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Copyright 2009, by Victoria University of Wellington
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1998
Cover: Photograph (Reproduced with permission of White Aviation, Auckland).
De Havilland DH89 Dragon Rapide ZK-AEW of Cook Strait Airways Ltd over Nelson Haven in early 1937 with the Boulder Bank on the left and the Atawhai area in the background. Drumduan, above The Glen, is prominent in the far distance.
ZK-AEW, named Mars, the fourth of five Rapides owned by CSA, was assembled at Nelson's first aerodrome at Stoke and test flown on 18 February 1937 by me company's Chief Pilot, George Bolt, and he is at the controls in this photograph.
Caption supplied by Graeme McConnell.
This is the second volume published under the revised banner of Nelson Historical Society (Incorporated) Journal since the Marlborough Historical Society withdrew from joint publication; that was in 1996. The society's aim to publish an annual Journal has not been achieved due to the slow accumulation of scripts. Delay has made it possible for further material to come to hand for this volume to appear. We have Miss Dawn Smith to thank for her hard work in editing the articles chosen and the efficiency and computer-skills of Mrs Noelene Ford for the excellent presentation of the scripts in the form we see before us. I hope you enjoy their efforts and those of contributing authors. I feel it is possible to achieve our annual aim, if we follow the ideas promolgated in the Editorial in Volume 1 Number 2 of the Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies' Journal, published November 1982; I quote;
"Perhaps the most valuable work done by societies such as ours is the recording and publishing of original research and reminiscences. We do not realise how quickly changes take place ……. Those of us who are past middle age should be recording on tape or (more especially) writing accounts of conditions in New Zealand as we remember them in our youth. All of us can add a little to the story of our past. Many have found that the reading of old newspapers, diaries and out of print books can be a fascinating habit. We can delve into our family's past, the history of our street or farm, of an old prominent building and find a story that may interest others. We may talk to older people and learn of their way of life. Do try it and don't hesitate to send the results to the Journal ……. it may be just what we are looking for."
I am certain we have many reluctant historians in our ranks who have some fine tales to tell, but are inhibited in their efforts as they feel dney cannot record those gems. May I assure you there are members in the Society willing and able to help those who have such material to prepare it for publication. Have a go!
Published by:
Nelson Historical Society Incorporated
PO Box 461
Nelson
ISSN 1173-9711
We are grateful to the Nelson Provincial Museum and contributors for making photographs available.
Edited by Dawn Smith
Typed by Noelene Ford
Printed by Copyart, 276a Queen Street, Richmond.
This lecture is not a systematic discussion of the history of Nelson; nor is it a potted version of my book, Nelson: A Regional History. I thought it more useful to offer some thoughts on how our understanding of the history of New Zealand might be enhanced by paying some attention to the history of Nelson. I propose to reflect on this issue by considering some points of comparison and contrast between themes in Nelson history and some recent approaches in me academic writing of New Zealand history.
It is of course particularly appropriate that this discussion should take place in a lecture endowed by James Jenkins. As we know, Dr Jenkins spent his working life in Dunedin, where he was inspired by the considerable effort residents of that city had put into preserving the records of regional history. When he retired to Nelson, he and others were instrumental in the preservation of material to do with the history of Nelson, and he was a founder of the Nelson Historical Society in 1954. It is necessary to recall that this was at a time when New Zealand history was scarcely a fit subject for polite academic conversation.
If you take a standard history of nineteenth century New Zealand – that is, up to 1914 – a number of themes will appear:
Now I must admit that I structure my own stage one lectures more or less around this model. It is pretty much what appears in, say, Keith Sinclair's extraordinarily influential Pelican History of New Zealand, first published in 1959 and still in print. It is a model which has a far older lineage than that, being pretty much the same in William Pember Reeves' writing early in the century, and indeed in Alfred Saunders' two volume History of New Zealand, published in the 1890s.
You will notice that it is a history which is thoroughly geographically skewed. Indeed in this model, Nelson might get a look-in under the New Zealand Company, but will receive little more attention than that. Sinclair, for instance, gives Nelson precisely three mentions in the index and the more recent Oxford History of New Zealand a few more (but not many). We have, therefore, a history of New Zealand in the nineteenth century which is based on the big cities, the far north, Canterbury and Otago, the West Coast, and Taranaki and Waikato – and only on parts of the history of those places.
Even the newest general history of New Zealand – the much praised Making Peoples by James Belich – although arguing with the interpretation of these questions, is still fundamentally organised around them.
1
I am well aware that I am not inventing a new approach in discussing how different New Zealand history looks if we pay some attention to Nelson. The importance of local history in understanding the history of New Zealand was forcefully made by Jim Gardner forty years ago, and a little later by W H Oliver. Oliver, especially, makes many of the same points which I do here and it is no coincidence that he had also been working on regional history, in his case that of Gisborne.
2
Other much more eminent historians than I have made the point that the model referred to above is a partial one. Erik Olssen has pointed out that the model reflects 'a central assumption of national history; that the nation's development was a single story best conceptualised in terms of uniform evolutionary progress'.
3
It is a model inevitably based on what scholars have researched, and in the small world of New Zealand history that has meant some big issues have not been systematically studied. The focus has for long been on Maori-Pakeha relations, on state-building, and on class conflict; and, Olssen says, there has been an assumption that one region was much the same as another.
So much for setting me question out. I propose to deal with it by reflecting on some of the themes in a couple of the most influential works of recent New Zealand history: one, as 1 mentioned, is James Belich's Making Peoples, and the other, which I will mention a little later, is the writings of the Victoria University historian, Miles Fairburn.
Belich devotes the first fifth of his book to the Maori before 1769, which is entirely proper but which I will not discuss. I would only note that if I had written that part I would have, perhaps, paid more attention to regional differences in Maori society, and would of course have used Nelson as a good example. Archaeologists like Aidan Challis have shown that the region was one where the sea was perhaps of first importance in providing the necessities of life, with forest, hunting and gathering perhaps next, supplemented by the extraordinary efforts put into kumara-growing.
4
For Belich, the making of New Zealand after 1790 – when Europeans began first to resort to these shores on a systematic basis – was through the relationships between these Europeans and the Maori with whom they dealt. I do not dispute that at all, but it is notable that the main locations where this happened – the far North and the far South – have been rather left out of the mainstream of historical writing.
After the inauguration of formal British government, New Zealand history in the 1840s was dominated, for Belich, by two issues: the relationship with Maori, and the New Zealand Company.
Belich is at pains to stress the resilience and inventiveness of Maori culture – the creative response to European expansion – and he makes a significant contribution by doing so. There is a very important qualification to his treatment of this topic: it is based largely on North Island evidence. Indeed his use of the term Maori obscures more than it reveals, for he almost seems to imply that Ngapuhi, or Tainui, are all Maori. The other problem that I have with Belich's treatment of this issue is that in his distaste for 'victim history', in his eagerness to stress that Maori were often in control of the relationship with Europeans, he almost ignores the South Island where this 'creative response' was soon swamped.
5
Traditionally, one of the main themes in the history of nineteenth century New Zealand was the wars of the 1860s – usually portrayed until recently as a brave but ultimately futile resistance by Maori to settler greed – or, in older histories, as a brave but futile resistance to the inexorable march of civilisation. James Belich has cracked this model by highlighting the effectiveness of Maori military tactics and strategy and suggesting that in the end the settler victory was severely limited. Belich first made these points in his book The New Zealand Wars (1987), which made his name, and he deals with much the same thing in Making Peoples. Indeed his history of Maori New Zealand between 1840 and 1870 is largely organised around this theme.
This, however, does not help us in Nelson very much; Belich's approach ignores or understates other processes of colonisation and resistance.
Partly Nelson is unusual in not having been exposed to European activity before 1840. It was not a whaling or sealing base, nor was it a convenient harbour for shipping. The implications of this for Maori people in the region – both those who were displaced in the 1820s and those who displaced them – would be an interesting topic to investigate.
We know that European crops – not only potatoes but many others – were widely cultivated by Maori in the region by 1840. At West Whanganui, Riwai pressed the explorer Captain Moore to stay 'and bring as many white friends as I could on a return voyage', envisaging, perhaps, that a boatload of Pakeha would have their uses. We know, too, that Moore was attracted to one of Riwai's sisters, Paru, 'a fine-grown and agreeable girl of about 17', and he would later marry her according to Maori custom (and subsequently leave her).
6
While mentioning Moore and Paru, we should not forget that Moore's voyages are illustrative of New Zealand's location in a wider Pacific economy: Moore's ship, the Jewess, was skippered by a Wellington man, owned by a Sydney-Wellington partnership and had been built in Tahiti.
Belich – despite his dislike of victim history – makes the point in Making Peoples that the Maori population in the South Island was more or less quickly swamped by the European
The Maori population at 1840 must have been considerably larger man is often implied by the relative silence of the sources. Captain Moore was greeted at Riwaka by 20 canoes full of warriors: say 20 each, that is 400 fit men assembled at short notice. When Ngati Tama people established themselves at Hawaiki Pa, Whakapuaka, shortly before 1840, seven canoes brought them over from Parapara. At Hawaiki Pa they planted potato gardens and fruit trees as well as enjoying the fish and the birds. The early Pakeha settlers complained of the monotony of the diet, but with local Maori selling them potatoes, pumpkins, melons, cabbages and peaches it is hard to see how such a complaint was justified.
7
In 1846 Maori were responsible for most of the agriculture in the Motueka district, sending 15,000 bushels of wheat to the mill at Riwaka. Four years later, at Motueka, Maori had a thousand acres in wheat and 600 acres in other crops. This implies a considerable labour force, and we know mat about 400 people worked the harvest on me reserve at Whakarewa.
8
In simple terms, it seems that 'swamping' occurred partly by European settlement moving in ahead of conclusive negotiations with all those tribal groups who had rights to a given piece of land, partly by the impact appearing gradually rather than all at once, and partly by force of numbers. There were also occasional instances of intimidation, and straight breach of contract. This last arose from the fact that when most of the settlers' rural sections were put in what became Marlborough, the government – under George Grey – treated that as a reason not to allocate rural tenths in the Waimea region for the resident Maori. Thus Nelson Maori were immediately confined to much smaller reserves than they had intended or believed would be the case.
9
Grey further complicated matters by summarily removing 900 acres from the Motueka Tenths in 1853 for an Anglican school to provide 'religious, industrial, and English education of children of both races, and of children of other poor and destitute persons being inhabitants of islands in me Pacific Ocean'. From the start, Motueka Maori objected to this seizure of their farmland. Many politicians did so as well, noting that the Tenths were for the benefit of the tangata whenua and not of settlers, still less of people from elsewhere in the Pacific. Grey's high-handed paternalism at Whakarewa would return to haunt Nelson in the 1980s, but it was a serious immediate loss for the Maori.
