
aircraft and[...]estic airline. He
would be reassured by the sight of four did not live to see this: he[...], 1949, 1953 and 1967,

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 12

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (99)Funeral of Squadron Leader M C McGregor, 21 February 1936. I[...]that the Government at this
with the introduction of the DC3 aircraft by time was conside[...]ft cutting up the virtually free of fog and low cloud and with
surface and making the[...]be a strong
in wet weather, the expensive option of a contender.
sealed runway had to be considered. On
9 March 1955 Mr Shand, the Minister of The minister agreed to cont[...]an all-weather runway from the idea of an international airport,
at Milson. Alarming pho[...]lating that it be a runway to meet
graphic images of aeroplane wheel tracks domestic requirements. Tenders were called
in a sea of mud. Aerodrome Committee on[...]1220 metre runway was open at the cost of
proposal that a sealed runway at Milson[...]13 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (100)[...]headquarters. With the development of[...]for use of the land in exchange for free[...]enterprising establishment, the initiator of
what has come to be a thriving centre of[...]flying. Many of the pilots trained here will[...]either for commercial airlines or in areas of
replaced in 1965.[...]ps and Viscounts. of Squadron-Leader McGregor. Wellington, A. H.
In 19[...]Gardiner, H. Skyways of Maoriland. Wellington,
NAC and Air New Zealand. O[...]McKenzie Thornton Cooper, 1934.
the accoutrements of a modern airport were Johnson, J. W. Union Airways: a Short History of
acquired: lights for night landings, modern Union Airways of New Zealand Ltd 1936-1947.
navigational aids, air[...]Wellington, Aviation Historical Society of[...]Zealand, 1985.
fire services. Passenger comforts of sorts[...]White, Leo. Wingspread. The Pioneering of Aviation
were not fully addressed until 1956 when[...]theson City Archives: PNCC 1/1/1: Council
the aid of volunteer labour and donations, has[...]Linklater, R.G. The History of Milson Airport
Flying School, a Post Office mail[...]/history.html.
University’s buildings and fleet of planes

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 14

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (101)[...]on Area in Palmerston North is
the best preserved of the early state housing schemes developed
by the[...]gnificance
is now widely recognised.
The lack of satisfactory housing for workers and abund[...]1905, system, and to a certain amount of medical
Richard Seddon’s Liberal Government,[...]ding problem. Walter
concern focused on the slums of the inner Nash, the Minister of Finance, announced
cities which were regarded as sites of disease in the 1936 Budget that 5,000 ho[...]the state. On 27 November, the
in the Depression of the 1930s; this resulted Manawatu Evening Standard reported that the
in a critical shortage of houses and a major MP for Palmerston North, Joe Hodgens, had
survey showed evidence of overcrowding. shown the West End[...]of Education, Peter Fraser, who was at once
The n[...]interested and facilitated the purchase of the
1935, took a broad approach, defining decent[...]eserve and was leased as urban farm land
Ministry of Works in 1949, the architect Cedric used[...]d will not have the rectangular severity of

15 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (102)[...]could rent their home for life. A few of the
breathing spaces provided ... possibly with a[...]nd in 2010 recall generally harmonious
settlement of this large block would be a large relatio[...]state as landlord. The
factor in the development of West End which houses were well maintained and repainted
has lagged behind other sections of the city.’ every five years though the[...]e Crescent scheme schemes. The lack of garages was a continuing
was announced, urgent ap[...]older resident recalled
that before their family of five obtained a The National Gove[...]themselves to 40 years. Now only 30% of the houses in
immediately in ideal surroundings.[...]the opportunity to purchase. A number of
paddocks and gravel roads for a year or two.[...]es in ownership.
1938 and 1944. Forty-six percent of the houses
had two bedrooms but as families grew[...]stimulus to the economy at the end of the
to larger three- or four-bedroomed homes.[...]lats were built for pensioners but there of Labour’s housing scheme. The new
were objection[...]in addition to housing construction
cross section of professional and skilled owned a jo[...]in Savage Crescent included five clerks, of the early tenants.
two librarians, two managers, three drivers
and one of each of the following trades: Another i[...]a ready market for his

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 16

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (103)Staff photograph of HE Townshend Ltd.
Collection of Te Manawa Museums Trust.

polished marble and c[...]es and the firm illustrates perfectly some of the influential
grew to be one of the largest in Palmerston town-planning principles of the time; this is
North. Other firms also benefited. Some one of the reasons for its heritage status. From
housing construction was undertaken by the beginning of the twentieth century there
Higgins, Arcus and Co. Forty percent of was a growing belief that housing an[...]planning should contribute to the health
of brick veneer and this provided stimulus and happiness of the residents and should
to local brick works. Br[...]also be aesthetically pleasing. The concept of
Featherston Street also made tiles for fire[...]ld War II, sanitary ware. Konka board, of the city became the ideal. This was the
a cladding material, was also made in emphasis of the Town Planning Conference
Palmerston North. Th[...]held in Wellington in 1919 and attended by
of Alexander Clark Ltd provided paint and[...]ction. The success of the original Labour state[...]17 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (104)[...]HAMMON

Early plan of Savage Crescent State Housing Area. (Street names[...]lace; islands for tree planting; varied positions of houses on
sections. The hatched squares on houses[...]atheson City Archives.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010[...]

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (105)[...], able and committed residents and a few of the original flowering
public servants and widesp[...]divided into two distinct
A noteworthy aspect of Savage Crescent is areas with trellis built between the houses
its connection with some of those key public dividing off the bac[...]rties. It was intended that the
Tyndall, Director of Housing Construction individual fr[...]boyant MP who would create the effect of a large community
was Under-Secretary for Housing[...]garden and after seventy years parts of the
is often credited with the initial success of the inner streets retain this aspect. This[...]e. However, in the heritage value of Savage Crescent since
the John A. Lee Diaries 193[...]visions the Housing Division
Tyndall was ‘[O]ne of New Zealand’s great continued to[...]garden
civil servants. He is the one mind capable of city principles but paid less attentio[...]on, politically.’ the park-like effect of the streets, electricity
In four years, Tyndall c[...]precinct via overhead wires at the rear of
made its mark on almost every city and[...]first large
the CMG for his services in 1939. One of subdivision in Palmerston North serviced in
his achievements was attracting a team of this way. Services were undergroun[...]Gordon Wilson, the other outstanding
name of Hammond Place in the precinct. member of Tyndall’s staff, was first the Chief
Architect of the Housing Division, then
Hammond was traine[...]uished career in New Zealand before of government and private architects. Four
his appoi[...]igns were submitted nationally
Housing Department of the State Advances and constantly[...]His plan for the Savage to the views of residents. Wilson’s name
Crescent Block illustrates perfectly the appears on most of the Savage Crescent house
principles of the garden suburb. The central plans.[...], curves round a large for his designs of large city buildings such
elongated oval reserve[...]ns, termed the
tree planting. An active programme of tree International Style, are howev[...]at a varying distance from the street. of living rooms. Though many private[...]19 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (106)[...]simplified versions of Arts and Crafts, Art
regarded, probably correctly[...]Deco and other architectural influences.
of public taste to be acceptable. A range of Several duplexes are notable examples of
more familiar cottage styles generally termed[...]are regarded by local builders today as
use of different cladding and roof design,[...]designed to meet the taste and functions of
the modern family of the 1940s. Unlike the[...]living room for most of the day. These solar[...]calculations of the position of the sun in[...]transformed with banks of floor to ceiling[...]of the new terrazzo or stainless steel benches.[...]The decorative style of the interior, with[...]its light colours and lack of ornamentation,[...]framing of native wood and many owners[...]to restore the interior design of the period
and the glow of the matai floors in perfect
Most designs are variations of the English Domestic
Revival style (top). The Mod[...]eneral and the removal

