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Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies, Volume 2, Issue 5, 1993

Nevil Matthews

page 36

Nevil Matthews

Nevil was born in Blenheim and was proud to be 6th generation Marlburian. His early years were greatly influenced by life at the grand home of Argyll with his maternal grandmother, parents, brothers and sisters.

When Nevil left school be began 35 years with the Post Office as a talented technician. The job involved many opportunities for travel, especially in Marlborough and he began to develop a tremendous range of acquaintances and knowledge of special places.

In 1959 Nevil and Prue married and began a long, loving and happy partnership. Both Nevil and Prue had their own interests but were always there to support each other and their family.

As the family grew, Sunday outings became a feature, as Nevil followed up interesting leads to our history. His engaging personality saw him develop a host of friendships and the respect of the district.

Nevil's interest in history developed further with his joining various organisations. He was a member of the Marlborough Historical Society for the past 25 years, being its president for 15, and became involved in many aspects of history. I saw Nevil as a link between great historians of the past, people like Frank Smith, Alan Hale, Bert Kennington and Norman Brayshaw, and the present generation.

  • —Nevil spent thousands of hours assisting Norm to develop the Marlborough Archives and in particular copying photos from private collections. He continued the tremendous task of developing the archives after Norm passed away.
  • —He was active in planning the growth of Brayshaw Park and the development of the Ken Looms Cottage and supervised P.E.P. workers at the Park.
  • —He devoted time to the Brayshaw Park Administrators, Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Society and the Marlborough Associated Modellers.
  • —Nevil was the co-founder and honorary life member of the Blenheim Riverside Railway Society.
  • —From the mid 1960s he began publishing articles, books and newsletters. The list is impressive and further manuscripts await publication.
  • —Local historical journalists, in particular Cynthia Brooks, benefited from hours of time spent with Nevil. He was always keen to share his knowledge and the newspaper articles form an important record for futher use.
  • —Nevil was frequently consulted by family historians and his research and guidance can be found within a string of published local family histories.
  • —Nevil was a keen member of the local 'Cob Cobblers' group who restore historic earth buildings.
  • —As area file keeper for the New ZealandArchaeological Society he was consulted by the local authorities, property owners and the Maori people. Nevil and Prue hosted many visits by archaeologists and they took part in many of the surveys that form an important basis of our understanding of Polynesian settlement in Marlborough.
  • —He was frequently invited to address conferences, reunions, service clubs, school groups, church and social groups.
  • —Nevil's field trips became increasingly popular. Historical groups, Rural Education, Holiday Programmes and many clubs enjoyed his bus tours and launch trips into out of the way places. Nevil made history come alive.