The displacement of Maori by settler was, as Belich shows, often a very slow and bitterly contested process, but it was only North Island Maori who were in such a position as to delay things until the 1870s or 1880s. In the south, the process occurred much more quickly. Just as 'victim history' can be overdone, so can 'creative response'. Sometimes a creative response is not an option, in which case, however much Professor Belich may dislike the fact, one becomes to some extent a victim.
Belich is at his best in his treatment of the relations between Maori and Pakeha. He is less effective, I think, on the practicalities of European settlement although his treatment of the myths of that settlement is useful. A principal myth of the British colonisation of New Zealand was that a new start could be made, a new and better Britain, which allowed 'progress without the price, paradise without the serpent, and Britain without me Irish'.
10
It is a Utopian prescription, the work of colonising crusaders, and you can certainly see the rhetoric of Nelson's manifest destiny in 1860s and 70s newspaper editorials.
The belief in Nelson's glorious future was shared by all sides; me argument was over what sort of glorious future it should be. Thus me Examiner believed 'if the city of Nelson is ever to rise in commercial greatness, it will be our mineral wealth which will bring this about'.
11
The Colonist, on the other hand, thought there was room in the provincial lands for 30,000 farms of 160 acres, so that 'men should multiply a great and free people'.
12
I made a lot in my book of the democratic movements of the 1850s. This was for a number of reasons. The history of the South Island in me 1850s has for long been dominated by Canterbury and Otago. In Canterbury the focus has been the establishment of the wool industry – and often on the great profits wool-growers could make and whether these pastoralists were a gentry or not. In Otago the emphasis is on the establishment of a small and godly Presbyterian community. Nelson was neither of those things; it was not as we know good country for large-scale sheep-farming, and Nelson Presbyterians complained vigorously in the 1840s about 'general indifference to religion, open profanation of the Sabbath, immorality of various kinds, especiallv drunkenness in its most obnoxious form'.
13
Whether or not the pastoralists did have it all their own way in Canterbury provincial politics is a question which needs re-examination. We do know that in Otago there was always a strong small-farmer lobby and I have stressed the vibrancy of artisan democracy in Nelson in the 1850s.
14
It is interesting that this point still seems to be a new one. Dr Sutch made something of it in his historical writings
15
but neither Sinclair nor Belich have brought out the real extent of democratic politics in Nelson. John Perry Robinson, as I suggested, had a firm vision of small property ownership and of what we would call direct democracy:
Local self-government makes freemen always to do folk-right among each other…. [It] brings law and folk-right and the exercise of all political functions, home to every man's door, speedily, frequently, and costlessly… Local self-government unites all classes and interests in one effort for the common weal, making every proposition to be freely and fairly discussed before all, and to be determined only after such discussion…
16
We know that Robinson was bitterly opposed by the propertied clique, known as the Supper Party – or, more viciously, as Alfred Saunders notes, the Forty Thieves.
17
David Monro, their chieftain, grumbled:
Are we to say with the Yankees that the people are the sole source and fountain of power: or are we to follow the English plan which recognises the existence of another source of power, and in its practical working gives weight to intelligence and property, and does not only count heads.
18
I have suggested a number of times that out of these controversies arose a real contribution to the evolution of democracy in New Zealand. This point perhaps needs making, for it is often implied that democratic politics emerged, almost as it were by immaculate conception, in the late 1880s. Certainly Keith Sinclair wrote that there was 'no popular radical movement' in New Zealand before 1890
19
– a view scarcely disputed since, except by Tony Simpson in his recent book The Immigrants. Even if Nelson was alone in experiencing such an intensity of democratic feeling – and I remain to be convinced that it was – the contribution is still important.
Robinson's vision of a society of small producers and direct democracy was very much a reaction to agricultural enclosure and industrialisation, and it relied on ancient myths of the free-born Englishman. Thirty five years ago the great English communist historian E P Thompson, in his monumental Making of the English Working Class, wrote that 'the greater part of the world is still undergoing problems of industrialisation, and of the formation of democratic institutions, analogous in many ways to our own experience during the Industrial Revolution'. Thompson went on, 'Causes which were lost in England might, in Asia or Africa, yet be won'.
20
I don't want to exaggerate Nelson's importance, but it is clear that these lost causes were being re-fought in Nelson in the 1850s, with perhaps a little more success than attended the exertions of the Chartists and their predecessors in England.
Indeed if I can stay with Thompson for a moment – he is after all regarded by most social historians as one of the greatest practitioners of the century – he has also written on eighteenth century popular culture, using the concept of a moral economy.
21
Moral economy is an ethical view, a view based on mutual obligation and interdependence, and Thompson suggests that the moral economy was the dominant consideration for the common people of England. Some historians have almost implied that a similar state of affairs existed in nineteenth century New Zealand.
This is very much a contrast to the view advanced during the 1980s by Miles Fairburn of Victoria University. Fairburn is insistent that in nineteenth century New Zealand:
social organisation… was gravely deficient Community structures were few and weak and me forces of social isolation were many and powerful. Bondlessness was central to colonial life… The deficient framework of association produced appalling social problems of a predictable kind – loneliness, drunkenness, violence… This was all reinforced by a pattern of thin and dispersed settlement, poor communications,
pork barrel politics, limited opportunities for organised leisure, and disproportionately large number of jobs which were inherently impermanent. 22
I want to spend a little time on this because Fairbum's work has exercised the minds of academic historians to a considerable extent. Fairburn has been much saluted in the profession for providing a radical new way to look at nineteenth century settler society. He has also been heavily criticised by some, including most notably Rollo Arnold, himself a product of the Waimea County. Arnold, in an article and in a book, has done much to highlight the informal bonds which connected people even in remote communities.
23
In his article he made much use of a Golden Bay diary, kept by a farm boy in 1869, Peter Packham; if I may say so, the Burrell diary which struck me so much supports Arnold's argument even more.
The Burrell family – Edward, Emily and their four children – lived and farmed a bush section at Dovedale, where Edward was also the schoolteacher. The diary, covering several years either side of 1880, describes a life which not only gives evidence of strong communities but was positively pre-industrial in its cashlessness. On many occasions neighbours who had done work for the Burrells were paid with hop-poles. One neighbour was paid in poles for a ton of potatoes. It is necessary to note that most of the poles were cut from manuka by the Burrell children.
24
There were even a number of agreements where Edward Burrell sold parts of his land to neighbours and was paid partly in cash and partly in work. In 1880 Edward Burrell agreed to sell 30 acres to John Mears for 90 Pounds. Mears was to pay 10 Pounds in cash and the rest over five or six years, in money or labour as he chose. If he paid in labour, he was to work 26 weeks of the year, calculated at 10 shillings a week. Thus Mears would get some land, and Burrell would have labour to clear and develop his bush sections.
25
These non-cash contracts were accompanied by more familiar forms of mutual aid. With no way of preserving meat at home except salting it, fresh meat was best obtained in small quantities. A whole sheep was simply too large for a single household; farming families in effect took it in turns to keep one another supplied. When one farmer killed a sheep, other families would get quarters. Often neighbours gave surplus fruit to each other.
26
Nor was all work done for a return. Joseph Best filled the office of grave-digger. Edward Burrell noted having spent a day helping a neighbour harvesting oats; knowing he could make himself useful, Burrell had just dropped in, and the favour was often returned.
27
While the solidity and respectability of nineteenth century backblocks life has often been exaggerated, evidence like the Burrell diaries must cause one seriously to question Fairburn's view of frontier chaos. Indeed such evidence directly contradicts Fairburn's statements that there was little 'reciprocity… sustained or continuous economic cooperation before 1890'.
28
The archetype of frontier chaos is the goldfield. It is worth reminding ourselves, of course, that the Nelson region saw New Zealand's first major gold-rush and there is perhaps a stereotype of goldminers as extremely rough characters – acknowledging little law, settling 29
Now, I don't want to sanitise the history of goldfields – that would make them far less interesting apart from anything else – and I look forward to Mike Johnston's continuing work on the Nelson goldfields. But it is vital to realise mat goldfields were self-policing communities to a considerable extent.
Within a few weeks of the start of the Aorere rush, in February 1857, a group of miners asked William Lightband to draft regulations, which were then agreed to. Lightband had spent time on me Victorian goldfields, where an unsympathetic, ignorant and undemocratic government had imposed severe regulations on the goldminers and provoked insurrection at the Eureka Stockade. In May 1857, when there were about 1000 miners in Golden Bay, they again met and agreed on further regulations for staking and working claims.
The central government set the licence fee but did little else in the first couple of years. When it did pass a Goldfields Act, in 1858, it provided for administration by a warden elected by miners – hardly the repressive state. The machinery of this Act was not applied to Golden Bay until late in 1859. The diggings were thus obliged to be a largely self-supporting society, but there is little sense of Fairburn's frontier chaos where, perhaps, we might most expect to find it.
30
I have said enough, I hope, to show that the history of New Zealand looks somewhat different from Nelson. Where James Belich stresses me encounter between Maori and Pakeha as the crucial element in nineteenth century New Zealand, this encounter was in Nelson soon resolved on the newcomers' terms. Where Belich stresses the myths of Pakeha settlement, we need to look in some detail at the reality of establishing and expanding the settlements which were so optimistically conceived.
Where Miles Fairburn stresses isolation and frontier chaos, we have evidence from Nelson goldfields and backblocks farms of societies which were relatively orderly and self-regulating, at least to a significant degree.
Thus, in historical terms, it seems plain enough that Nelson is a region which seriously weakens attempts to impose generalisations on the history of nineteenth century New Zealand. It is also plain that we need much more regional history to fill out our understanding of the nineteenth century in New Zealand.
A report in January 1995 that the Alexandra Home was to close sent my mind racing back to the rather unusual life my brother Lloyd and I had experienced in growing up in the old Alexandra Home at Richmond after our parents, Arthur and Mary Hunter, were appointed as the Master and Matron in July 1926. The Home had opened to provide accommodation for the elderly at the corner of Queen and Hill Streets in 1917.
Earlier provision for the elderly had been made in a former immigration barracks at the corner of Waimea (now Rutherford) and Examiner Streets in Nelson. The building became infested with vermin and was deliberately burned down in August 1909 and the residents were relocated to an establishment at the corner of Waimea Road and Tukuka Street It was named for Queen Alexandra and had 33 inmates in the charge of the superintendent Mr F Liley.
