Publicly accessible
URL: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/collections.html
Copyright 2011, by Victoria University of Wellington
All unambiguous end-of-line hyphens have been removed and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line, except in the case of those words that break over a page. Every effort has been made to preserve the Māori macron using unicode.
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Additional Notes
Page 10: Photo Tyree studio 54951/3 1/2 Nelson Provincial Museum ‘Asbestos miners’. Miners named from left: William Reilly, E. Sigley, Captain Kirk. Source Claude Reilly and his Valley of Enhancement, Carol Dawber, page 29 photo with caption courtesy of Alice Trent, Clifton.
Page 13: ‘Aunt Flora Loch’ change to ‘Lock’ as per Ann Lindsay of Takaka.
Errata
Page 24: Caption should read ‘Taranaki wars’.
Page 28: Caption should read “of twins” as this was a direct quote taken from a letter presumed written by Thomas Rawson. It is presumed by the author that Thomas would have been in attendance on their remote farm when both mother and twins died, he assumes of post-partum haemorrhage.
Page 29: caption should read ‘fratricide’.
These errors are regretted.
Published by Nelson Historical Society (Inc), PO Box 461, Nelson
Edited by Dawn Smith
Design & Layup by Karen Price, Contexo
ISSN 1173-9711
Copyright: Permission to reprint any part of the Journal should be sought from the Committee of the Nelson Historical Society and the source of any such reprint should be acknowledged. We are grateful to the Nelson Provincial Museum and contributors for making photographs available.
From the time of its inception in 1954, the Nelson Historical Society has been instrumental in the collection and preservation of valuable provincial records, documents, photographs and ephemera, as well as the recording of regional history. It pushed for a purpose-built provincial museum, which now holds many of those irreplaceable items and collections.
So when the Nelson Provincial Museum was in need of support this year in its funding bid to vastly improve its collections storage facilities and staff and public accommodation at the research centre at Isel Park, it went without saying the Nelson Historical Society would step up to help. Gathering together other historical societies and heritage-minded organisations led to a decision to work together, to ensure both local government shareholders in the museum, the Nelson City and Tasman District Councils, knew via the submission process that we considered funding was imperative if our valuable regional collections were to remain safe.
While I’m pleased to report the Nelson City Council has pledged money in its (10- year) long term community plan, the Tasman District Council has committed none in its. The battle is far from over and I encourage all readers of this Journal to lobby both councils at any opportunity as to the importance to the Nelson province of the museum and all its facilities – collections, exhibitions, and research – and of the need for adequate funds to ensure their long term viability and safety.
As always, the 2012 Journal covers a feast of topics, including rugby, which set Nelson alive last year when we hosted three teams during the Rugby World Cup. Clive Akers, who presented the 2010 James Jenkins Lecture, has written a story about the subject of that lecture, Charles Monro, the founder of New Zealand rugby. Ken Wright follows up his story in the last journal about Takaka’s early pioneers‘ memorial with a comprehensive table recording all those on it. The winning essay in the 2011 Jeff Newport Memorial Prize is also included. Allie Tonks of Nelson
College for Girls wrote a very interesting report about the Bishopdale Theological
College.
The year 2012 marks the start of a range of centennial commemorations over the next seven years that will reverberate around the world and be marked in communities everywhere, including our own. While the sinking of the Titanic one hundred years ago in April caused a flurry of international attention, it is the forthcoming centennial of the outbreak of World War I that will have more impact on us here in the province of Nelson, New Zealand.
The consequences of the war for everyone involved cannot be understated. However, it did not just affect the men and women on active service, but also those who remained at home and who carried on as best they could while separated from their loved ones. Communities everywhere came together and worked hard to support the war effort through extensive patriotic fundraising initiatives and events.
The Nelson Historical Society, in partnership with the Nelson Provincial Museum, is initiating a far-reaching project that seeks to commemorate the full impact of World War I on the wider Nelson province. Individuals and organisations are joining forces so that commemoration projects and events can be co-ordinated and as many stories as possible researched and told from every perspective – military, social, educational, family, church, and local authorities.
It is a wonderful opportunity for the whole community to come together to research, review, remember and record for posterity Nelson’s First World War experience, and I look forward to the fruits of some of that research appearing in future issues of this Journal.