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 20

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (107)of walls to increase the convenience of the but when there were objections to the site, the
living space was often the first action of those money was given to the City Council[...]for growing
at the back. Alterations to the front of houses vegetables during the war and then[...]in the 1960s. Though part of the area is now
The development of community life was used regularly for junior sport on Saturdays,
another emphasis of town planning at the the recommend[...]owed up. The reserve is however
by the activities of the many children and the defining feature of the whole suburb
by the work of establishing homes and and there would be no support for it to be
gardens. One of the first residents said that subdivide[...]tain their sections. The collection of documentary photographs were
majority of the children went to West End made[...]standards enjoyed by workers in
brought all parts of the suburb into easy, safe New Zealand’ as well as the benefits of
walking distance. Older residents also recall social security. Jack and Betty Evans of 5
that people put gates between neighbouring[...]communal garages Plan. Stage II of the Plan contained a series of
could be accessed between 129 and 131[...]e for the future use and development of the
but were not popular and were demolished[...]scent Design Guidelines
a hall planned at the end of Hodgens Place which have continued t[...]21 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (108)The photographs on these pages are of the Evans family
of 5 Mansford Place. Taken in 1947 for publicity
pur[...]urniture and new vacuum cleaner, and, at the
rear of the section, the standard trellis and power pole.[...]atheson City Archives.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 22

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (109)[...]nsistent with the uniqueness and long-
term value of the area. The Savage Crescent
Heritage Trail book[...]Minister Helen Clark had tea with of the Savage Crescent Conservation Area.
residents[...]ts again I have talked with a number of residents
gathered at the Te Manawa Savage Cresce[...]is that most people
Exhibition, curated by staff of the Museum appreciate living in a suburb designated
and the Design Studies Department of a conservation area, even thoug[...]y. More recollections were knowledge of its history may be rather
recorded, one by Steve[...]hazy. Most approve the actions taken by
Minister of Education, now Vice-Chancellor the Council to prevent infill and demolition
of Massey University. ‘Soon after buying the[...]for Cabinet heritage significance. Much of this may be
Ministers. In the case of Mansford Place – attributed to the influence of the Guidelines
two Cabinet Ministers.’[...]oceed by
far reaching influence on the protection of offering advice and encouragement rath[...]n with regard to has worked in spite of the lack of progress on
building consents and these were incl[...]ct Plan, approved on 18 Reports of the 1990s. It may be time for these
December 2000[...]ial ‘historic village’ and
Section R 10.7.4.1 of the Plan deals with rules some residents a[...]could interfere with the quiet enjoyment of
any application according to the impact[...]23 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (110)[...]Wellington, Ministry of Works, 1949.[...]Schrader, Ben. We Call It Home. A History of State[...]Design Guidelines.
tree by the letterbox was one of those provided to tenants Palmersto[...]scent
demonstrates the original design principles of the Conservation Plan – A[...]Theses
The general satisfaction of residents, the Bragg, Ala[...]rston North. BA (Hons) thesis,
warm recollections of those who once lived[...]niversity, 2004.
there and the continued interest of first home[...]he Model Garden
buyers suggest that the decisions of the Suburb. BArch 373 Research Report, Victoria
original planners and of the City Council have University of Wellington, n.d.
been good ones. The precinct was[...]Archives Files 175/67 and
remain a cross section of the community 17[...]popularity for first home buyers
a new generation of children are appearing.[...]avage Crescent Conservation Area
provides a model of the way which town Note: With the exception of Curran (1990),
planning and architecture can cont[...]bove are available at the City Library or the
map of the city and it continues to provide as[...], Dunmore Press, 1994.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 24

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (111)[...]ry before it was attempts to make good use of the sours
built.[...]and jars of orange marmalade soon appeared
The Keiller fam[...]rathmore Keiller company its name.
lands of Easter and Wester Keilor. The direct
ancestors of the New Zealand Keillers were Janet remained in the family business,
the founders of the Keiller Company, which named afte[...]in the Channel Islands, as a means of
made sweets, cakes, jams, jellies and[...]57 James’s son
by Janet Mathewson Keiller, wife of John William moved to Guernsey with his family
Keiller, a Burgess and tailor of Dundee. to establish the new branch[...]79, when the sugar tax was
buying a parcel or two of Seville Oranges abolished. The 22 years of trading from
that had arrived unexpectedly in the Tay Guernsey, with the advantage of lower cost sales
[Dundee is a port on the Firth of Tay] passing in foreign and colonial mark[...]r her attention. Janet’s the foundations of a worldwide company,[...]25 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (112)[...]Peter Port, Guernsey, and France, with of which were prominent gabled corners,
access to co[...]space for the family dogs. Elements of both
grandest house on the island, set in a very these houses can be found in the design of
English ambience of formal gardens and Atawhai.
rolli[...]79, he bought a large house for his of introduction to people in New Zealand
family of six children, his ailing wife and[...]tesy Patricia Keiller.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 26

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (113)[...]ng community had a very self-contained
miles west of Bulls. By 1889 they owned 7,500 circle of friends. Family and relations were
acres of flat land, two flax mills, and a number the main visitors. Since travel was difficult,
of windmills for pumping water. There are[...]tended to stay for several days, even
photographs of horse-drawn wagons full weeks, at a time. Dances were sometimes
of hay; Albert developed a Polled Angus[...]this circle. In 1897, Maud married William
of which became the centre for their other[...]ed to New Island station of Erewhon. In 1904 Ethel
Zealand. First to come was[...]27 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (114)[...]District, on the high escarpment overlooking
of Thomas Potts, a Canterbury botanist.[...]the initial
Emerald Waitt, whose husband had died of block. Raumai and[...]lying land and the conventional wisdom of
her daughter Muriel, born in 1878. Janie Waitt[...]rried on the plenty of fresh air was needed for protection
property and[...]berculosis. They knew the district
Tawhera, north of Levin.[...]the
Muriel, in 1903. In 1905, Muriel Keiller died of last block to be purchased[...]land holdings.
Concerned for the welfare of his children,
Edwin asked his mother-in-law, Jani[...]of the Bulls property, both Albert and Ernest[...]known for his use of seasoned timber and[...]had designed houses for other members of[...]of what was to be a very different-looking[...]style houses. Albert and Edwin had ideas of[...]New Zealand.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 28

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (115)[...], handsome portico over the front of kauri, measuring the full height of the
door. The entrance is similar to Havilland house with its ground floor stud of fifteen
Hall in Guernsey, except that the columns feet and first floor stud of twelve feet.
support the portico to the first flo[...]ld serve as an extension each corner of the L echo the tower corners of
of the upstairs drawing room, through long[...]’ desire for a healthy
The north facing side of the house has two home. A small ves[...]wide, low-tread staircase on the right of the
could be used as an extension of the upstairs hall led up to a gallery, from either end of
drawing room but was more often used as[...]air was seen as an to the wings of the house. The balustrade
important factor for he[...]on the ground floor posts at the start of the
reminiscent of the entrance to Fernwood staircase. On the left of the hall was a dark-
in Wimbledon Park. These two[...]g and reception area.
floors made of heartwood Australian jarrah.

Plan of Atawhai (Fergusson Hall) before the alterations i[...]29 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (116)[...]part of the house. On the short side were[...]ing panel neat structure of the house, at a slightly lower
in the library, cr[...]safe’ pantries (doors
dining room, to the right of the large fireplace. and windows covered with very small wire
Throughout the inside of the house there are mesh), a dairy on the corner of the house
touches of board and batten; the upstairs[...]table used to set and