This home was destroyed by fire in 1916 and a temporary provision was made for the inmates at the Home for Defectives in Richmond which was on the former property of Roderick McRae, Bonovoree. This is now the location of Salisbury Girls School. On 5 April 1917 the Alexandra Home reopened in a residence built in 1895 for Mr T Hodson, situated at the corner of Queen and Hill Streets in Richmond. It had beautiful views over Richmond and the plains to the ranges and the Home remained there until 12 June 1968, when it moved to Gilbert Street in Richmond.
Mr and Mrs Hunter were appointed as Master and Matron on 8 July 1926 and the change from private to public life proved a tremendous challenge for them. The Home at that time was more like a Victorian poor house, with me most basic facilities, and the Hunters immediately set about trying to improve things. They were both tireless workers. Mr Hunter was a capable carpenter, plumber, painter, gardener, beekeeper, orchardist, poultry keeper and stock keeper. In addition he had demanding duties relating to the administration of Hospital Board business such as compiling monthly reports, seeing to inmates' pensions, correspondence, estates and personal affairs. He took a keen interest in politics, was a public speaker and, for relaxation, had an extensive library of over 700 books.
The old people were given entertainment at times by visiting concert parties and church groups. Mrs Hunter usually acted as organist at a weekly service, which was conducted on a roster basis by clergy of different denominations. Mr Hunter sometimes showed lantern slides with spoken commentary on subjects such as the Suez Canal, the pyramids of Egypt, Tutankahman's tomb and Robert Burns.
Mrs Hunter was responsible for the care and welfare of the old people and would take the place of the cook or any of the maids when they were on leave. Her standards were very
On washing days two coppers had to be boiled for the sheets and linen and the residents' personal items. Soap was made on the premises. Some of the old people would help with small jobs, and I remember a gentleman we called Tonty scrubbing the large oval boilers, pots, baking dishes and pans in an outside area by the coal-box. He also helped with the preparation of vegetables and fruit for the kitchen.
My father milked four or five cows night and morning and there was always plenty of milk and cream and delicious home-made butter. The dairy was concreted and would be hosed down in the summer months to keep the large pans of milk fresh. A big day's work came when it was time to kill one of the pigs. It would be shot and taken to the big red shed behind the main buildings, where it would be hung from a hook in the rafters and then scalded in a big old bath kept for the purpose. The meat was processed and the legs of ham and cured bacon which were hung from the ceiling in the kitchen had an unforgettable flavour.
In addition to the animals, the Home grew its own fruit trees, vegetables, maize and tobacco, and was therefore practically self-supporting. When I came home after school I would see my mother sitting at her sewing machine in the big bay window mending sheets and linen or shirts and trousers. Some of the old ladies would be with her, helping to mend socks and sew on buttons, or podding peas, peeling apples or other little jobs which they enjoyed and which gave them a feeling of self worth.
During the weeks before Christmas, the Hunters put in many hours of extra work in canvassing local and Nelson firms and organisations to get donations to help give the old people a little bit extra at Christmas. Everyone was asked what they would like, and requests were met wherever possible, including trousers, cardigans, boots, shoes, long- Johns, shaving gear, pocket watches and suitable gifts for the ladies. The gifts would be parcelled up and named on large tables in the clothing storeroom on Christmas eve, while we children were told to "keep out". On Christmas morning my father, resplendent in a Father Christmas outfit of fur-trimmed hat, coat and whiskers, distributed parcels, knocking on each door and calling "Open in the name of Santa Claus" much to everyone's enjoyment.
Electricity and radio were in their infancy and Mr Hunter canvassed the borough for donations towards a new wireless set, with a speaker extension for the men in their smokeroom. The men who smoked were given a weekly allowance and the non smokers and ladies were given sweets, which came in large tins from the Griffin's factory. Alcohol was not permitted on the premises, but the men could go to the hotels in the village and a bus which came up Champion Road and along Hill Street provided convenient transport. I
As it was the years of Depression there were many unemployed tramps and swaggers tramping the roads looking for work. At dusk they would be seen coming up Queen Street towards the Home, having been sent on from the Star and Garter and Railway Hotels. This rather annoyed Mr Hunter, as the Home was intended for the aged and infirm and not for the able unemployed. However, they were usually given a bed for the night and, being a returned soldier himself, I am sure he felt sympathy for any out of work soldier. After the busy Christmas and New Year season residents had the chance of a holiday at Monaco, where Ken Gibbon's cottage near the Point was rented. Tents were erected at the rear for the staff and we children. Inmates were taken in turns to have a complete change by the sea, and a lot of preparation went into the exercise. A Hospital Board truck was brought into service to help transport bedding and the larger items. At that time there were only about six houses on the peninsular and road access was determined by the tide.
A room at the Home which was of great interest to my brother and myself was me clothes store-room. Today these clothes would be a treasure trove for any museum or theatrical company for their wardrobes. There were top-hats, bowler and Panama hats, long feather boas, black-beaded jackets, men's suits and ladies' long skirts and dresses. They had mostly been handed in from deceased persons' estates by family members. There were also leather and jet-beaded purses, Gladstone hats, tall hat boxes, carpet bags, round leather collar-boxes, cane portmanteaux tied with leather straps, cardboard boxes and tins of assorted spectacles, mostly with small gold rimmed frames, and even the odd monocle. Other delights included boxes of studs and hat pins for the large hats and walking sticks of every variety, some of which were beautifully hand carved. What a treasure trove it was for dressing up.
There were regular visits by members of the Nelson Hospital Board and they would have morning and afternoon tea and chat to the old folk. They were always complimentary and supportive of my parents, and acted on any suggestions or recommendations. The Chairmen of the Board during those years were Mr GM Rout 1925 – 30; Mr T Neal 1930 – 1936; Major Dagger 1936 – 1944 and then Dr DC Low. The Secretary of the Board, and a good friend was Mr George Chapman. The Matrons at the Public Hospital were Miss S Brown 1921 – 1933 and Miss Barbara Taylor 1933 – 1952. A happy event was the wedding of one of the staff, a little Welsh girl who had no family in New Zealand. She entered the Methodist church on the arm of Mr Warren Kelly, the mayor of Richmond, and the reception and wedding breakfast were held in the dining room of the Home, with all the old people dressed in their best included as guests. It was a very happy occasion for one and all.
With our parents' busy life at the Home, my brother and I learned to entertain ourselves, roaming the hills and valleys with our dogs when not at school, or having music or dancing lessons at weekends and going to church on Sundays.
In retrospect we had a rather different and unusual background to our childhood and formative years, and yet we both remember the old Home with affection.
Our footprints were placed in the concrete outside my little room in the 1930's and remained there until the building was demolished when the developers moved in. No sign is left of the old Alexandra Home today which once stood so proudly on the hill at Richmond.
On 15 January 1770 the Endeavour, commanded by Lieutenant James Cook RN, entered the head of Totara-nui, which he was to name Queen Charlotte Sound in honour of the wife of King George III, and anchored in Mere-toto, the bay he named Ship Cove, a snug and protected haven with a gently shelving beach, clear stream and bush-clad hills. It was seen to be an ideal place in which to rest the crew, effect repairs to the ship and replenish supplies of wood, water and the fresh grasses and plants used in the diet to combat scurvy.
After encounters of varying kind with the Rangitaane tribes-people, the latest occupiers of the neighbouring lands, Cook sailed out of the Sound on 6 February 1770 and passed through Raukawa-moana, the strait which now bears his name. He completed his circumnavigation of the North Island, recorded as Ae Helno Mouwe on his 1769–70 chart, before making a circuit of the southern isles, his Touwypoenammu.
On hearing the announcement that a sailing replica of HM Bark Endeavour was to visit Ship Cove on 12 February 1996, during an attempt to follow the route sailed by James Cook on his 1769–70 circumnavigation of New Zealand, my appetite was whetted to become immersed in what was to be an experience of my lifetime. The dignitaries of Picton prevailed on the tour organisers to have the eighteenth century replica bark visit the port so that people living in the top of the South Island could see Endeavour at close quarters and have me chance to go on board and inspect the ship.
When I found that Endeavour was to berth in Picton for inspection visits on 13 and 14 February 1996, I applied to the Picton Lions Club for a programme of the events associated with the visit. They sent application forms to be tour guides on Endeavour, and my wife Jill Blechynden and I applied for duty on the 900 hr-1400 hr (9.00 am-2.00 pm) watch on Tuesday 13 February, as I felt it would be a grand way to celebrate my 69th birthday.
At 7 pm on Sunday 11 February we were in the Perano Conference Room of me Ancient Mariner Motor Lodge with about 70 other aspiring and perspiring fellow guides.
We had been called together by John Evans, who was coordinating the selection process. For over two hours Alistair Shaw, chief guide trainer, spoke to us on the concept behind the HM Bark Endeavour Foundation, the financing of the project, the building of the eighteenth century sailing replica in the Bond Yard in Fremantle, West Australia, and the duties of guides during the Picton visit
The weather for that day had been fine, calm and sunny and I was disappointed to wake to a dull, breezy morning on Monday 12 February. At 9 am Jill and I and three other couples were welcomed aboard the charter yacht Te Anau by yacht master John Evans and his Endeavour in Ship Cove at midday, but the strong norwester sweeping down the Sound put paid to that scheme. We had an encounter with a pod of about 50 dolphins en route which entertained us with a display of their aquatic skills, and a group of three or four of them rode the Te Arau's bow wave from time to time.
We motored head on into rising seas, with bow spray sweeping the full length of Te Anau. While crossing the entrance to Endeavour Inlet we made out the rigging and the three masts of Endeavour as it ran on an eastward course from Ship Cove and was swallowed up in the gloom off Motuara Island. The ship then took a more southerly course down Queen Charlotte Sound for Picton. We came abreast of Endeavour port to port off Resolution Bay at 11.30 am, among the accompanying flotilla of an estimated 180 small boats. We went about on a port tack and fell in line a hundred metres astern of the bark, which was sailing under very little canvas at a steady 3.3 knots. Our way was much more comfortable with a following sea but, to stay on station and be of no threat to other boats, Te Anau stayed under power.
In the calmer waters north of Tory Channel we suddenly realised that me Aratika had come into Queen Charlotte Sound via me northern entrance to join the flotilla, with every rail crowded with passengers. She slowed her speed to join the queue making for Picton and I was unfortunately below changing a film when she accelerated to pass the flotilla and was unable to get a comparative shot of me two vessels. Phillipa served us a fine lunch at 12.45 pm. The leisurely progress down the Sound gave us plenty of time to admire Endeavour and for me to bewail me closeness of small power boats which prevented me from taking shots of an eighteenth century ship alone on Totara-nui.