It is with regret that we heard of the death in January of our valued Patron and LIfe Member, Max Lash. Max was a stalwart of the society and as well as serving as President, carried out many other roles within the society. He will be known to many as the writer of Nelson Notables 1840-1940, a must for anyone with an interest in the province’s history. It is fitting that a story from Max is in this journal. Written with Barbara Allen, it is about the Allen family of Collingwood.
Karen Stade
President
This is a summary of the lives of three generations of the Allan family: David, his son G. H. (Harry) and grandson H. F. (Frank) from material supplied by Frank’s daughter, Barbara Allan.
The following biographical report is selected from an obituary from an unsourced newspaper clipping. It is probably the work of his son, Harry Allan, the editor and publisher of the Golden Bay Argus.
“The earliest discoveries of gold at Collingwood soon attracted him thither. Where he immediately entered into business as a general shopkeeper...”
Died March 28, 1920. Colonist announcement. “Mr David Allan passed away in his 92nd year; his passing was peaceful and in his long life he suffered few ailments. His death removed a figure identified with the fortunes of the community since its earliest settlement..late of Kelso, Edinburgh. He served his apprenticeship in the grocery trade and came with his young wife to New Zealand in the ship Lady Nugent, the eldest son, Nugent Allan being born on the voyage. He landed in Nelson in 1850.
“He was employed by William Wilkie, general merchant and lived at first in a cottage on Collingwood Street, before building a more pretentious house in Wakapuaka.
“The earliest discoveries of gold at Collingwood soon attracted him thither. Where he immediately entered into business as a general shopkeeper which business expanded and amplified until his branch establishments were distributed all over the goldfields, and he became a pioneer of means of distribution of commodities to the remotest back blocks diggers.
“On the decline of alluvial mining he spent a few years on the West Coast
– at Charleston and Addison’s Flat – but returned to Collingwood, in which district he has resided ever since, the latter part of his years in retirement.
“His wife predeceased him five years ago. There was a family of seven sons and four daughters, of which all but two sons and three daughters are still living. One son, David, was drowned in the Takaka river in 1875. All but one of the remaining family are married and there are quite a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren...
“...the late Mrs Allan was an expert horsewoman, and soon became a skilled midwife. It is claimed for her she made many and dangerous journeys to all parts of the district. It is claimed for her that there are nearly a thousand babies, who first saw the light under her skill and care, some of whom are now grandmothers and refer kindly to her as “mother”.
“...for many years the deceased gentleman took an active part in the welfare of the district and held seats on most of the public bodies of those days. He was in much demand at social entertainments, being a keen and racy reader and speaker of the Scotch dialect, and literature, and as a reminiscent portrayer of early pioneer struggles. He always had a host of interested listeners.
“Altogether there will be a universal sigh of regret at the passing of “Little Davy Allan”, and that his long familiar figure and personality have gone for ever. The remains were interred in the New Cemetery on Monday afternoon last. The Rev. G. Widdup conducted the solemn funeral rites.”
The obituary of David Allan’s wife is that of one who had offered her services to the women and children of the district. She lived at a time when women did not serve on local bodies, but had used her skills to contribute to the district in her own way. Parts which duplicate information in her husband’s obituary have been omitted.
Obituary January 30, 1915
“There died at Collingwood on Saturday last an old lady of 85 years of age, who had been identified with the life and history of the district for a long way
– more than half a century. Mrs David Allen was in her time probably the most useful and highly respected woman who ever pioneered a country. Following her husband in all the vicissitudes on a gold field, she took her share of the hardships which came to them.
“The deceased with her husband has been living in retirement for a number of years, and her familiar presence in Collingwood will be much missed by a host of friends who knew her well. The remains were laid to rest on Monday last, and the Rev. W.H. Stych, who officiated, made special reference to the usefulness and life record of the deceased. Of her large family, five sons and two daughters survive her, and her husband, who has passed his 87th year, is still hale and hearty.”
Obituary
“By the death of Mr. George Henry Allan, which occurred at Nelson Hospital on Thursday last at the age of 65 years, there passed a person prominently connected with, the history of Collingwood for many years. Born at Colling- wood he was the fourth son of the late Mr. and Mrs. David Allan and spent his boyhood in that district. He commenced his career as an apprentice at the Colonist office at Nelson. After leaving the trade he went south, where he joined the lighthouse service as a keeper, being stationed at the Nuggets, Bluff and Dog Island lighthouses. He was married in Invercargill in 1887 and shortly after he went to Westport where he re-entered the newspaper business, being engaged on the Buller Miner and the Westport News.