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 30

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (117)[...]dshed between the workshop
On the kitchen side of the back door and stables), and a c[...]building up two tennis courts in front of the
storing gumboots and hanging gardening verandah side of the house.
coats. The whole building was 15,000 s[...]cluding the vestibule, Edwin died of tuberculosis in 1909, leaving
walk-in pantries, s[...]rooms, Janie Potts with the responsibility of bringing
four lavatories, storerooms and boot-roo[...]d enterprises. Albert remained the head of the
Edwin. But first they had to devise a way family finances, keeping meticulous records
of getting the materials up to the top of the of the household, Edwin Keiller’s estate and
escar[...]a side drive to the stables. The
outer buildings of stables and a workshop During the 1920s and 1930s the garden was
were also built of heartwoods. The stables further developed by Brian Keiller, especially
were of a traditional design, three sides of after Albert’s death, when he also too[...]o large loose boxes the responsibility of the family finances. The
on the left, the rear covered for the gigs and design of the sunken rose garden was based
other carriages and on the right a tack room, on the focal point of a ponga tree in a clump
lavatory and saddle room. Eventually the of residual bush at the far end of the garden.
whole area was roofed and made into a garage The 1936 cyclone smashed many of the trees
for four cars and the garden equipment.[...]ens; this forced further
The workshop consisted of a loft for hay, clearing and restructure of the plantings
and on the ground floor a large ele[...]31 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (118)[...]ena took over the management
for tomatoes and out of season vegetables and of Atawhai, accepting all the family already
seedlin[...]trees, was to install an Aga stove for cooking and
grapevines and various berries and currants.[...]requested permission to use it for marketing.
of Lloyd George raspberry canes, planted[...]938. The property fifteen people per demonstration. It burnt
was self-sufficient with up to 90 layin[...]coke, hence the need to convert a back
(a variety of breeds), five to eight milking storer[...]Brian and Helena had three children:
a number of sheep for grazing the land and Robe[...]including bedrooms, a playroom and eating
number of changes, starting after Brian ar[...]espondence School room

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 32

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (119)[...]an air-raid shelter was built in the side of[...]also became the holiday home for many of[...]mal Balls. Each
bedroom was added on to this area of the event was planned in[...]h the drawing room side of the house. The rooms and marquee
was left intact,[...]ements, using flowers
room, in the central corner of the house. This especially grow[...]by glass doors year for any of the Church floral arrangers,
and heavy red curtai[...]apart from Helena Keiller’s rostered time of
sunroom was glassed in by the 1940s but the every third week of the month for over 30
upstairs loggia was only pa[...]33 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (120)[...]odgson, T. E R. Charles Tilleard Natusch: A Folio of
when social entertainment was based around[...]Joblin, D. Behold the Plains: The story of the old houses
and entertainment, Atawhai became a focus of Massey. Auckland, Longman Paul, 1970.
for many of the large social gatherings Mathew, W. M. The Secret History of Guernsey
in Palmerston North and surroundings[...]nded, as they Mathew, W. M. Keillers of Dundee: The Rise of
were highlights during that period of food the Marmalade Dynasty. Dundee[...]er family papers
be a welcoming home for the care of young held by Patricia Keiller.
p[...]n which kindness and
friendship and the enjoyment of life and
learning can be fostered and taken out into
the wider community.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 34

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (121)[...]DONALD G IRVINE

The story of the early settlement of New Zealand is one of
coastal occupation by both Māori and Europeans, followed
by subdivision of the land. For the most part the early Māori
established settlements on the coast and on the open areas of the
interior and then defined tribal areas by ‘[...]settling on the coast
and on the open grasslands of the east coasts of both islands. Their
subdivision of the land, however, was based on English principles
of private land title, developed since the Norman Conquest.
The importance of the early surveyors 1840 was subdivi[...]rty years, into counties,
There were early charts of the New Zealand towns and boroughs. In 1853 the Wellington
coastline, but the interior of the new country Province was created and i[...]Small Farm Association was founded,
was the role of the surveyor to provide the with the intention of purchasing Wairarapa
topographical maps that enab[...]ions to be established, as beginning of planned small scale farming
well as the required[...]rovided a
government guarantee as to the accuracy of By the 1870s the political clima[...]lement. Government legislation
The new country of New Zealand after from 1860 to 1[...]35 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (122)Lands (i.e. the unsold Crown Lands). The
Land Act of 1885 allowed settler associations
to establish special settlements of smaller
farms, on deferred payment or special
lease. The arrival of emigrants under the
government-funded Vogel Scheme and New
Zealand depression of the 1880s gave further
impetus to the government’s drive to settle
more of the growing European population on
smallholdings. The bush-clad Waste Lands of
the North Island interior were to be opened
up to ‘put the small man on the land’, in the
words of the political slogan of the day.

The early settlement of Wanganui (now
Whanganui) and the surrounding open
grasslands meant that by the 1880s it was the
centre of farming, trade and commerce in the
northern part of the Wellington Province.
Further population growt[...]. In 1885 a Wanganui
Small Farms Association, one of several in
the Wellington Province, was establish[...]ngineer and surveyor who periods of living and working in a small
arrived in Wellingt[...]r to the Ashley County in activities of the surveyors from the local
Canterbury. His seco[...]angiora on 9 July 1859. He records of three such occasions involving
followed his fathe[...]ng in the 1883 at Karioi, when Aropeta of Murimotu
Wanganui district, working for H C Field; in was arrested on the charge of ‘the larceny of
1886 he married Margaret Avice Field, the[...]Field, his constables. The newspapers of the day lost
father-in-law, was a civil engineer.[...]inted Clerk and Engineer to state of the roading networks when they
the Wanganui Town[...]les] will
he acted as Engineer to the Road Boards of long remember – and [70 year old] A[...]so – the rough
responsible for the construction of about journey from Murimotu. They must add
2,000 miles of roads in the district. their testimony to the chorus of witnesses[...]ecent thoroughfare.’

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 36

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (123)[...]on’s arrival we
hope to be placed in possession of fuller
particulars relating to the obstructionists and
their reason for stopping the progress of the
surveyors. Here is work for the new Native
Mi[...]sly, Charles was ordered off on
the ‘objections of some of the inhabitants to
its being surveyed.’ Survey pegs were pulled
up, despite the liability of a £50 fine.

In the 1870s the government had gazetted
several large land blocks in the northern
part of the Wellington Province as Waste
Land. These incl[...]s Pemberton’s second daughter,
the western part of this block was leased by[...]of a restless nature’ so it is not surprising
June[...]that he wished to take up farming; it was an
of the block was purchased for £51,961 from[...]Mr. Knox reported on their inspection of the[...]of £1 per acre and request a detailed survey
Farms[...]of the chosen area. A subcommittee was
under the exi[...]rton Small
required by government included: 1/3rd of[...]The first meeting of this new Association
rural sections to be availab[...]was on 1 May 1885. By 22 May a set of rules
price to be £1 per acre; and allotment was[...]of fourteen prospective settlers, including
deposit[...]were to be taken up, with 400 acres to be
of a Small Farms Association; and must[...]37 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (124)[...]ent a year
be 100 acres, there would be a maximum of 69 surveying the land into 50 to 200 acre rural
settlers and the total area of the block would sections, together with a network of ‘paper
be 7,245 acres. The letter also noted th[...]ther has been
‘It is observed that the names of some the worst for survey work that I have ever
women appear on the list of members. If these experienced. The track from Ohingaiti is no
are the wives ofof Charles and Charles took up a 1[...]e is recorded on a section on junction of the present roads to Ohingaiti,
an 1887 survey pl[...]ers took up several nearby
The Under-Secretary of Lands also sections; Ernest Pem[...]ation that surveying section. Members of the Field family also took
would commence immedia[...]up land nearby. Ashcroft continued to survey
of the first instalment of 7½ pence/acre. A land in the district to complete the survey of

Pemberton Corner
The names of the owners, shown on the sections, are taken from[...]nformation/Signmakers.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 38