The adverse weather conditions in the outer Sound had not allowed us to see the waka, with its crew of 60 paddle wielding warriors, and local Maori representatives and tribal dignitaries welcome HM Bark Endeavour to their home waters. We finally sighted the waka on the edge of the flotilla two to three hundred metres to starboard and slightly astern, under power, with only 8–10 crew in wet-weather gear aboard. It was misty to the south over Picton and at about 3.00 pm the wind changed to the south and the rain set in. To avoid drenching I retired below deck and, when I returned an hour later, I found that Te Anau had taken a detour behind Allport Island and was making for her berth in Picton.
We left the yacht and drove to my daughter-in-law's home in Whatamongo Bay, where we enjoyed a fine birthday dinner before returning to Picton. The Endeavour was tied up at the Waitohi Wharf, beyond the Inter-Islander link span. At 6.45 pm the guides met at the Edwin Fox centre, before going on board for an orientation visit. We then went to the Ancient Mariner conference room for the issuing of uniforms and a final briefing. Tuesday 13 February 1996 dawned fine calm and clear. Jill and I were aboard by 8.45 am and immediately into our watch, as Alistair Shaw had decided to begin the tours early because of the build up of the queue.
My first station was at the foot of the companion way, beside me galley. About every hour I moved one station aft, finishing in the Great Cabin. Jill had had an early stint in the ticket
I was sorry to leave the 'tween decks when my watch was relieved at 2 pm. By the afternoon the numbers in the queue had grown so much that parties were taking two and a half to three hours to reach the ship. With little shelter on the wharf and no breeze the waiting was hot and trying for most people. To clear the ship by 7 pm the queue had to be closed at 3.15 pm. Such was the response and enthusiasm of people to visit Endeavour that the projected 8 pm sailing on Wednesday was changed to 7 am on Thursday and visiting hours on Wednesday were extended to 9 pm.
On the morning of Wednesday 14 February we arrived at the Waitohi Wharf at 10 am to offer our services as relief guides. The large tourist liner Marco Polo was being welcomed by a dixieland jazz band on the other side of the wharf. The size and general appearance of the two ships side by side made a telling contrast. By 11 am the sun had dispersed all cloud and a pleasant breeze tempered the heat for the rest of the day. Jill took a school party on board at 11.30 am and was placed on relief at the top of the companion way on the poopdeck until relieved from duty at the end of the morning watch at 2 pm. The queue was not as long as on the previous day, with people having a wait of up to an hour and a half.
At the beginning of the afternoon watch I was detailed to take a school party aboard. The ensign flying at the stern was at half mast to mark the anniversary of Captain Cook's death in Hawaii in 1769 and the crew wore a black arm band for the day. Back on quayside I was given a roaming brief to speak to people in the queue, giving information that might not be covered on board. From 3 pm I had a final hour welcoming visitors at the foot of the steps down from the gang-plank. At 4 pm we found my daughter-in-law and her two daughters in the queue, so I joined them and acted as their personal guide on the ship. It was a fitting way to finish my duty aboard HM bark Endeavour.
The Skipper came down to the Port in the evening and held a consultation with the First Mate over the weather, which was looking as bad as possible – blowing hard NW and raining, plus thunder and lightning. Decided not to go out that night. Sunday morning went round Rocks Road to have a look at the damage done by the sea and found a hole in the wall 30 feet long. The Skipper then went to let his people at home know he had not put out to sea and got drowned. The First Mate pottered about in yachting costume all day and showed his independence of the weather by not shaving or putting on his boots. By nightfall the weather was still bad and the Skipper did not put in an appearance.
Morning broke fine and about 9.30 am the Skipper arrived and we went on board the Madge taking our stores with us. Stayed on board all day – stowed things and pottered about generally. Went ashore on Rat Island where First Mate wounded himself badly by treading on a rusty nail. Got tea about 6 pm and had a smoke. The weather was again beginning to look very bad, so decided there was not much virtue in camping on board when we had a good steady bed ashore.
The Skipper came down again in the morning and, after taking the professional opinion of me Pilot and crew, we decided to board me Madge and see how things went. Immediately on our clearing the entrance the ship Zealandia got under weigh and we were in company with her me whole of me day. The effect was very grand as one by one she got her sails out, until by the afternoon she had all her sails set. There was a nice little breeze blowing, varying from NE to NW, and also a nice long swell much appreciated by me Mate. Breeze held good till about 2 pm, by which time we were off me Bluffs and had left me Zealandia about a mile astern.
Arrived off Motueka at 4 pm and were just proceeding to lower sail and wait for me tide, when our wormy Skipper noticed mat the Zealandia had picked up a nice breeze and was bowling along at a good pace. We men decided to run on as far as Astrolabe.
Breeze held splendidly and Astrolabe was reached just on me last of it, as me sun was setting behind some very fine clouds. (Note by the Skipper: did me Mate expect the sun to set in front of the clouds?). Just before running behind Fisherman's Island we saw in me distance the last of our comrade of me day, me Zealandia, which looked most majestic disappearing in the dark of the evening. The Skipper shed a tear. Brought up in the Horseshoe about 7 pm. Set tent, had supper and then went ashore to see the glow worms in the cave. They were very fine and looked like planets. Went on board again and had a
Turned out at 7.30 am. Skipper lost the toss so had to get breakfast. Gave us warmed oatmeal, bread and butter, jam, cocoa. Very good, but porridge spoiled by being half cooked. After breakfast went across to mainland. At 10 am got under weigh for Torrent Bay. The morning was all that could be desired, light sea breeze and beautiful warm sun. Arrived at Torrent Bay soon after mid day. On rounding the point into the anchorage a royal salute was fired in our honour by the crew of the yacht Jessica Logan, who had been up on the hills goat hunting. In the afternoon called on Mr and Mrs Tregidga and Mr and Mrs Rainier. Had a pleasant chat and peaches. Invited Mr Tregidga to afternoon tea and took him across to our yacht by dingy. Had tea, then a smoke and a yarn. (Note by Skipper: Yarn generally consists of a number of fabrications related by First Mate). Set the alarm for 4 am in case there should be a SE breeze which we were hoping for and expecting. The alarm went off all right, but despite the utmost efforts of the First Mate to persuade the Skipper to rouse out, nothing would induce him to come on deck. With a sad heart First Mate had again to retire to his bunk and to his sad meditations.
Turned out at 6.30 am and had a splendid repast (First Mate's day as cook) consisting of porridge (properly cooked for a change) ham and eggs (not burned to a cinder) and cocoa, finished off with toast and jam. Cleared Torrent Bay heads at 9.30 am, light SE breeze blowing. Saw three large sharks off Sandfly Bay. We had a really splendid run up the bay as far as Awaroa Heads where rain began and both got our oilskins on. Passed Separation Point 11.45 am and arrived off the Tatas at 12.45 pm. Got alongside the Waitapu Wharf at 1.30 pm and there made me acquaintance of Mr John Bain, commonly called Jack, and obtained much useful information on the subject of his health for quite a number of years past
After lunch and a wash and shave, (the latter much against the First Mate's will) we strolled up the village road to call on Mr and Mrs Harold Williams. We found Mrs Williams hard at work making jam. She prepared tea for us to which we did ample justice. We then inspected their farm and after some time Mr Harold Williams, who is an old friend of the First Mate, came along, having given a music lesson. We immediately set him to work on the piano and thoroughly enjoyed the selections he gave us.
At 9.30 pm we left to move me ship out of the way of the Lady Barkly which arrived at 10.05 pm. We interviewed Captain Stevens and learned from him that the weather was still SE outside, and from personal observation made by our Skipper came to the conclusion that most of the passengers had found the roll more than sufficient. We determined to drop down into the pool off Pipi Point and, if possible, to get out of there on the next tide for Collingwood. Got down to the pool at 1 am, let go anchor and turned in.
Crew arose at 6 am. Extremely disagreeable morning. It being the Skipper's cook day, he prepared some porridge in his usual masterly style. The Mate tried for a third helping but none was obtainable. At 9 am the weather cleared a bit and we decided to get the ship out of Waitapu as early as possible on the tide and get to Collingwood on the same tide. We eventually got out at 10.30 am and took a tack out towards the Tatas, came about and at first only headed up as high as Parapara, but the wind gradually allowed us to point up to Collingwood. Arrived off Miles's Point at 1 pm, when the wind left us suddenly. This was rather unpleasant as it was now only an hour off ebb tide. Just as things were beginning to look black a light westerly breeze came out of Collingwood and we managed, by very careful sailing, to beat in over the tide. On rounding the point at the back of Collingwood we were hailed by Dr Fisher, an enthusiastic yachtsman who gave us directions about the channel. The Skipper however, a most obstinate old fellow, took no notice and after about two tacks succeeded in running us onto the mudbank in the middle of the harbour, where the ship had to stop till nearly midnight. As soon as the Madge had been made snug, legs on etc, and after a light lunch, we went ashore to send letters home.
Next business was to get tea, so we went round to the butcher and baker, got a new loaf and a pound of chops and returned triumphant to the ship. Turned in for an hour or so at 10.30 pm, setting the alarm for midnight. Madge started to float at about 11.00 pm, however, so we turned out and took her alongside one of the timber wharves.
Turned out at 6.30 am, breakfast 7.30 am. Good breakfast (Mate's day). Started for Parapara at 8 am, leaving the ship in charge of master Norman Kitching, a nephew of the harbourmaster. Walked along the beach and around the mudflat. Nice morning and enjoyable walk. Got to Parapara soon after 10 am and adjourned to the orchard. After a regular gorge of peaches and apples found Mr Arthur Washbourn, who had heard we were in Golden Bay or likely to be. Pottered about during the day, both feeling very sleepy, not having had more than 4 – 5 hours any night since leaving Nelson. Tea at 7 pm. Roast beef, cabbage, junket, cream galore. Turned in at 8.30 pm and had a good night's rest.
Up again 6.30 am and breakfast 7.00 am. Doubtful looking morning and it was feared that our arrangements for visiting the caves would have to fall through. (Note: The Skipper was grossly deceived about the distance of the walk, or he would not have consented to take pan in the expedition). The weather improved and we decided to take lunch with us. Went up through Glen Mutchkin and Glengyle, inspecting Arthur Washbourn's sluicing claim on the way, dirough Hit and Miss, into Appoo's Gully and up Fisher's Hill and McCartney's Hill. Then across country past Toi Toi Flat to where the dam for me Slate River is to be built. Examined that and then we went to the caves, arriving about twelve, and at once went into Stafford's Cave. After a good look through that came out and had lunch. Then went into Greenwood's Cave where we recognised the names of several Nelson friends.