“In 1891 deceased returned to Collingwood where he purchased the Golden Bay Argus and in conjunction with commenced business as a mining and commission agent, auctioneer, land agent and valuer, which business he very successfully operated for many years. As a mining agent when Collingwood was at the height of its prosperity he had few equals in the Warden’s Court. He was closely associated with a number of gold-mining schemes in the district and acted as local manager for various companies and syndicates.
“The late Mr. Allan took a leading part in all matters appertaining to the advancement of the district and served on practically every local body. He was a member of the Collingwood Road Board which then included the
present Takaka County, and when the two separate counties were formed he acted as clerk and engineer in the Collingwood County for many years, later becoming a member of that body. He represented the Collingwood and Takaka districts continuously for many years as a member of the Nelson Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. Among other positions held by the deceased were Justice of the Peace, Government Valuer and Returning Officer for the Electoral District.
“Apart from these he took a keen interest in local affairs, serving on the School Committee, the now defunct Collingwood A and P Association, the Racing Club and several other sporting clubs.
“In 1913 the late Mr Allan purchased the Golden Bay Times in Takaka which he incorporated with the Golden Bay Argus, but the loss of eyesight and ailing health: which culminated in a serious illness in 1918, compelled his retirement from business, since when he has more or less suffered ill-health. For the last three years he has resided in Takaka. During the last twelve months he had been steadily failing and his demise was not altogether unexpected.
“Deceased was a member of the Collingwood Foresters Lodge since he was
18 years of age and took a prominent part in the affairs of that Order attaining the highest degree, that of District Ranger and represented his Lodge on numerous occasions at various conferences throughout the Dominion. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, being initiated in the Golden Bay Lodge and was one of the founders of St Cuthbert’s Lodge, Collingwood, of which he was a Past Master and honorary life member.
“Of a jovial nature, and a ready wit and great raconteur, the late Mr. Allan was always pleasant and jovial company and made sincere friends, generous to a fault, a helping hand extended to those in need, especially many of the older day miners having a life long gratitude for his kindly assistance and help received at a difficult period.
“He is survived by a widow and three sons and four daughters; the sons are Messrs. E.F. Allan, Christchurch, H.G. Allan, Takaka, and H.F. Allan, Science master, Nelson College, while the daughters are the Misses E.M. Allan, San Francisco, M.L. Allan, New Plymouth, Mesdames H. Henderson, Pahiatua, and R. Benson, Collingwood, by whom messages of sympathy have been received from friends from all parts of the Dominion.
“The funeral took place at Collingwood Cemetery on Sunday afternoon and despite the postponement from the previous day owing to the floods there was a large attendance from Takaka. A Masonic service was conducted in the Lodge prior to the funeral and at the graveside Rev. Corney performed the Church of England service, while W. Bro. E.A. Skilton, W.M. of St. Cuthbert’s Lodge and the Chief Ranger C. Solly of Court Aorere conducted the Foresters service. There was a large gathering of both Masonic and Foresters Lodge, members of which acted as pall-bearers.”
The most prominent of the grandsons of David Allan, known to family and colleagues as Frank, was born in Collingwood on June 6, 1903. The third son of the printer and entrepreneur Harry Allan, he was reared in Collingwood and attended Collingwood Primary School. At the end of 1916 he won a pupil scholarship which paid his boarding fees and allowed him a free place at Nelson College.
To reach Nelson from Collingwood one travelled either on the Hinau, owned by the Golden Bay Shipping Company, or its competitor, the Wairoa, run by the Ricketts family of Riwaka. The crossings were always an ordeal for Frank, as he was a poor sailor and was heartily sick on every trip. A graphic account of one of those journeys was recorded in the Society’s Journal of 1982:
“In 1917 it was time for me to go to board at Nelson College. I said good- bye to my little dog and sailed on the Hinau with my father and mother on a lovely summer’s day. Crossing the bar in the afternoon, there was only a gentle breeze but it was too much for me. I turned greener and greener and greener and finally made a dash for the rail – on the windward side
– silly boy! A man sitting there beat a hasty retreat. Next day when classes assembled at Nelson College my form master was none other than the man at the weather rail. He was Mr. H. P. Kidson, who had been returning with Mr. Julius Lemmer from a tramping trip to Golden Bay. Mr. Kidson was later a headmaster at Hutt Valley and at Otago Boys’ High. We had occasion to laugh about our first encounter in later years.”