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (125)[...]s house until
Farms Associations blocks. The Town of 1892. He also built the first accommodation
Rangiwahia and the Villages of Karewarewa house, managed by his wi[...]rveyed as a town. well off – few of the pioneers were and[...]ed his section. Up to 1893, his diary
first party of settlers who set up camp on records[...]first task was to clear the bush,
which was some of the densest and most By December 1888 there were 21
impenetrable in this part of the North Island. whare, four sawn-timbe[...]accommodation house. In 1891, the first
‘Some of the new settlers for Pemberton are sc[...]e in the district opened, near
that they are some of the “right sort” to the butcher[...]substantial hotel opened; the Cyclopedia of
However, the beginnings of Pemberton New Zealand reported in[...]e, Hotel was ‘a convenient building of wood
the Secretary/Treasurer of the Pemberton and iron… [It] contains thirteen rooms of
Association, absconded to North America[...]ite to be the district
This action forced several of the members centre. However, by 189[...]had developed the nearby surveyed Town of
Rangiwahia and several of the Pemberton
Although Charles was only 27 at[...]the Pemberton it became the centre of the community.
Block development to succeed, a ce[...]Like many other transitory settlements that
of community in the district was needed.[...]39 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (126)[...]e various subdivisions are vast tracts of unoccupied forest country...
for settlement provided for a network of Clearings in every direction were p[...]1878 noticeable, and in scores of places burnings
legislation, it was the task of the newly- were taking place, the smo[...].’
these paper roads. With such rapid expansion
of settlements in so many remote areas it was[...]‘Amateur
a Herculean task, beyond the resources of Bushman’ witnessed Messrs McKenna[...]Mr Pemberton busily engaged milking. Mr
of public and council meetings highlight[...]iggery and fenced
their day-to-day lives, because of poor or in a large plot of garden land… the growth is
non-existent roads.[...]atter to concentrate his efforts more
in a series of reports in the Wanganui on the la[...]I felt myself quite at home, immediately on
of an anonymous correspondent, ‘Amateur[...]irst A chubby little daughter [Helen] of some
day he went via Whangaehu and Marton[...]the pack track on ‘guid wifes’ of our noble backwoods men
shanks’ pony and horseb[...]isolated, as it were, from the outside
appraised of the beautiful scenery awaiting world,[...]and all informed me that they were perfectly
of this serpentine road fresh scenery burst[...]accustomed to in town.
entranced at the richness of the vast expanse A beautiful, light, buoyant feeling takes
of country before us. About eight miles from possession of you.’
the commencement ofof vantage that Mr Pemberton and his[...]block that bears north, east and west of the Pemberton village
his name… As far as the e[...]ons. He reported that:

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 40

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (127)[...]ten unmarried settlers; 20 or all sorts of purposes – water was generally
thirty other holders of allotments have fallen drawn from a well,[...]boiled their washing in these
feel the great want of a school and postal tins. They were a[...]n called a meeting hay in the bottom of the tin before placing
on Saturday – the day we left – to consider the mason jars full of fruit in. Of course there
the advisability of starting a butter packing was some water[...]ng them. The boxes the tins
He ends his series of reports as follows: came in were used a[...]and cut down they made excellent seats for
word of praise to those noble fellows who ba[...]but against an oppressive individual in the
shape of the Hon Richardson, Minister of In 1903, at the age of 44, Charles was still
Lands, whose great aim seem[...]gone to the Boer War and afterwards settled
out of the hardworking backwoodsman.’ He[...]n Whangaehu
insight into life in those early days of the with her cousins. She wrote:
settle[...]storeys; but as Father never a plague of locusts had come down upon
got around to putting in the stairs, the upper that part of Africa. When Father was fit to
portion was never[...]And wasn’t I glad – we
he developed the farm of 200 acres, Mother womenfolk didn’t[...]acre farm at Rapanui, west of Wanganui, to go[...]ny years. The kerosene came in A team of carpenters was building the new
wooden boxes hold[...]41 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (128)nice little home of five rooms and far enough and mail deliv[...]t home
Forty-six-year-old Charles was still ‘of at Ore Ore.’
a restless nature’ in 1905, when he took up
1,100 acres of Māori leasehold covered in
standing bush. Situa[...]oad and about ten miles from
Raetihi, it was part of the Ohutu Block.
Marion gives an insight into events:

‘Gangs of bushmen were engaged and
Father spent most of his time there, while
Mother and I carried on at[...]aking butter. We had 500 hens and the
same number of ducks. The skim milk was
made into curds and thes[...]not unusual in the summer
for me to get the herd of 20 cows in at 2
a.m. Mother could not milk and Helen [the
elder daughter] was at College. Of course
there were no machines in those days. On
r[...]re she died in
‘Mother hated leaving in spite of all the[...]ridle tracks for roads

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 42

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (129)[...]onger exist,
but its influence on the development of the Primary Sources
Rangiwahia tow[...]Associations Blocks to the north, of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Vol 44, 1911.
east and south of the Pemberton Block was http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_44/
of great significance, as was the Pemberton rsnz_44_00_000060.pdf
phase of Charles Louis Pemberton’s life. He[...], 1882-1903 by Charles Louis
developed a farm out of the virgin bush, Pemberton.[...]script)
But let us also remember the contribution
of the settlers’ families. For the wives and[...]gh Mill for
children, it was an unrelenting grind of daily[...]•
Books
Cyclopedia of New Zealand, Vol 1. Christchurch,
The Cycloped[...]Embroidered on to...
Writings of a New Zealand Journalist, 1851-1877.[...]43 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (130)the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 44
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (131)[...]ing to pieces, either from neglect or as a
result of vandalism. The old chapel at the centre of the cemetery
was also derelict.
This is Palme[...]he early 1990s Council. By 2004 the state of the Terrace End
there were people so shocked and[...]tery was testament to that. It was a
by the state of the cemetery that they made green oasis of trees and shrubs, dotted here
submissions to the[...]it had greatly reduced. The cemetery chapel
of the Terrace End Cemetery.[...]ness, so nobody was to show signs of neglect. Long grass grows
ever going to stop him from getting money in some of the gravesites, piles of leaves blow

45 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (132)[...]I was the second eldest in a family of nine
dropped from the trees and, once again,[...]ond boy in the family.
there are shattered pieces of quite a number
of headstones lying around throughout the[...]rse teams
Nevertheless, at least Pat’s years of work and all his own implements and had[...]ontracting work. He might do up to five
the stage of needing just a spring clean, not hundred acres of ploughing as one contract,
the massive renovation[...]work.
Pat’s group faced back in the 1990s. One of Eventually he sold the teams and went[...]h there. I often said
publication in booklet form of a cemetery the money he spent could[...]on, in 1986. Ian located information
on the lives of a number of the people whose ‘My mother, Mari[...]remains were laid to rest at Terrace of Irish parentage, but born in New Zealand.
End and[...]early demonstrated that cemeteries
are not places of death, but rather places rich ‘Our[...]acres round our house and
in the Catholic section of the Terrace End were permitted to ru[...]with the
Cemetery. His life story has become part of horses. From about nine or ten I was the
the rich tapestry of experience that still, for milker, milkin[...]team. He would
in 1996 he decided to record some of his also build bridges for the County. He had a
reminiscences and over a period of months he galley they pulled behind th[...]as getting only 10/- a day,
and other memorabilia of the events that and it must have been very hard rearing a
were important in the lives of the Kelliher family of eight (one child had died by then).
household. Ex[...]huge vegetable garden, our own fowls and
content of this article. ever[...]1912… to know about that sort of thing)… Our diet

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 46

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (133)[...]ber also that Mum would envelope of a person who lived in Foxton.
make a big scone in the frying pan, plenty of He was working the same hours as I was[...]even double time for part of Saturday. I wrote
Pat attended the Loburn Publ[...]ited the job and asked for me. Next day I
the age of twelve. He worked picking apples got[...]penter… to work on the first state housing
rest of my family always said I bought it!’[...]find carpentering work
I got farm jobs for a wage of 5/- a week plus in Sydney and subseque[...]s in
Linton Street and the big store out the back
of Hodder and Tolley, in Taonui Street. I then
worke[...]Photograph courtesy of the Kelliher family.[...]47 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (134)[...]joined the Australian Army advise of any movements, activities and
on October 20, 1939[...]particularly wants
Pat described his experience of desert to talk about war. I thin[...]ing game really… monotonous our way of life. That was the way I looked at
at times. A sk[...]then a time would follow for
counting the losses of men and equipment Pat’s rol[...]mplacement with sandbags because of sinus trouble caused by the desert
for protection[...]unfit for front line service. The rest of his
were six in ours. Artillery had an observatio[...]as sent to the Pacific Islands but
post up front. Of course there was little radio Pat’s j[...]Photograph courtesy of the Kelliher family.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 48