Decided to try to find Nelly's Cave on the side of the hill but were unable to do so. Tried to find the other entrance to Stafford's Cave but here again we failed, after nearly breaking our necks, so we sat down and ate a nikau. Feeling much refreshed we made a start for home. Passed through Rockville about 4 pm, seeing the Devil's Boots, and arrived at Mr West's at five. Here we had tea and a chat, both much appreciated. Left again at 6.30 pm and back to Parapara soon after 9 pm. Had a light supper and soon retired for the night.
We were called for breakfast soon after 7 am. After breakfast we strolled up to see the ironstone and then called on Mrs Duncan who played to us on the organ. After that we took leave of Mr Washbourn and squared away for Collingwood, where we arrived after about one and a half hour's toil up the beach. Went up to see how much of the Madge was left and found her all right. Filled the water cans, posted letters and then got under weigh. A sea breeze came in and we were beginning to congratulate ourselves on a nice run across to the Tatas, but this was not to be, for soon after clearing Miles's Point the wind changed to SE and got very light.
By sundown we were off Onekaka. The wind now departed altogether and left us flopping about in a nice easterly roll that was coming into the bay. About 10 pm a light breeze drawing out of Waitapu carried us a mile or two. Next a NE breeze blew up, carried us on a mile or two further and then dropped. By variable breezes, into the Tatas, where anchor was dropped about midnight, 10 hours from Collingwood. Turned in at 12.45 am.
Turned out at 6.30 am. Skipper's cooking day. First Mate went ashore and examined the island and also tried to catch a fish while breakfast was being prepared. After breakfast (porridge, fried sardines, toast and cocoa), First Mate took some photos and we then got under weigh with a beautiful sea breeze. On clearing the Islands the scene that met us simply baffled description. Not a cloud in the sky. The hills all round from Separation Point to Farewell Spit a lovely bluish tint, but yet perfectly clear and distinct, the sea like champagne and a splendid light sailing breeze blowing. After taking a tack out, we stood in to Wainui Bay and then ran right in to Taupo. Then out again and next tack around Separation Point, of which a photo was taken.
Soon after rounding the Point the breeze freshened a bit. Passed the Comer heading up the bay and ran close past her, taking a snapshot and exchanging greetings with Captain Caldwell. Ran past Mutton Cove, Takapau, Anapai and Totaranui and put into Awaroa at 1.45 pm. Brought up in a big hole. Went after stingarees but needless to say we only succeeded in frightening them. We next went and had a yarn with Mr Winter, who invited us to go across to the house later with Mr Hadfield and the crew of the Asa. Helped the Asa to push off the mudflat and then went across to Mrs Winter's, where we had mulberries, plums etc. Stayed to tea and spent the evening. Returned to the yacht at 10 pm, had a cup of Bovril, turned out for a last smoke, lights out at 11.30 pm.
Slept till 7.45 am. First Mate's cooking day, porridge and bacon and eggs etc. Skipper got on his pretties and then, while First Mate was washing up and tidying the ship, went ashore to call on the Winters and took Mr Winter a plug of tobacco.
Returned to the ship at about 11 am when a start was made for Mr Campbell's. We were welcomed by Mrs Campbell, Miss Ethel McKay, Miss Campbell, Mr Colin Campbell and also Miss Donaldson, who has only recently gone there. In the afternoon we went out to get a feed of blackberries, then back to the house where Miss Donaldson played selections, which were very much appreciated by all hands. Afternoon tea, at which the Skipper excelled himself and was seen to eat ten large cakes and drink four cups of tea. He is not very well just now. Tea was served at 7 pm and once again the old sea dogs came to the fore.
After tea we gave a hand to wash up and then adjourned to the drawing room and had more music. The First Mate was caught in a weak moment and gave the company the pleasure of hearing his really fine tenor voice in two songs. It was noticed, however, that at the end of the second song there were only the pianist and himself present. Prepared to make a start for the yacht soon after ten and received a very pleasant surprise in me shape of a beautifully iced birthday cake, which the ladies had made during the afternoon on hearing
Altogether we had a most pleasant time in Awaroa, where everyone we met was kindness itself, and it was with feelings of regret and promises of an early return that we managed at last to tear ourselves away.
We were aroused at 4.30 am by the sweet chimes of the alarm and, by exerting all our superlative will power, at last managed to get up. Commenced getting under weigh at once and by 5 am had made a start, clearing the entrance soon after. Off Awaroa Head the wind dropped, leaving us in a heavy NW roll. It soon overtook us again however, and became a fairly stiff blow. There was a big sea running and the First Mate nearly disgraced himself, but was saved by the internal application of a few biscuits and came through the ordeal with flying colours. The sun was now getting up a bit and the warmth was greatly appreciated. Had a good run down as far as Bark Bay, where the wind dropped and we were left walloping about in the roll and sun. First Mate did not succumb, wonderful to relate.
Arrived at Torrent Bay at 8.30 am and brought up in the cove close to the Maid of Italy, which had arrived at 5 am. Had breakfast at which the Skipper's health was proposed, together with birthday wishes, and was drunk in a mug of chocolate (specially brewed for the occasion by the Skipper himself).
After breakfast called on Captain Tregidga, got a piece of bait from him and went fishing, taking with us some apples and a tin of toffee (a present given us before leaving Nelson). Had fairly good luck and succeeded in landing about half a dozen rock cod and some perch. Went ashore and cleaned the fish and had a glorious swim. Next had dinner (fried fish and stewed plums). After dinner went ashore taking the Skipper's birthday cake and a tin of ox tongues with us, as we intended having tea with Captain Tregidga. On shore we played skittles, crew of the Madge against the crew of the Maid of Italy.
Turned out late – 8.30 am. The weather looked anything but promising. Breakfast was served at 9.15 am and got the ship cleaned up. Then a smoke was indulged in by the crew. Went ashore and called on Mr and Mrs Tregidga. First mate took his camera and had one or two shots at the house and bay. We then had a game of skittles in which the Madge beat the Maid by two points. Took a sad farewell of our kind hosts and went on board the yacht. Got under weigh after a light lunch at 1.45 pm. On clearing the heads ran into a heavy northerly roll and no wind – not very enjoyable. We managed, with the occasional puffs that came along, to get as far as Astrolabe by 5 pm. Then a NW puff carried us down to Sandy Bay where we again picked up the swell, bigger, brighter and better than before. We also lost all wind. First Mate did not feel altogether comfy for a time but managed to pull through; he is getting to be a perfect marvel. A consultation was now held and we decided to run back to Astrolabe. By this time it had thickened down all round and was
Got up at 7 am. Weather showing signs of clearing up from the SW. Skipper cooked breakfast while Mate went ashore and filled water beakers at the cave. Got under weigh soon after breakfast and ran down towards Motueka, calling around into Marahau, Sandy Bay etc. Left Kaiteriteri about 1 pm and ran down with the sea breeze till off Riwaka, where we met a stiff souwester. Had to take in jib and tuck down a couple of reefs, the first since leaving Nelson. Beat down to Motueka and, being too early on the tide, we anchored just inside the buoy and did not get to the wharf till 5 pm. After putting the ship straight went up to the village and called on the Leslie family. Found Mr Leslie and two of his daughters, the others being away at a picnic. They at once got us tea and when that was over the other members of the family returned and we spent a very pleasant evening, leaving soon after midnight. Turned in at 1 am after a second supper on board.
Got up at 8 am. First Mate got a grand breakfast of porridge and fish rissoles (an elaborate dish known only to the First Mate). While washing up was in progress Mr Sharpe came down and had a yarn, and we also had a call from two Nelson gentlemen. After a wash at the pump started for the village to dine with the Leslies. Had a splendid repast and a most enjoyable smoke under the trees afterwards. After tea adjourned to the drawing room and had a really good old musical evening. It was a treat greatly enjoyed by the two mariners. Miss Leslie, a splendid accompanist, sang us several songs and Mr Whitehorn and the Misses Aileen, Olive and Cora Leslie also sang. In spite of his Skipper's express orders and the prayers of the company, the First Mate insisted on inflicting his croaking on us. On the whole, Sunday was one of our red letter days and it took a lot of will power to drag ourselves away from our friends, who had done everything possible to make us enjoy our visit ashore. Got down to the wharf about 9.30 pm, got under weigh and brought up under the Spit. Set alarm for midnight and turned in. Turned out soon after twelve and had some cocoa. Got under weigh at five to one in splendid SW breeze. Had a really good run across and picked up moorings a few minutes before 4 am. Turned in.
Up at 6.30 am, breakfast at 7.30 am. It seems impossible to realise that it is nearly a fortnight since we left Nelson, and it is with great regret that this log is now to be closed. There is a lot one would like to have added, but the Skipper's commands are imperative and the ship is rolling considerably, so here endeth the log, as far as the First Mate is concerned. Note by the Skipper: Having perused the above I find it is fairly truthful and, except for some heroic deeds of mine, very nearly complete. I have decided therefore to make no additions.
Edited from the original log by Dawn Smith.
When the machines used in land clearing in Murchison were withdrawn, the two caterpillar D 8's were railed from Glenhope to Nelson. One was shipped north to Kaitaia and the other was held at Nelson aerodrome to tidy up odd corners that had been left when Downer and Co had moved out. There were dispersal pits to be built in various places, where planes could be parked and camouflaged to hide them from view. There were dummy mockups parked in the open all over the place, to give any enemy spies the impression that there was a larger force available and to draw any enemy away from the real scene.
Some dispersal pits were built along Annesbrook Drive in vicinity of Maire Street but they were never used. After several houses at the corner of Parkers Road had been removed to allow the planes to be towed to the pits, it was discovered that they could not be manoeuvred along Bolt Road and out of the gate because the guard house on one side and a large workshop on the other prevented it. A section near Maire Street was levelled and palatial quarters built on it to accommodate the WAAF personnel, but they flatly refused to occupy the facilities. The outcome of this was the purchase of a large residence in Stoke, in the vicinity of Whareama, which sported a swimming pool. This apparently suited their requirements and they occupied the house for the duration.
Other dispersal pits were constructed around the perimeter of the aerodrome and on the verge of the golf links. Some of these were roofed with camouflage. There was a battery of Bofor guns alongside Bolt road, and there was to be a battery of anti aircraft guns just north of a sandhill ridge between the aerodrome and the golf links. A bunker had been built in the sandhill ridge and work progressed in constructing solid mounts for the guns when they arrived. A senior officer with much red and yellow adornment about his uniform arrived and was taken to see the preparations. On being asked his opinion, he replied "Very good, but the bloody guns are on wheels and this will be no use."