Another of his contributions to the Journal, on the 1904 Collingwood fire, appeared in the 1989 issue. His 1939 MA thesis, The Nelson Provincial Council, was published by the Society in 1974.
Hector Frank Allan died in Ashburton on July 10, 1997 at the age of 94 years and his death was announced in the Nelson Mail of July 11, 1997. An obituary was
Mail on July 16, 1997:
Obituary – Six Decades With the College
“The death of Hector Frank Allan on July 10, one of the longest serving staff members of Nelson College, will rekindle memories of many Nelsonians of his selfless dedication and enthusiasm. He was 94. Mr Allen’s six decades associated with the College began when he left Collingwood in 1917 and became a scholarship pupil at Nelson College.
“He planned an army career and trained at Duntroon, but his course was terminated as a government economy measure. He took courses at Victoria University and Wellington Teachers’ College, leading to his teaching career. Six years after leaving Nelson College, Mr Allan returned as a qualified teacher and filled many roles in a career from 1926 to 1970.
“As a young man, he was one of the most experienced trampers and climbers of his time, and for 20 years he took parties of boys on tramping expeditions at Easter and Labour weekends.
“Military training of the College cadet force was given a big boost by Mr. Allan’s training and enthusiasm. He rose to the rank of Major and at the outbreak of World War II he assisted with regular army training. In 1942 the army sent him to New Caledonia to establish an expeditionary force base and he was subsequently involved in operations in the Solomon Islands. He later became the 36th Battalion commanding officer. He was a lieutenant-colonel when he returned to Nelson College as a teacher again.
“Beyond college life, Mr. Allan became a foundation member of the Nelson Historical Society, tramping and bridge club, and was a Past-President of the Nelson Bowling and Bridge clubs.
“Mr. Allan retired from teaching in 1960 but returned as a relieving teacher until 1970. He had established the annual Nelson College Bulletin in 1936, co-edited the Old Boys’ Register and was made an honorary life member of the Old Boys’ Association.
“He was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in the late 1980s and later moved to Ashburton, where he died at Turangi Home. Mr. Allan was predeceased by his wife Ruby, and he is survived by their children, John, Barbara and Jocelyn, as well as grandchildren and great grandchildren.
“A memorial service is being planned for Nelson at a date to be advised.”
The promised memorial service was held in the Assembly Hall of his alma mater with a full attendance of College pupils and a strong representation of respectful Old Boys on August 8, 1997. The assembly was rounded off with a spirited rendition of the famous student song: Gaudeamus Igitur.
More about the Endeavour Street carrots to complement George Truman’s memories in the 2011 issue of the Journal:
“The Nelson Resident Magistrate lived in the first house on the right and to steal a carrot from his garden was quite a dare.”
The Resident Magistrate was my grandfather Tom Maunsell, who lived at 25 Endeavour Street for many years. He and his wife, purchased the house circa 1923. Tom died in 1954 and his wife, Effie, died in 1975. The Maunsell children were Terence 1909, Patricia 1912 and June 1918.
The house was sold to Bryan Smythe and family in
1975. Later on, Bryan sold to Robin and Jenny Jack and family.
The house address was Van Dieman Street for many years, with access up a driveway from the corner with Trafalgar Street, near Fairfield.
Neighbours beyond the top of that drive were the Marsh family, whose access was also from Van Dieman Street. Cecil and Gwen Marsh’s children were Margaret
1913, Yolande 1915, David 1917 and Elizabeth 1926. The Marsh house was destroyed by fire in 1952, and a new smaller one was built for the family.
“We spent many enjoyable weekend days with our grandmother, Effie, doing chores in return for home baking.”
Behind Marsh and next to Maunsell was the Bolton family, on Endeavour Street. Tony and Heather Bolton’s children were Pru 1944, Penny 1948 and Kirsty 1950. The Bolton’s house had been built for Elliott Fleming, the City Electrical Engineer, and was designed by Heathcote Helmore.
Tom Maunsell was born at Carterton in 1880, attended Wanganui Collegiate and was articled in Wellington to Findlay Dalziell and Co. He commenced his own practice in Carterton in 1903 and married Effie Maginnity, the eldest daughter of A. T. Maginnity, in 1907.