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (135)[...]It cost what
was a security officer in a prisoner of war now sounds like a ridiculous sum of money
camp for Italians who had been captured in[...]property investment ladder. The seed of an[...]nd
their subsequent marriage, he was at the
stage of being ready to settle down so ‘it was
a case of meeting the right person in a weak Yo[...]Photograph courtesy of the Kelliher family.
moment’. In 1947, when the[...]. which you cannot do today. I knew of a land
Wives were to be left behind in Australia[...]ttled in Palmerston North. the back of the Midland Hotel building. The[...]working for somebody else on a wage
for the rest of his life and after six months The a[...]partnership with Craigwin Homes, one of the
doing jobbing building work on his own[...]ovations. loans with an interest rate of 3% available[...]capitalisation was an integral part of the
house in his spare time and they sold it for scheme. Pat describes the role of his agency:

49 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (136)[...]owed the
on Craigwin… there was a huge shortage of rest.
houses at that time. I did about 60 of those
sales a year, our top year was 1960… Crai[...]Brian Elwood who persuaded
did the building part ofOf bronchial asthma in 1965. I spent th[...]winters in hospital and at one stage I was on
of cheap sections. On modern building[...]enous drip to feed for three weeks. I
regulations of that day you could subdivide was mortgaged to the hilt and Brian told me
down to a fifth of an acre… that if I[...]straits.’
’I bought the land on behalf of Craigwin
and had it surveyed and subdivided and… the Many of Pat’s rental properties were
house and section[...]cribing them as ‘pigs’ for the
homes, because of the loan and capitalisation state in which most of them kept and left
regulations. To get enough mon[...]their flats. It was a relationship of mutual
you had to capitalise on family benefit fo[...]e, no fences, drives landlord, as one of life’s less pleasant
or garages. If they [the p[...]garage or a drive then they paid extra [but]
most of them did that work themselves.[...]tenants, he was always a champion of people
Crescent… Sections were sold there for[...]rpenters’ Union and the
and soon owned a number of houses dotted Labour Party was ac[...]f farms
‘The boys, John and Kevin, were part ofof the time with me renovating think.[...]ful on both occasions, but
two two-storied blocks of 12 flats erected. at a by-election i[...]ty Council. It was the

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 50

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (137)Palmerston North City Council and Heads of Department, 1955.
From left. Back row: Cr John Fa[...]th City Library, 2007N_Cc21_PNCC_1011

beginning of a 31-year career in local body put[...]annoyance of the mayor.’
‘I was really the outsider on that
Council. Others were the ‘establishment’ of Pat was a constant irritant, al[...]at started the battles. [From 1956] of the community over another. The local
Blair Tenne[...]very friendly! … He was very of ‘The City Watchdog’ and Pat was proud
dogmati[...]51 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (138)[...]permitted to use it. Many of them were referred from the courts
The answer was[...]r driving infringements.
to members. Several eyes of councillors went
down to the table and the applic[...]mmittee, which I chaired
belonged to one or other of the Masonic for some years. Council had always had a
lodges in the city, nine of them. There were policy of stop-go building programmes. As
twelve on Council[...]low rates of interest, I always felt it was a
Despite his m[...]that this was the job of private enterprise. My
successful years, but not[...]that as the Government was
ever given the honour of chairing a committee, buildi[...]‘I was also given the chairmanship of Civil
Councils and Feilding Borough [Council].[...]Defence in the city. We had many successful
Much of our discussion centred round exercise days, and we built up a team of
raising the matter of dangerous corners and volunteers to cover all facets of a disaster
so on with various councils. Rarely were and were considered one of the strongest
our suggestions for improvements ig[...]units in New Zealand. We had hundreds of
At that stage there was also a safety driving[...]Collections of Te Manawa Museums Trust, accession number 86.167/86

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 52

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (139)[...]The story of how Pat’s long council service[...]measure of time and according to these,[...]g the Local
Photograph courtesy of the Kelliher family.[...]had Pat earned the title of Palmerston North’s
It is, however, the times[...]served three terms on both the Wellington
of his fellow councillors for which he is best[...]1970s Pat organised Honours of 1985 when he was made an MBE
a petition to try and prevent the proposed (Member of the Order of the British Empire).
loan money being raised and got the required
number of signatures to force a referendum.[...]were to be his decade of work with the Friends of the
cut down to make way for the building, Pat[...]Terrace End Cemetery. In recognition of this,
was a loudly vocal opponent.[...]the current untidy state of the cemetery be
when I retired!’[...]53 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (140)[...]on was best known to some as Massey’s Professor
of Geography and Dean of Social Sciences. But his diverse
enthusiasms and[...]r and in 1940 played the Bishop of Mid-Wales
intelligent son; she certainly encouraged him in Birds of a Feather and Leonidas in Lion of
in his academic career.[...]university studies by

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 54

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (141)[...]ced by her, including Banquo
completed two-thirds of his degree. He had in a production of Macbeth, suggested the
also had some teaching experience, helping possibility of an acting career, but on Marsh’s
out with agric[...], where he crashed a plane on an of Washington in Seattle, completing an MA
early solo flight but was also one of the first in Geography. After twelve months teaching
of his group to do a solo night flight. He later[...]55 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (142)[...]talents continued
to flourish; his 1950 direction of Ladies in
Retirement for the Gainesville Community
Playhouse was described in the Gainesville
Daily Sun of 27 March 1950 as ‘outstanding’.

From 1953 to 1961 he lectured in Geography
at the University of Adelaide, being promoted
to Senior Lecturer. His[...]ar reconstruction.
He also edited the Proceedings of the South
Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical
Society, was one of the founding members
of the Institute of Australian Geographers,
encouraged the Adelaide T[...]ch he directed several
plays.

During a period of overseas leave in
1960-61 he visited some sixty g[...]lington. He was invited to apply
for the position of principal at Palmerston
North University College[...]er. In December 1961,
He took up the position of Principal of Thomson was interviewed by this Coun[...]informed. He had made a thorough study of
he reportedly performed well, in what[...]He favoured the eventual formation of a full
were moves to merge it with nearby Massey[...]e’,
In July 1961, a Council for the Development of and that both institutions should be mature

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 56

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (143)[...]productive career over the next thirty
the staff of PNUC. Nor did he favour a move years,[...]The Faculty of General Studies, comprising
The Massey University College of all the departments of the former PNUC,
Manawatu Act, combining the two[...]umbers, and
September 1962, the inaugural meeting of the in subjects offered. Plans were mad[...]by studying extramurally, and a Bachelor of
been offered jobs by Victoria, and fearing that[...]many as 3,000. Meanwhile, a committee of
The question of who would become the University Council, set up to consider
Principal of the new College was a delicate the development of the arts, recommended
one, especially since the a[...]t to become Vice-Chancellor when of Humanities, (comprising Departments
it eventually became an autonomous of English and Modern Languages and
university, as i[...]cision later Philosophy) and a Faculty of Social
was delegated by the Council to the[...]lties came into being in 1965, with
Stewart, head of Massey Agricultural Thomson as Dean of Social Sciences. In 1968
College, and Thomson was[...]they moved from the Hokowhitu Campus to
Professor of Geography from 1 January 1963, the Massey site.
at a salary of £3,000 a year. He was also made
Dean of the new Faculty of General Studies Thomson had the good fortune to be
for an initial term of two years, any extension Dean at a time when demand for university
of that period to be at the discretion of the education was growing world-wide, an[...]he was to remain a was a keen advocate of the social sciences
Dean for most of his career, a position calling in the univ[...]and administrative leadership number of internal students enrolled in his
within the Univ[...]ted finding Dr Stewart a hard man, of extramural students increased more than
with whom[...]50. This growth was
was not initially a supporter of extramural second only to that of the Faculty of Business
studies, and Thomson stayed largely to[...]was Thomson’s
protect that and other activities of the former continuous encouragement of innovation in
PNUC. Despite this uncomfortable start, he the introduction of new subjects, many not
came to respect Dr Stewart[...]57 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (144)[...]dies, Media Studies amounts of time on teaching and research,
and Museum Studies[...]looking after the Department of Geography.
before being launched as separate unit[...]e courses were up more of his time as the Faculty grew,
developed in many s[...]being Head of Department sooner. Some of[...]a perception of favouritism, adding to the[...]one of his staff was due to go overseas on[...]see …’ He arranged a steady stream of highly[...]national Geographic
Professor Keith Thomson, Dean of Social Sciences, Union Meeting[...]he was also Chairman of the Organising
Massey University Archives Photograph Collection. Committee of the 56th Australia and New[...]had a reputation of Science Congress on the theme of ‘Science
for integrity and impartiality which m[...]ed inclusive meetings, of geographic thought, as well as some
for which he[...]tory papers. Student Bryant Allen
Despite his air of formality and confidence[...]l as give the students