I was duly sent with my bulldozer to destroy the whole scene and cover it up with sand. I had no sooner done this man trucks arrived with top soil for me to spread over the exposed sand, and it was then sown with grass seed, all in the space of a few hours. The grass seed had not had time to germinate before the guns arrived with solid mounts. These guns could operate from solid mounts, forward area mounts or from wheels and there was a scramble then to get them into operation. The Anchor Foundry was engaged to make four sets of forward area mounts from the blueprints which had been supplied.
An area of Tahunanui beach known as Hounsell's Circle had been levelled and grassed among the sandhills to provide a picnic area. It covered about half an acre and was approximately where the skating rink now is. I was sent to this area to enlarge it to its present size so that the anti aircraft battery could be set up on forward area mounts. Sand
At the same time work was proceeding up on the cliffs at Moncrieff's. Two gun emplacements were built of concrete to accommodate two six inch guns, but only one of them arrived. It was branded 1903 and was duly installed, with the help of the D 8 that I was driving, and was test fired at half charge. The other never arrived except for a wooden dummy that occupied its position.
A bunker was built in the hillside up Arapiki Road to serve as a control centre for the aerodrome in the event of enemy action. I never went inside this structure, but assisted with the placement of Tahuna sand around the outside to deaden the effect of bombardment. I was told by some of the other workers that there was an exit tunnel into the plantation up behind it. I have often wondered what became of that bunker. Several of the dispersal pits on Annesbrook Drive were eventually sold for building sections.
No photographs were ever taken of these activities, as cameras were prohibited and would have been confiscated if they appeared on the scene and the operator would probably have been interned for the duration. There were guards at all times to prevent entry to the aerodrome and each worker had a pass that he had to show to be let in. A high barbed wire fence ran from the golf links along through the camp ground, past the modellers pond and across the front beach to the low tide mark. The fence excluded entry to the anti aircraft guns. The personnel to operate the guns were largely made up of WAAC's who were accommodated at the southern end of the camp ground in army huts, with suitable ablution blocks built nearby. There was no unauthorised entry beyond this fence, which meant that most of the front beach and all of the back beach was out of bounds.
When the
Kennedy
docked on 2 January 1896 it reported that the
The Lothair was a tea clipper of 793 tons owned in Genoa and on its current trip had left Hong Kong on 15 October for Callao. The people on board included ten Chinese and four Peruvian passengers, none of whom spoke English. The crew had originally numbered 16, but after three deaths there were not enough to work the ship. The dead were Hose Branas, Benito Pagazan and Luis Herreri. Maria Gonzales, a Peruvian passenger who had also died, was thought to have already been ill when she embarked. Nelsonians thought it would be better if the ship was towed to Somes Island in Wellington harbour, but this did not eventuate.
Many gifts of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat were sent aboard by a number of citizens and Major Paton provided a number of Chinese testaments. Doctors returned to the ship on 16 January, at the captain's request, to attend to a Chinese passenger who was dying, but they were unable to help. They decided that his illness had been due to beriberi, a vitamin deficiency liable to occur when the diet is based on polished rice. The Italian consul visited the ship from Wellington to help with arrangements before it was able to sail in early February.
Captain J.B. Cafranza had befriended the barmaid at the Customhouse Hotel and when the ship sailed she went too. J.A.Pattie, home in Nelson from his position with the Eastern Extension Cable Service in the Philippines, had acted as an interpreter for the Spanish sailors when the doctors went on board, and on his last visit the crew presented him with a monkey in a scarlet coat in recognition of his services. Having had monkeys as pets he tried to refuse, but the spokesman said "Senor why not? You and the doctors have been good to us. You have saved our lives from the terrible sickness and we wish to show our gratitude. This is the Don, our brother and one of the crew. He is a fine fellow, always first to go aloft in a gale to reef the sails. He is good company, can drink his glass of grog and throw the dice. He will be better to you man a first-born son, and will bring you good luck."
After being in possession only a few hours Pattie thought he would have been better off with twin babies. Passing him over to W. Walker in the Wood put locals in an uproar as Berri Berri, as he was now named, wrung fowls' necks and plucked them clean. Next he
He was reprieved by a person from the country offering to take charge of him, but he failed to improve and continued to change owners.
Source:
I was born in Nelson City on 25 February 1900. The first five years of my life were spent with my elder sister and my parents at their homestead farm, Motakota. The farm was situated one mile north of Pakawau township, on a plateau facing east over Golden Bay. It included clumps of native bush of many varieties which was inhabited by native birds including kiwis, wekas, pigeons, kaka and many others. Warm and sheltered, with heavy rainfall, streams and springs, it was an environmental and ecological gem.
We had many kinds of farm animals. I learned to sit on a horse almost at the same time as I learned to walk. There was no electric light or cars. Horses provided the means of transport and the roads, which were primitive or non existent, mostly went along the hard sandy beach, where the tide went out for a mile. The farmers, sawmillers and coal miners literally lived off the land and sea. Golden Bay and the ocean coast were teeming with game birds, fish – from whitebait to whales – and shellfish. Our grocery requirements were mostly for bulk supplies of flour, sugar, tea and such like from Collingwood, twelve miles away. Coastal shipping – both steam and sail – went from Collingwood and Takaka around Separation Point to Nelson some one hundred miles away.
My father had a sheep and cattle run called Nguroa some twelve miles away on the ocean coast, through the coal mining township of Puponga. The run was almost back to back with the homestead property, with a steep mountain range in between. The only access to it was on horseback. The sheep were driven to Motakota to be shorn. My father was kept busy with contractors clearing the native bush to provide further grassland. Much valuable native bush such as kahikatea, rimu, rata and matai was felled and burnt. The district was sparsely settled, with farms and houses from half a mile to a mile apart. My parents had some very good friends located between Collingwood and Puponga.
My mother, who had been a teacher, was an enthusiastic kindergarten teacher for me over the five years or so before I went to primary school, and this was a great help to me. Children who have such parents are fortunate. Between the age of five or six and twelve years I attended the Pakawau Primary School and had to walk bare footed for about a mile across farmland to get there. There were about 20 pupils from primers to sixth standard. The women teachers were dedicated to teaching and were respected and obeyed. They had no cane and there were no discipline problems as the discipline started in the homes.
How the sole teachers managed to teach pupils of such varying ages and ability I do not know, but they may have used some of the more advanced ones as pupil teachers. There generally seemed to be more girls than boys and a number of pupils came from one or two large families. The main subjects were reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling, which was of paramount importance. Slates and pencils and blackboards and chalk were the
The teacher was also the local postmistress, with a post office about the size of a telephone box incorporated into the school. One day the teacher, when having her lunch in the post office, dropped a match into a methylated spirit lamp which she used to heat her drink. The mass of papers filed around the walls were quickly in flames. A pupil, who shall remain anonymous, seized the damp and dirty roller towel and extinguished the flames. Maybe he had seen and assisted his father to extinguish minor grass fires with sacks. Several of the teachers married local fanners and stayed in the district. The position was said to have good matrimonial prospects. Finding a suitable place for the teacher to stay was sometimes a problem and some of them stayed with us. They helped my mother and were like one of our family. My father was chairman of the school committee, as my grandfather had been before him. One of the pupils, again, anonymous was awarded a two year boarding scholarship to attend Nelson Boys' College. This was no doubt very welcome to his parents and reflected great credit on the teachers of a small country school.
It may be appropriate for me to now say something about the operations of my father's farm and run at this period. He bred crossbred sheep and fat sheep which were shipped from Collingwood to Nelson butchers. Shearing was done with blades and scythes were used in haymaking. The wool bales were shipped on scows which sailed up near the shore and were loaded when me tide went out. They were shipped per Levin and Co to Nelson and on to London to be sold at auction. I can remember wool selling at four pence per pound and three years later at sixteen pence. War or rumours of war put up wool prices. He also bred Hereford cattle and sold them as stores to be fattened for Nelson butchers. There was not much arable farming, except for some winter feed, and it was carried out with horsedrawn ploughs.
In 1913 I started at Nelson College as a boarder. Harry Louis De Galle Fowler, Balliol College, Oxford, was a truly great headmaster. He did not have a cane and did not need one. He was respected and obeyed and when he came into a room there was immediate and absolute silence. He was completely in control of the college and modelled it on English traditions. Mrs Fowler had no official position, but in collaboration with the Matron she was mother to sick and homesick boarders, taking an interest in their welfare. When the Fowlers retired to Days Bay, Wellington, old boys visiting that city flocked across in the ferry boat to visit them.
Fowler recruited a team of assistant masters of the highest calibre, including specialists in English, Latin, French, maths and science. Their quality was such that a number of them were appointed headmasters of other leading New Zealand secondary schools. The masters were dedicated to instructing us in the basics of their subjects, and devoted much of their spare time to coaching us in the fundamentals of rugby, cricket, swimming, tennis, fives, rifle shooting and school cadets. Typical of these was JG McKay, a dour Scotsman who demanded and received commitment from rugby players.
The boarders went to their respective churches on Sunday, with me great majority going to me Anglican Cathedral. The Girls' College boarders sat on the opposite side with their headmistress nicknamed the Mighty Atom. The girl prefects were allowed to our annual Sports Day as a special privilege. To get to Nelson from Collingwood I had to travel by small coastal steamers, me Hinau, Lady Barkly and Wairoa, which had reciprocating steam engines. It could be very rough and the propeller raced madly when it came out of the water, and the engineer had to throttle off the steam until it hit the water again. Sometimes it was so rough that the steamer had to shelter at Astrolabe or one of the other bays.
The
Lord Auckland
was a teak barque of 628 tons commanded by Captain Jardine. Her passengers, who embarked at Gravesend, England on 22 September 1841, were headed for new hope in the relatively unsettled colony of New Zealand. In addition to me crew, die ship held 16 cabin passengers and 155 emigrants. Among the emigrants on board were Richard Mills, a butcher aged 30 and his wife, Ann Sophia nee Hearn, aged 27. They were accompanied by their children, Ann 8, Thomas Hearn 6, Richard II 4, Eliza 2 and John, an infant.
Richard had been born in Portsea, England on 10 February 1822 and his residential address before departure was Bedford Street, Southsea. George Samuel Lidbetter was die surgeon on me Lord Auckland and Richard was commissioned as his assistant, with Ann as matron. One adult and four children died and two babies were born during die voyage. Richard and Ann had lost a youngster named Richard Henry in England, and it must have been devastating for them when 4 year old Richard U died on 20 October while they were sailing off die coast of Portugal.