Maginnity had commenced his law practice in Nelson circa 1890, and the family shifted from Collingwood to live at 27 Brougham Street, opposite Melrose. The Maginnity house was demolished before it fell down circa 1975. Scobie and Elizabeth MacKenzie had built their house on a rear portion of the original town acre.
Tom Maunsell was appointed Magistrate to Westport in July 1919. When the Nelson Magistrate, J. S. Evans, died in 1934, Tom was transferred to Nelson, and in due course his jurisdiction covered Westport, Nelson and Blenheim.
He was also Coroner, Chairman of the Nelson, West Coast and Marlborough Licensing Committees and took great interest in the Nelson Justices of the Peace Association. He wrote Licensing Law in New Zealand, Butterworth, 1928 and The New Zealand Justice of the Peace and Police Court Practice, Butterworth, 1935.
He was Chancellor of the Nelson Diocese of the Church of England from
1925 until his death in 1954, a role his father-in-law had fulfilled previously. His brother-in-law, A. C. Maginnity was also a solicitor in the family law firm until his untimely death in 1921.
Tom Maunsell retired in 1949 after 30 years on the bench.
My brother Tim and I boarded at College House, the other half of Fell House, from 1958/59 to 1963/64. We spent many enjoyable weekend days with our grandmother, Effie, doing chores in return for home baking. On Sundays we would often join her at the Maginnity home with her two sisters, Fanny and Mabel, for an extensive and semi-formal Sunday lunch.
NOTE
The Storm of 1859 was the first event recorded by humans from a truly global perspective, not to be repeated until the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 turned the sunsets red and crimson the world- over. Newspapers such as the New York Times were active in run- ning extensive stories about the 1859 solar storm, and collecting reports from other countries. The great geomagnetic storm of 1859 was really composed of two closely spaced massive worldwide auroral events. The first event began on August 28 and the second began on September 2. It is the storm on September 2 that resulted from the Carrington-Hodgson white light flare that occurred on the sun on September 1.
During the last days of August 1859, reports of spectacular displays of the Aurora Borealis and other stratospheric phenomena came from all over Europe, Asia, the Americas and elsewhere throughout the northern hemisphere, reaching almost to the equator. Similar reports came from Australia and other southern hemisphere countries. As well as creating enormous public interest, these nocturnal entertainments and concurrent abnormalities of electrical and magnetic effects were closely monitored for their implications for science, engineering, navigation and telegraphic communications.
”The beautiful phenomenon called the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis has frequently been visible
of late. Last evening the spectacle was peculiarly attractive, ... spreading over almost the whole sky, dyeing the atmosphere of a bright roseate hue.”
Richard Carrington of Surrey, a highly-respected astronomer of private means who specialised in solar astronomy had, since 1853, been taking daily measurements and recordings of the appearance and behaviour of the sun when the weather permitted. Carrington had developed instruments to project a telescopically-enlarged image of the sun’s disc onto a screen from which he could sketch its features – sunspots, flares, rays and other characteristics.
On the morning of September 1, 1859 he continued his studies of the image of an abnormally large cluster of sunspots which he had been tracking from the time it had first appeared. It had grown, changed shape, and moved towards the centre of his screen as the sun slowly rotated over successive days. Carrington
Suddenly, at 11.18 a.m., two brilliant flashes on the screen, emanating from within the sunspot cluster, obscured the adjoining details of the image. Carrington was so astounded that at first he believed some fault had leaked extraneous light through the apparatus. Finding all was intact, he quickly sought independent confirmation of the sighting, which remained at peak intensity for about a minute before diminishing over the following four to five minutes. This flash appeared to accompany an enormous solar flare, which exploded so rapidly over such a distance across the sun’s surface that he later estimated it must have travelled at more than 450,000 miles per hour.
A day or so later Carrington visited the observatory at Kew to check his records against any taken there. Unfortunately, a project then in progress at Kew of photographing the sun each fine day had not captured the 11.18 a.m. event, but exceedingly abnormal traces on automated paper tape connected to an array of sensitive magnets confirmed exactly both the time of onset and the duration of Carrington’s observations. His findings were later corroborated by recordings taken at many other stations throughout Britain and Europe. Carrington later reasoned that the magnetic effects observed at Kew must have been initiated at the same time as the visual flash, and had travelled to the earth at exactly the same speed.
This, of course, was the speed of light – 300,000km per second – which was not known with any accuracy in 1859. In other words, the event on the sun must have occurred at about 11.10 a.m. and its accompanying outburst of electromagnetic energy over a wide range of the spectrum, including visual and other wavelengths, reached the earth, 150 million kilometres distant, eight minutes later.