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 58

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (145)practical exercises. At one of these they all Tempest. A reviewer in t[...]1989
check up he went to investigate a noise; one of he was Vice-Chancellor Sir William Gowers[...]and opened the door, and in Trelawney of the Wells at Massey.
ticked the girls off, preten[...]in New
Zealand, and the socio-economic geography
of the Cook Islands. He contributed a chapter
on Dut[...]ther collection in 1973, with the
ambitious title of Contemporary New Zealand:
Essays on the Human Resource, Urban Growth
and Problems of Society. Trlin has commented
that while he learne[...]icult, because administrative duties took
so much of his time. While Thomson went
on to edit other geo[...]academic field; by then art and cultural of the Wells, 1989, Massey University.[...]organized and appeared in fund-raising
part of his efforts to make PNUC a more lively r[...]brary. It specialized in two productions of Annie (1982 and 1991).
in unusual and difficult p[...]s sword bearer. Following the Bishop of Poitiers in The Devils (1967) a
the merger this g[...]highly controversial production that included
of the Massey University Drama Society.[...]mance. Margaret
Prospero in an outdoor production of The Greenway remembers that he par[...]59 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (146)[...]e Thomson was involved with the
of a doctor in an episode of the television Manawatu Museum Soci[...]s well as appearing on 1993, for much of this time as President
stage he was a (sometimes[...]Amesbury Street was run by
and served as Chairman of the Centrepoint volunteers; it was comprised of items from a
Theatre Trust.[...]and negotiation with
studied anthropology as part of his masters the City Council and ot[...]e said, ‘I think a society period of great uncertainty, it was finally
which doesn’t[...]Science Centre, would occupy their present
danger of becoming totalitarian.… [Artists][...]s enthusiasms and whole approach
in their funding of all cultural facilities. to museolog[...]1960s to the 1990s he served on, and of the Manawatu Museum in the mid 1970s,
frequently led, the governing bodies of three and other professional staff so[...]the Government on the establishment of the
satisfaction. Ministry of Culture, Thomson served on the
Council of the Art Galleries and Museums
When he arrived in Palmerston North Association of New Zealand (AGMANZ)
in 1961 he joined the Council of the then from 1963 to 1987, for some of this time as
Manawatu Society of Arts, which put on President,[...]rved Unesco on the National
gallery on the corner of Grey and Carroll Commission 1970-[...]Manawatu Art nominee on the Board of Trustees of the
Gallery Society, was planning seriously for a[...]on became aware that
received from the Department of Internal the National Museum was[...]and national museum kept changing. By
part of Te Manawa, a stylish and generally[...]nced, and a year later

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 60

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (147)[...]lchair, he dressed formally in
establish a Museum of New Zealand and a jacket and tie,[...]e, landmark, building. This to Te Papa of a Fred Graham carving, of
meant Thomson had early input to the huge kauri, cedar and kahikatea, from his own
task of reorganization, and by the end of collection.
1992 a transitional management structure
was in place to guide the development of Luit Bieringa, former Director of the
the institution established by legislation[...]This also dissolved the Board Director of the National Art Gallery in
of Trustees, which meant Thomson was no[...]ss comfortable in the larger Wellington
evolution of the Museum of New Zealand Te gallery and museum env[...]the new as the International Council of Museums
Te Papa building, then nearing completion. and the Commonwealth Association of
Graeme Fraser with other friends and family[...]h confined a strong belief in the value of knowledge’.

Helicopter flight to Te Papa, S[...]61 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (148)Korean folk drama mask for the part of a woman, Japanese mask given to Professor Thomson by one of
presented to Professor Thomson in 1991.[...]e ex-students, Y Nakamura in 1980.
Collection of Te Manawa Museums Trust, Palmerston North, Collection of Te Manawa Museums Trust, Palmerston North,[...]campuses.
and Fred Graham. Forty-five of the sixty
masks, collected on his overseas trips,[...]are now in Te Manawa. of New Zealand, 1981, republished in 1991
He related his love of masks to his interest in as A[...]and museums of this country was the
In the mid 1980s he persu[...]establishment at Massey of a much-needed
Vice-Chancellor, Sir Neil Waters, t[...]ning course; prior to this
money for the purchase of art works, and by staff h[...]useum professionals; this was offered by
and part of the collection was shown at Te[...]first eleven students

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 62

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (149)[...]enrolled Published Sources
in a Master of Arts in Museum Studies. Manawatu Evening Standard, 1983, 1987.
With the establishment of these professional Hamilton, Bruce. Palm[...]Palmerston North Boys’ High School, n.d.
of Thomson’s life wove themselves tightly[...]ridget Williams Books, 1991.
fruit in the context of his university career. Owens, J. M. R. Cam[...]First 25 Years of Massey. University’s Extramural
He was honou[...]e. Palmerston North, Dunmore
and made a Companion of the Order of St Press, 1985.
Michael and St G[...]987 for his The Palmerstonian: Magazine of the Palmerston North
service to the arts.[...]Palmerston North, Geography Programme,
of friends in Palmerston North, New Zealand School of People, Environment and Planning,[...]ctured life, that he chose to spend Board of Trustees of the National Art Gallery,
much of his time associating with actors,[...]ents, paper clippings and oral history
supportive of his family, but despite clearly tapes in the Massey University Archives.
enjoying the company of women, never Documents in the Te[...]Bryan Saunders, Andrew
relationship and a family of his own. Trlin.

Professor[...]ment. http://www.gcplayhouse.
with him at the end of his life. He saw him as org/data/gcp_pl[...]ersity’, and who through University of Adelaide Theatre Guild|1950s http://
his involvem[...]63 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (150)[...]home in Feilding on 5 August
2008. The first part of the interview was published in Issue Five
of the Journal. This part traces Mr Mandahl’s life from the end of
the Second World War.
Before the War, Ivan Man[...]Then ICI in America made a tablet of it[...]le and then ICI decided to come and
the War a lot of things had changed, and sell them i[...]um. We had to pack that I used part of the store; I built a dark room
into one pound pac[...]available cash; I did have quite a bit of money
Then we thought, ‘Well, if we made this i[...]up my stock and I was

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 64

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (151)[...]eady for the Welfare to send overseas of what is going on at the
Committee which I also sa[...]Rotary Club?’ I took the photographs, some of
look at it, pass it or not as the case may be, the meetings and some of the town. We had
send it to Wellington, get the m[...]France, Germany and South Africa. The
but none of us on our committee would accept South[...]age and we managed to find a
the War for the sake of helping the soldiers. I woman at FAHS [Feilding Agricultural High
refused to take money for a bit of bookwork. School] that could speak thos[...]n once a year we the tour trade a lot of good because we were
would have an annual meeting[...]t the about photography and get more out of it
Borough Council Chambers. That was quite[...]65 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (152)[...]d the person, they want a number of people to get
notices about buildings available and there an advantage out of this piece’ then he said,
was a piece of ground that was up for tender, ‘Yo[...]at so much a foot, I had to say the amount of
the Post Office and they were going to build[...]. Why did I read it? name, he was one of my camp cobbers in
How did I get to it? I don’t[...]rmy. It’s not what you know it’s who
a friend of mine, he said ‘I’ll put you on to a[...]e said ‘I’m coming