Travelling with the family was Ann's sister, Mary Ann Cole, a widow who was a dressmaker by profession, along with her two small sons, Thomas 8 and William 6.
The Lord Auckland arrived in Wellington, New Zealand, on 7 February 1842 and the ship was delayed mere by me paying of customs duties and me desertion of die crew. Another crew was soon found and on 18 February they sailed again, reaching Nelson on 26 February 1842.
In a letter dated 28 July 1916 Richard's daughter, Eliza Redward, wrote:
"Father found it most difficult to obtain labour to cultivate the land he bought from die NZ Land Company as the settlers were all too busy with their own land and it was eight miles from town (or settlement) … no roads, only tracks through the dense bush. He had to start work on Monday morning and work mere till Saturday with what few friendly Maori were willing to work for him".
The Nelson Examiner of 12 and 26 March 1842 carried the following advertisement:
Mr R Mills
General store
Selling earthenware, domes, boots, blankets,
brandy, ale, porter and wines.
Richard held one of the eight hotel licences which were granted on 20 April 1842 and kept the Lord Auckland hotel in Nile Street. This venture did not last very long however, and on 20 July 1844 we read: "Richard Mills converts licensed house to private board and lodgings". Richard was listed as a tenant at his Nile Street home with die occupation of gaoler in die census of 1845 and again in 1849. Richard and Ann were blessed with three
Tragedy struck die family on 12 January 1848 when Ann died in childbirth. No record has been found of where she is buried, but her friend Mrs Bush, who had died die day before, was buried in die small Quaker cemetery in Nelson and perhaps Ann also rests there. Richard remarried on 22 May 1849 at Nelson. His new wife, Ellen nee Yeverly, who was nine years his junior, was a very amiable woman who proved to be a good stepmother to her seven stepchildren. The witnesses to die marriage were Richard's eldest daughter, Ann, and George Bush. Richard and Ellen had two daughters, Harriet, born 7 May 1850 in Nelson and Ellen, born August 1852 in Wellington.
In July 1849 Richard wrote to the Superintendent of the Province after reading in the government gazette mat his salary as gaoler would be reduced, unlike other gaolers in Auckland and Wellington. His starting salary had been fixed at 92 pounds and 5 shillings per annum and increased to 109 pounds in 1846, but by 1849 it had reduced to only 85 pounds. When a position became vacant at the Terrace Prison in Wellington, Richard was the successful applicant and started at his post on 24 April 1851.
After some years Richard became unwell and was unable to continue working at die prison. He spent considerable time between 1856 and 1859 in trying both to get better conditions for prisoners and to son out day to day matters concerning die running of the prison through die correspondence columns in the Wellington Provincial newspaper. Richard Mills suffered from epilepsy and this was documented as the cause of his death which occurred on New Years Day 1860. He was 48 years of age and is buried in me Bolton Street Cemetery in Wellington Ann is buried in Hallowell (Shelbourne Street) Nelson.
A Naval watch station was established on Stephens Island during World War II because it commanded a good view over Cook Strait. The radar station that die Navy established there could keep any shipping passing through the Strait under surveillance, but had a blind spot to die south. It fell to the Public Works Department in Nelson to erect me buildings necessary to accommodate 24 to 30 Naval radar trainees plus eight signallers, and I understand mat W E Wilkes of Richmond were engaged to do die work.
At one time the lightouse on Stephens Island had had three keepers, but this had been reduced to two. There must have been several children on die island as there was a school there. The signallers, who occupied die vacant keeper's house, were mostly personnel who had seen active service, usually in submarines, and were in need of a shore job to rest and recuperate. Some of diem were in very poor shape when they arrived.
The radar operators were a much younger set of personnel and, after serving an apprenticeship as it were, would get overseas postings, their ultimate ambition. There was always great jubilation among die radar boys whenever a signal came through giving them die desired posting. All communications to and from the island went through Naval HQ in Wellington and were in code.
The Public Works Department converted the two roomed school into sleeping quarters for their carpenters who erected a large building to house 30 personnel, together with a commonroom come messroom, a large galley and storeroom. They also constructed a building to house die radar equipment and a power house. Diesel electrics supplied 230V power to die radar and to die Palace, as die large quarters were aptly called. The signallers quarters, being nearer die lighdiouse, drew power from the lighdiouse system as it had already been installed. The radar building, power house and the Palace were positioned to be invisible from the sea from any direction. The three keepers' houses were plainly visible from all but southern or western aspects.
Diesel electric sets as we know them today were not available at that time. Generators and diesel engines had to be obtained from all sorts of remote areas and were made up into generator sets which were usually V belt driven. These units were assembled in the Nelson workshop and taken to die island by motor launch. The one, two and three cylinder engines were second hand, old and in some cases had seen better days and die makes included Lister, Ruston, Blackstone and Crossley.
In an effort to muffle the sound of die constantly running diesel engines, which it was thought might be heard from me sea, a pit was dug outside die powerhouse and filled with coke. The exhaust from the engines was piped into die pit to eliminate die noise, and this worked for a while, but resulted in a steady buildup of carbon and oil which caused die pit
All was lost and a fresh start had to be made in a hurry, with a new and much better powerhouse being built- Frantic searching produced more engines and generators, and this was where I came into the act, assembling generator sets, installing them on the island and carrying out maintenance of the engines for the Navy. I also worked for the Marine Department on the engines for the lighthouse and the haulage winches which were used to bring supplies on to die island. There were four engines and winches, three Marine Department and one Navy.
In 1943/44 I seemed to be spending half my time on the island or in travelling between there and Nelson. The number that travelled to the island each time depended on how much work there was to do. Sometimes mere would be as many as four and sometimes I would be on my own. If mere were only personnel and tools, travel would be by die ferry from Nelson to Wellington, which reached French Pass at about 10 pm. The ferry only slowed while transfer was made to a launch, and if there was much freight it could take up to two hours to get back to the jetty at die French Pass settlement. We would bed and breakfast at French Pass and then go on by charter or mail launch.
If there were engines and heavy equipment to transfer, we used a charter launch from Nelson or Okiwi Bay. Engines could cause problems, as there was no handling gear to help in moving them. There needed to be less than a two metre swell at me island landing place for the launchman to be able to manoeuvre die counter-stem into a position from where one could jump ashore onto die rocks. All gear had to be taken up by winch and personnel often had to go in the box to be taken up by the winch, which was powered by a single cylinder National engine. A steep tram line in two stages was served by two diesel engined winches which hauled the trolleys up to the level graded tram line to the lighthouse. The loaded trolleys were manhandled around this level section of about half a mile, with stops adjacent to the various establishments on die way.
Along with the other Public Works Department employees I stayed in die school building, where one of the two rooms had been made into a bunkroom. On one occasion there were six of us in residence, three mechanics and three labourers. In die early stages we had our meals with die Navy, who employed a cook, but later on the cook was dispensed with and the ratings took over on a rostered system. This was disastrous, as a rating would be a slushy one day and cook die next. I had manual work to perform and malnutrition soon set in, so we decided to cater for ourselves. The Public Works Department sent carpenters to put a wood and coal range in our quarters so that we could cook our own meals. We fared very well under this arrangement and brought our own supplies with us.
I was delegated by the others to be cook, and I baked our own bread when the supplies we had taken with us ran out. Once on die island we were dependent on die mail or charter launch to take us off and we frequently found ourselves stranded, as these services would
Meat was no problem, as the resident light keepers were allowed to run sheep and we could always buy mutton. Prior to the war sheep numbers had been limited, but mere was no longer anyone to attend to these matters and the population grew, with long tailed sheep everywhere. One keeper did not know one end of a sheep from another and intended to keep it that way, but the other, an ex-clothing retailer, was anxious to learn. I came from a farming background and taught him how to kill and dress a mutton. During one of my enforced stays he enlisted the help of the Navy lads to run the sheep into the yards and I tailed some 120 lambs.
The jig lines were in constant need of attention because of the activities of burrowing birds and tuatara. The bird life at certain times of the year would not be believed if it had not been witnessed. All the windows had to be screened with netting to prevent breakage from night flying birds. Birds called cape pigeons, or Mother Carey's chickens, fly in after dark to nest in burrows which they leave again before daylight. When they arrive it is impossible to stand outside without being hit by them. They crash land in their thousands and how they find their burrows I will never know. They have a cry like a baby, so imagine what it was like to have a hundred or so of them under our sleeping quarters and all performing at once. We sometimes found one caught by a leg in a fence or in the fork of a tree and, on being released, it would dive towards the sea pursued by a flock of gulls. The little bird always won its way out to sea, as it was released from 1000 feet.
During extended stays we used to explore the island, counting tuatara and observing nature generally. On a two hour walk one day we counted over 120 tuatara, mostly from ten inches to two feet in length. The daddy of them all was a 35 inch specimen which lived near the Palace and which was often caught and displayed to newcomers. I was on the island when one of the boys discovered the rare Hamilton's frog. He brought two of them into the Palace, photographed them and then returned them to their habitat. There was evidence of an earlier attempt to find them by some scientists, but they had been looking in the wrong place.
A few mutton birds nest on the island, mostly in areas where there is still native vegetation, but unfortunately these areas are too few. The giant weta, of which we found a few, is becoming rare because its habitat is receding. Young tuatara up to nine inches in length were usually seen by torchlight at night when they appeared to be feeding.
When returning to Nelson by ferry it was necessary to put up overnight at French Pass and turn out at 2 am to be on the launch ready to get aboard at about 3 am, arriving in Nelson at 6 am.
Published by Richard J Waugh, PO Box 82056, Manukau 80 pages $24.95 (paperback)
This well produced A4 sized book is a comprehensive history of commercial air travel across Cook Strait and the linking of Wellington with Nelson, Blenheim, Motueka and other centres. Although not the first flight across Cook Strait, aviation came to Nelson when on 11 November 1921 an Avro biplane piloted by PK "Shorty" Fowler, with Tom Newman of land transport fame as a passenger, touched down at Stoke. Two years later an Avro float plane landed on Nelson Haven. These pioneer flights demonstrated to Newman and other forward thinking Nelsonians that aviation could offer a quick alternative to other forms of travel. However, coastal shipping quickly reacted to this potential competitor when four days after the float plane arrived in Nelson it was rammed by the Anchor Company's steamer Alexander. The plane came off worst and was ignominiously shipped back to Auckland for repairs. Realising that air travel was going to be a serious rival to other forms of transport, the owners of the Anchor Company, who operated the nightly Nelson-Wellington passenger ferry service, the Union Shipping Company, Newman Brothers and others founded Cook Strait Airways in 1934 in Nelson. This company, based firstly at Stoke where the Saxton Sports Field is now situated, introduced a fleet of De Havilland Dragon Rapide aircraft capable of carrying 6 passengers. With frequent flights both the planes and the service they provided proved to be an immediate success. To meet this new aviation era there were major improvements to Rongatai airport, and in Nelson a completely new airport was carved out of the sandhills at Tahunanui, At the latter, the company re-established their maintenance base and re-erected the large hangers shifted from the Stoke Aerodrome. As it turned out the hangers were to outlive the company.