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 66

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (153)up’ so he came up and I got an extra 6 feet of into the safety rail. The mother[...]they would treasure for the rest of their lives.
insurance every five years continuou[...]Christmas after I had come out of the Army.
photography there and brought in some of
the top chaps from around the country. I got[...]hese sections came up. We came
well known by many of the photographic around t[...]clearly. It was a busy Friday of wedding presents that we had never seen
morning i[...]the family group. On built most of it, and most of the furniture
their way to Solway, in the Manawat[...]67 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (154)[...]here and on the home for him.
outside of the house was an chimney. That
hit the house and of course the top broke off. He was just[...]e ground and I wondered what the of course he’d never been in the cold – in
devil was going on but it was of course the Malaysia it’s not cold li[...]we sent on to Taihape and two we sent on to
half of the hotel under my feet. Ha[...]way down there so I made a from some of the students that we looked
pit and I gradually t[...]after, mainly from Malaysia. One who spent
sides of the house, put the bricks down, the fiv[...]he
there where my trees are; I’ve got five feet of took a job in computer technology and he
g[...]tion Mum and Dad while he was here. Of course
and he had to have a foster mother and fat[...]come. I was President I also think of the many experiences that
at the time and I said[...]ouriers for groups. One time we were
for a couple of years at Feilding Ag [Feilding staying on[...]land at Honolulu a few

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 68

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (155)[...]river told us it was full but a of the group. With the letter was a parcel and
stret[...]passengers at the same made of pieces of coloured glass similar to
hotel. So when this arr[...]happy hour we would gather for of us and seeing how we seemed to love
a chat.[...]69 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (156) P RO P HET NOT WITHOUT
HONOUR : G UTHRIE WILSON
OF PALMERSTON NORTH[...]was in 1956, just before the start of sustained,
Canterbury via New Plymouth to Palmers[...]He later taught at his old school of schools at that time.
and appeared a likely candi[...]The 1950s and 1960s were an era of change
followed by controversy involving a review and challenge for secondary schools in
of one of his novels in the Manawatu Daily A[...]ibel case in more progressive models of education. The
which he was the plaintiff. frequent occurrence of sackings and forced[...], since a recent biography by Julia of conflict arising from appointments of
Millen, Guthrie Wilson: Writer, Soldier, Educator[...]ignificance as a ‘normal’ sources of recruitment, and whose
novelist. Wilson’s caree[...]pproaches alarmed school
Rollo Arnold’s concept of ‘perennial councils.
inter[...]Wilson’s trans-Tasman crossing of emphases in independent schools, such

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 70

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (157)[...]Presbyterian educators and had many of the
counselling and co-operation ahead of same characteristic[...]uniform, military cadets and the valuing of
and remake harsh tradition but to remould[...]in 1933, having already completed half of a
65) was strongly influenced by these ideas[...]71 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (158)[...]sentative Rugby for Marlborough for of an appointing Board of Governors would
two years, and was a Lieutenant i[...]would be more correct) rude
Madge Svenson, sister of an All Black, with language in Brave C[...]pupils for the explicit use of those very same[...]o ‘If you were not a resident of Palmerston
Palmerston North Boys’ High School, where North at the time the Rectorship of the Boys’
he remained for nearly ten years teac[...]will not realise the turmoil this relatively
of the Department of History, Geography and simple exercise[...]orward technique helped from Old Boys of the school and from
raise the standard of Rugby at Palmerston returned servicemen, many of them former
North Boys’ High until the First Fifteen was pupils of the school also. Against them were
undefeated in 1954. arrayed the forces of decency and opposition[...]he Manawatu was appointed.
Standard, one of his pupils, Gordon Cruden,
recalled Wilson’s approach to teaching and ‘One of my strongest and most forthright
discipline:[...]dentist, a Member of the appointing Board
‘We called him Gus. He was a dynamic, of Governors and the local Member of
inspiring teacher, He loved history, made the House of Representatives, who if
it live and walked the ex[...]ade Minister
unpretentious person who never spoke of his of Education. But he was defeated by none
war experi[...]anding
[the] school’s main disciplinarian. Many of for Labour. There was no one who did n[...]the result of Tennent’s known opposition to
However, Wilson was not entirely content. the candidature of me, Guthrie Wilson, for
Some conservative members of the Board of the position of Rector of Palmerston North
Governors objected to the earthiness of his Boys’ High School.1 At least I w[...]Ormond Wilson (1946).

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 72

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (159)[...]he reviewer made several assumptions
(Lardy) Pyke of the Methodist Newington about th[...]damaging false allegations. Wilson was
of Latin Master from January 1956, which he[...](later Chief Justice of New Zealand), took
Though written before the R[...]tion law. Although set in a
was a stunning review of the new novel in fictional boys’[...]73 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (160) Certain specific aspects of Wilson’s In February 1945, h[...]0s and 1960s, in both New officer of the school cadet unit after the war.
Zealand and[...]d. Wilson was Some degree of cultural competence and
a rugby blue at universit[...]ge in Brave Company a quarter of a million copies. He conformed
(1950): to one image of New Zealand males in his[...]ields, but that is small beer in the of the characters in Sweet White Wine refers
close s[...]letic proficiency to the opportunity of a headship. ‘That’s only
is symbolic of true worth. I do not say this King of the Tweedledums.’
bitterly. Indeed, I am not su[...]ut lost the title
Wilson’s approach was that of a tough on a technicality. He r[...]but did no damage at all.’ table of his Mosman home. His reputation
When he was inspe[...]e schools had The traditions of The Scots College had
a strong military tradition[...]came to portray as the golden years of a
and Italy with the 25th Battalion and was[...]and unimaginative.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 74

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (161)[...]the part and the disaffected segments of
experienced by pupil, future film director[...]members of Council spoke to him about their[...]ppointed Acting Principal.
philosophy was a blend of Christianity and
progressive education. He believ[...]ng his deficiencies and
defects’; and that boys of all abilities needed
to be able to achieve at app[...]e Principal. He had been hired
with the intention of boosting the academic
performance of the boys and helping them
negotiate the transitio[...]ted on Guthrie Wilson of Scots College.
disciplinary and sporting matters[...]resolved to seek a change to Clause 7 of
was more decisive and more of a the College[...]member of the Presbyterian Church. Wilson
When the Princ[...]cheme (implemented 1962-67) was a
modest reform of secondary education which provided a ‘last fling of the old brigade’. They wanted
common core cur[...]ation to preserve the tough old tradition of the
after four years, with Higher School Certif[...]golden age of Anderson and fellow New
a potential total of six years. Zealander Wilson looked like the kind of

75 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (162)man to reverse the perceived silliness of placed great value on a ‘rounded e[...]ee and Anderson, his last as Guest ofof change, also peace bring forth the many and varied talents
and a restoration of the morale of the College within its pupils. He also in[...]nity. He was certainly seen by many of all abilities getting quality teaching. Here,
mas[...]who clearly, was a liberal humanist of the old
would whip the College back into shape. I[...], but this attitude did not prevent him
the minds of the old guard, the Wilson era from strengthening and diversifying science
did acquire the aura of a restored golden teaching, as envisaged by both the Wyndham
age, ‘one of the most vigorous periods in the scheme and his predecessor’s policy.
development of the College’. The differences
in the personalities of McLucas and Wilson, Wilson’s lead[...]to obscure the extent important part of his success at Scots. He made
to which Wilson continued the policies of an unexpected, but inspired, choice ofof the educational thinking in Wilso[...]enrolments grew very little picture of the educational expertise of a
(2%, compared with 14% in 1956-65), partly[...]onal school council in The Incorruptibles
because ofof the master plan concise, unlike the long, detailed and frank
of McLucas. reports of his predecessors. He knew that[...]picture being created

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 76

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (163)[...]itional
and tough disciplinarian. An alleged lack of Guthrie Wilson had taken The Scots
d[...]tional model would
Wilson’s predecessor. On top of that, schools allow. He had actually ste[...]e but at the same time continuing some of his
was tightening up and returning to old-[...]to education and retired at 65 at the end of
out of an English lesson and caned the lot 1979. He was to enjoy retirement for only
of them for mucking up. His recollection is five years, as he died of a heart attack on 9
of a narrow and old-fashioned ‘boss’. Some[...]an’ Using Rollo Arnold’s idea of ‘perennial
image is not the whole story. Expuls[...]career patterns within professions lacking
nature of the offences became more serious. form[...]l’. New
involving pastoral care and new avenues of Zealanders educated in a more ‘trad[...]ollege Council
length and uniform remained causes of could congratulate themselves on[...]r. Arnold also speaks
he was also developing some of the policies of ‘Seeking the prophet of greater honour
of his predecessor, while still looking the[...]applies to the recruitment of New Zealand
Importantly to those who wanted[...]Books & articles
the claims of ‘new’ sports like soccer and[...]Arnold, R. ‘The Dynamics and Quality of Trans-
basketball (although they entered the latt[...]77 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (164)[...]1960.
Learning to Lead: A History of Girls’ and Boys’
Corporate Schools in Aust[...]& M. D. Prentis. Scots to the Fore:
A History of The Scots College Sydney 1893-1993. Pr[...]993. Wilson, G. Memoirs of a Simple Man. Typescript
Swain, P. L. Newington across the Years: A History in possession of the family, Wing Valley via
of Newington College 1863-1998. Sydney,[...]ity Books A new hardcover book of photographs by David Lupton,
@ Discount Prices depicting the beauty of Manawatu “from the roadside”
12 Coleman[...]Palmerston North

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 78

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (165)[...]students have had to do
research projects as part of their formal assessment for their NCEA
history qu[...]ew years I have developed As most of these men were very young and
two research projec[...]have been
Boys’ High School that have made use of documented, the whole focus is o[...]have researched students have found a lot of information about
one of the 121 Old Boys of the school who were their actual Old Bo[...]n Lourie, a 2009 student, researched
‘The World of ******** as a Young Man’ is Serg[...]During the course of his investigation, he found
This booklet contains[...]provided information about the whereabouts of
2. What was PNBHS like when he was at[...]provided a series of photographs taken of the
4. The campaign he was fighting in – what w[...]ce and where did it fit in the This sort of lucky break is what makes research
wider war?[...]g and/or significant in
New Zealand on the day of his death? Other features of this programme that are
of note include:

79 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (166)[...]Palmerston North
128 dead, there are four sets of brothers history prior to 1960 and r[...]from before 1960 and create a 5 minute
6 weeks of each other) and David and Peter presentation of life in Palmerston North in that
West (RNZAF an[...]Most of the students delved into the PNCC
• The sudden flash of realization that history website – to[...]. Students, and a wildly eclectic range of events, ranging from
indeed all historians, do tend to get lost in the Official Opening of Memorial Park in
the intricacies and details of the course of 1952, the opening to the new Glaxo buil[...]ring through the old school development of the Palmerston North Airport.
magazines, The Palmerstonian, suddenly sit As many of these topics had never been written
back and ga[...]terwards, they explain the position of being young historians writing
how they suddenl[...]The students gained a huge amount of
become really aware that history is about[...]es Just using the archives was for most of the
a lot more meaningful.[...]anawatu Evening
are introduced to a whole range of research Standard microfilm collection[...]t many students used to good effect.
collection of WWII official photographs;
delving for the first time into the vast morass The best of these presentations was produced
of Hansard and scanning through page[...]tockley, who provided a detailed and
after page of the newspapers on microfilm. interesting account of the development of the
While these are standard research activitie[...]are, unfortunately), are being feature of the award was that a seventeen-year-
kept in th[...]old student had produced a first class piece of
years to come, I believe, become a valuable[...]h Boys’ High School.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 80

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (167)[...]carriage museum and after months of planning
The Coach House Museum[...]rations, for the founding The first set of records to be housed in the new
of the Manchester Block and of the Feilding archive came from the[...]and 1981. At that time, mainly consisted of photographs. The material
many people contributed[...]workforce to learn both conservation techniques
of the lent items were returned to the owners, some and cataloguing of the material. The second and
material such as photographs, diaries and records larger collection of records arrived in August
was not wanted back. Tu[...]council had accepted community records for the
of the local Feilding Borough Council and on the last forty years on behalf of its ratepayers. All the
organizing committees for[...]en’s Institute records; defunct clubs and
basis of a community archive that could one day[...]ishing a community archive was a topic of local clubs that are still operational but need
m[...]ntil 2011. as the temporary custodian of the area’s records
Three local groups – The Coach House Museum, – over 300 boxes of records in all.
The Feilding Historical Society and the Feilding
Branch of NZ Society of Genealogists – thought The new c[...]igned for small museums and
oversee the formation of a community archive archives and is[...]dedicated specialists who are readily
Trust Board of the Coach House Museum offered avail[...]81 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010
Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (168)[...]n there communicating the significance of our region’s
are concerns about such issues as[...]history of the region explored through the
The three groups initially involved with impact of the Manawatu River, a new Tangata
setting up the[...]w Children’s Exhibition, the
day-to-day running of the archive. Volunteers New Zealand Ru[...]ed governance Totaranui to the front of the museum complex
committee meets to regulate and set out the and introduce overt symbols of our heritage
necessary requirements of collection policy, into the landscape[...]ues and are being located at the front of the building,
other needs.[...]In all these decisions we are the architects of
week. Researchers are also now using the archive[...]constructing within them. The placement of[...]Te Manawa Museums Trust
following the bombing of the House of Commons
in 1943. Whilst thankfully not a war zone[...]research I had done
collections are at the heart of these changes. on the founding of the Bridle Track (Manawatu[...]Riverside Walkway) by members of the Tiritea
This development has been most of this Pony Club in the 1960s. The wa[...]Within the refurbished and updated of the article, the whereabouts of the Minutes
building shell, more than 2,000 square metres of of the Pony Club were unknown, and so many
new galle[...]people who had been involved had either died,
of these new exhibitions, new concepts and ideas[...]stories were emerging.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 82

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (169)[...]lly two sites along
has helped to locate a number of people, mainly the river where Pony C[...]the Ian Matheson City With many of the people involved being busy
Archives but are a[...]Manawatu – The Manawatu
Savage Club’s Century of Achievement.
By Noel Watts
Published by the Manaw[...]Reviewed by Noelene R Wevell

I’m sure many of us have wondered about the Noel Watts’ history tells of ‘raids’ (visiting
jazz band that plays on the back of a truck in every other Clubs), public conc[...]In 2000 the use of Maori names was discontinued,
It tells of a club first started by a group of members feeling uncomfortable with this[...]in London in 1857. appropriation of indigenous culture.
Its name is derived from Rich[...]ach), lawyers (Bert Jacobs, Justice
The idea of such a club spread around the McGreg[...]s, TV and visiting entertainers, many of the Palmerston North Orchestral Society,
Savage C[...]83 the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (170)[...]d to history is the occasional use of the term ‘Savage
play piano accompaniments of concert items, but and Orphans’ Club’. There is no explanation as to
only from the floor of the hall – and of course they whether this is a full title o[...]revealed that the Orphans were those who
because of war, the Club is in good heart and[...]musical
ability. The Club is yet another example of a This interesting history is available from
small group of keen members who contribute to the[...]eet, Palmerston North.

the manawatū journal of history, ISSUE 6, 2010 84

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (171)[...]ylibrary.pncc.govt.nz

View a selection of digitised resources from our collections[...]

MD

<p>The <em>Manawatu Journal of History</em> contains articles on the history of the wider Manawatu area, written by a variety of contributors. The Journal is published annually. Conditions of use: This journal is made available for personal[...]crivens</p>
<p>p.5 "Cleared to Land", early days of aviation in Palmerston North - Graham Parsons</p>[...]>p. 70 Prophet not without honour: Guthrie Wilson of Palmerston North - Malcolm Prentis</p>
<p>p. 79[...]Manawatu: The Manawatu Savage&nbsp;Club's century of achievement" / by Noel Watts - reviewed by[...]
Manawatu Journal of History

Various, Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010. Massey University Library, accessed 12/09/2024, https://tamiro.massey.ac.nz/nodes/view/11509

Manawatū Journal of History, no. 6, 2010 (2024)
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