The onset of the Second World War resulted in the company's planes being transferred to the airforce and Union Airways took over the Cook Strait Services. The conclusion of the war did not see a return of Cook Strait Airways. Instead all of New Zealand's airlines were amalgamated into the government owned National Airways Corporation. NAC's main workhorse was the DC 3 and, particularly on the Cook Strait service, the Heron. In the early 1960s these planes were gradually replaced by the Fokker Friendship. The faster Friendship with its greater comfort, including a pressurised cabin with wings above the windows, quickly became popular with travellers. It was not until deregulation of the skies was truly implemented in late 1983 that commuter airlines began to seriously compete with Air New Zealand which had absorbed NAC in 1979. Air Albatross was perhaps the best known of a number of small commuter airlines which operated into Nelson in the period following deregulation. Also mentioned is SAFE-Air whose lumbering Bristol Freighters were readily recognisable, and heard, in the skies above Nelson.
Since deregulation the growth of Air Nelson, established by Robert Inglis of Motueka, has been phenomenal although it is perhaps ironic that this company is now fully owned by Air New Zealand Competing with Air Nelson today is Ansett New Zealand Ltd.
While this profusely illustrated book gives a good account of the airlines, it is also about the people who ensured that the planes kept flying. The pilots, ground crews and the men who had the courage and vision to provide the capital to start the airlines. Considering the large number of flights that have now crossed Cook Strait there have been few mishaps, the most notable being when a Union Airways Electra bound for Nelson in 1942 crashed into Mt Richmond. An equally tragic accident occurred when an Air Albatross Cessna from Nelson plunged into Tory Channel after hitting ill-placed powerlines in 1985.
Despite these accidents, the aeroplane has become a widely accepted means of travel and for formerly isolated Nelsonians has brought the major centres within easy reach. This in turn has resulted in Nelson Airport developing to become the fourth busiest in the country. It is certainly a far cry from the wood and linen covered Avro biplane, with Tom Newman on board, that landed in a paddock at Stoke in 1921.
This book and two other similar well illustrated aviation history books, also edited by Richard Waugh – When the Coast is Clear (Air Travel (NZ) Ltd – West Coast Area) and Early Risers (East Coast Airways Ltd – Gisborne-Napier area) – are available from Graeme McConnell, 27 Wastney Terrace, Marybank, Nelson at $24.95 each.
Published by Cape Catley and the Nelson City Council, 1997 (price soft covers $39.95 Hard covers $49.95)
This well written and profusely illustrated book of over 260 pages traces the development of Nelson up to the 1990s. The book was commissioned by the Nelson City Council to commemorate the sesqui-centennial of Nelson. Before commenting on this work it is worth recording that the Nelson Historical Society expended much effort in the late 1980s trying to get published a companion volume to Ruth Allan's scholarly "Nelson A History of Early Settlement" which appeared, under the auspices of the City Council, in 1965. Nothing materialised at the time due to infighting within the Nelson Bays United Council and plans by a local publisher to bring out a history in parts, following the format of the successful New Zealand's Heritage and other such works that were current at that rime.
Nevertheless the Society's efforts were not in vain for the seed had been sown and eventually, in 1997, Nelson – A Regional History appeared. Thus the City Council is to be congratulated on three fronts. Firstly in taking up the challenge to ensure that Nelson's history and the contribution Nelson has made to the development of New Zealand is acknowledged. Secondly that it decided that the history was to be a regional one and not confined to the city's boundaries and thirdly that Dr McAloon was selected to write it.
The history is divided into nine chapters, each conveniently spanning a distinctive period in Nelson's growth. The first chapter concerns the period prior to 1842. It is succinct, which partly reflects the council's brief that the history was to primarily cover the period 1842–1992 as well as the author's freely acknowledged own limitations in dealing with such a complex subject. However, the region's history prior to the arrival of the New Zealand Company's ships will be dealt with in depth in a forthcoming publication by Historical Society members Hilary and John Mitchell.
The next chapter coincides with the period covered in depth by Ruth Allan and which saw the successful establishment of the Nelson settlement despite limited land resources. It was also the time when the foundations for local government were firmly laid. Chapters 3 and 4 deal largely with the provincial government era. During this period political supremacy passed from the upper land owning, classes to the farmers, miners, storekeepers and labourers, whose champion was John Perry Robinson, second Superintendent of Nelson. It was also a period when the lack of arable land was almost forgotten, with the discovery of payable gold in the Aorere in the late 1850s, and the economic benefits mat arose from the less ephemeral West coast diggings. Other mineral resources of coal, copper, chromite and silver proved to be illusory. Consequendy in the latter half of the 19th century Nelson largely depended on widely dispersed families, growing a variety of crops, on numerous small farms in isolated valleys. The lack of adequate communication links between these valleys and the rest of New Zealand was to be a recurring theme in the region's history.
Nelson also provides a good example of the plethora of local government bodies that flourished in New Zealand following the abolition of the provincial councils in 1876. Thus adult men, and from 1893, women were able to vote for such things as county councils, road and education boards, school communities and the like. While taking local input, and democracy, to its highest peak it was ultimately, with increasing sophistication, expensive and led to amalgamations that culminated in the local government reorganisation of 1989. While it could be argued that the Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council of 1989 resulted in a unified government unit similar to the provincial council, such a comparison has no validity. Certainly Nelsonians regarded the regional council as fundamentally flawed, democratically unsound and wasted little time in getting rid of it. The democratic spirit espoused by Robinson remains very much alive.
As portrayed by Dr McAloon in the latter part of bis history, life in Nelson in the early and mid 20th century was pleasant enough but hardly dynamic. If population is a measure of growth, then there was a steady decline in Nelson's relative position, and influence, compared to the rest of New Zealand. The somewhat inward looking, or perhaps self content, of Nelsonians was impacted on by two world wars and the Depression. Accelerating this relative decline was the continuing loss of political clout which saw the closure of the Nelson Railway. Despite the efforts of the Nelson Progress League and Chamber of Commerce, attempts to attract industry, were mostly unsuccessful.
The remaining chapters document the changes that occurred to both metaphorically and literally give Nelson its place in the sun. Increasing leisure time provided New Zealanders with the opportunity to take advantage of Nelson's beaches, rivers and climate. This and the unhurried life style attracted a varied community of artists and potters. In addition Nelson's economic base was expanding, often as a result of decisions taken decades before. The Cut through the Boulder Bank in 1906 opened the way for the major developments that began in the late 1940s and transformed Nelson from a coastal to an overseas port capable of transporting its resources to the markets of the world. These resources included the products from maturing radiata forests planted on the infertile hill country in which Nelson abounded. The conversion to trees was to lead at times to bitter arguments between foresters and farmers. Fishing was another resource the region was to capitalise on, resulting in the basing in Nelson of trawlers up to 10 times the size of the little ships that had brought the NZ Company settlers 150 years earlier. Ruth Allan's statement that Nelson's history revolves around how the people changed the land and the land changed the people is, as Jim McAloon repeatedly confirms, an apt one.
In this book the multitude of themes that intertwine to give Nelson its character have been successfully synthesised. Adding to this are the numerous controversies, which appear to arise more frequently than in many other communities, that have punctuated Nelson's history. Such controversies show that the democratic principles established by the settlers are still firmly entrenched. This highly readable, abundantly illustrated, history is a credit to its author and those involved in its publication. Not only is Dr McAloon's history concise, yet scholarly, it is, to apply present day idiom, user friendly, with a good index, and a full set of references.
A guide to the Marlborough Nelson Heritage Highway
by
Published by Nikau Press 1997
(price $24.95)
This handsome, well presented book of 128 pages is crammed with data, much of it historical, pertaining to the 'top of the South Island'. While it is written primarily for the road traveller it has a much broader scope than this. The highway begins in Picton and ends at Farewell Spit but one can join it at any point. To assist in this regard the book is divided into six sections, such as Havelock to Nelson, and is helpfully colour coded (the highway is also distinctively signposted). Within each section there are numerous side trips that include both roads and walking tracks.
The text, which has few superfluous words, is greatly enhanced by route maps which are easy to follow and use. The large number of well chosen historical photographs from the Nelson Provincial Museum which are supplemented by magnificent colour shots by the author, Derek Shaw and Andy Dennis add to the appeal of this book. An additional bonus for historians is a summary, by Hilary and John Mitchell, of the long and complex period of Maori occupation of the northern South Island. Details of visitor centres and museums are given for those seeking additional information.
In summary, a very well written and produced book that is a credit to Simon Noble and his publisher Derek Shaw. To get enjoyment from this book one does not even have to set foot (or wheels) on the Heritage Highway for it is both a successful travel guide and an informative account of the historical highlights of the area the highway traverses. Finally, it is a worthy memorial to that outstanding and prolific photographer, the late Geoffrey C Wood, who originally proposed the concept of a Heritage Highway.
by
Nikau Press, 1996. 104 pages, illustrated. $29.95
After his magnificent work on the Marlborough gold fields, Society stalwart Mike Johnston has in this book returned to an aspect of his earlier research on the Mineral Belt, the subject he covered in High Hopes (1987). The Dun Mountain railway is a fascinating part of Nelson's history and, as usually happens with such research, more information has come to light since the earlier work was published. The augmented story certainly merits this separate telling.
The book begins with an examination of the claims made for the place of the Dun Mountain enterprise at the beginning of New Zealand railway history, an argument which hinges on how it is defined. Mike gives a useful resume of the evolution of rail transport to put the debate in context.
The railway, which was constructed to transport ore from the Mineral Belt, opened in 1862 and included a public passenger service which ran between the town and the port. While the Dun Mountain Company ceased operation and sold its assets in 1872, the City Bus continued to run until 1901. Much of the new information relates to this service and its various operators. In addition to the practical details, there are many stories of incidents and accidents which help to illuminate the social history of Nelson over this time period.
The work is underpinned by Mike's characteristic depth of research and attention to detail, while his clear writing style brings his subject to life. Well illustrated, with many historical photographs, contemporary art works and both original and specially drawn plans, the book also includes a separate chronology and statistics relating to the railway and the export of chromite.