The burst recorded by Carrington was not the only effect of the flare which he had seen. Even though the magnetometers at Kew had begun to settle down a few minutes after 11.23 a.m., they continued to fluctuate abnormally for some time after. Then, in the early hours of September 2, approximately eighteen hours after the Carrington’s initial observation, the instruments at Kew reacted even more vigorously, as did recording devices at Greenwich, in Paris, throughout Europe, in India and many other parts of the globe.
The magnetic storm now assailing the earth, with the arrival of particles carried on the solar wind, played havoc with all manner of electrical devices throughout the world. Telegraphic equipment functioned erratically, if at all, with bells ringing at inappropriate times, overheating caused fires in telegram receivers, operators
So what happened Down Under? While the majority of the 1859 reports were from the northern hemisphere, there was one confirmation from Australia that the Aurora Australis was also fired up. Was anything reported in New Zealand? By courtesy of Papers Past, commentaries have been found in five New Zealand newspapers: Daily Southern Cross Auckland; Lyttelton Times; Taranaki Herald New Plymouth; Nelson Examiner and the Colonist, Nelson.
The “The beautiful phenomenon called the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis has frequently been visible of late. Last evening the spectacle was peculiarly attractive, the vivid lights at times shooting in rays and pencils across the southern heavens, and again spreading over almost the whole sky, dyeing the atmosphere of a bright roseate hue.”Daily Southern Cross was remarkably subdued in its reporting, devoting not more than a single line, buried in its weather reports of September 2 and 9. On September 2 the paper reported: August 29. S.W.; a.m., heavy rain; evening, brilliant aurora, and on the 9th: September 2. N.W., moderate till evening; aurora seen and tempestuous night. The Lyttelton Times of September 3 was slightly more expansive, probably describing the same peak intensity recorded at Kew in the early hours of September 2, London time:
The “All lovers of nature were charmed last Monday evening by the rare occurrence of the Southern Lights. This mysterious phenomenon, commencing about half-past six p.m. bore at first the singular appearance of daybreak. Extending to an elevation of about 30 degrees, the gradually increasing light was seen to quiver at intervals, and then vanish from the eyes like a dissolving view. The rays emitted, at first almost indistinct, afterwards formed themselves into coruscations shooting up from the south and south-west horizon. These becoming after a little time still more clearly defined against the evening sky presented the shape of luminous bars with an (apparent) edge plainly marked on the western side. In the meanwhile a reddish tint was observed to be spreading almost imperceptibly over the south portion of the heavens,
“The cause of the Aurora, even with our gigantic strides in physical science, is little known. Conjecture alone is left to us. It is generally attributed to electric and magnetic influences; and Dr Faraday conceives that the earth’s equilibrium is restored by the Aurora conveying the electricity from the poles to the equator. In New Zealand, however scant may be our information gathered from natives, the Aurora Australis may be assumed of rare occurrence. In Iceland, and the Polar regions, the Aurora is common.”Taranaki Herald of September 5, the only report alluding to possible causes, waxed eloquently in a detailed description of the magnificent sightings framed by the sea and Mt Taranaki:
Both local newspapers reported the Aurora. On August 31 the “THE AURORA AUSTRALIS. – On Monday evening this phenomenon was visible in Nelson with unusual brilliancy; the sky and earth being illumined with it until long after the usual time of darkness setting in.”Nelson Examiner’s readers were treated to a fairly sparse account:
And another on September 7:
“THE AURORA AUSTRALIS. – This beautiful phenomenon again appeared with extraordinary brilliancy on Friday evening last. For several hours the whole sky was illumined, and, we think, presented the most splendid view ever obtained of it in New Zealand.”
Nelson’s Colonist newspaper was a little more effusive, reporting on August 30
1859 – i.e. before Carrington’s observations:
“PHENOMENON. – Although in the ordinary course of things our evenings are perceptibly increasing in amount of daylight, last evening was unexpectedly illuminated in the southern portion of the sky until after nine o’clock, by one of those infrequent visits of Aurora Borealis [sic] that may sometimes be
No instances of dangerous, or even erratic, disturbances of telegraphic or other electrical facilities appear to have been reported in the New Zealand newspapers.
“Carrington’s flare”, as it is now known, can be flagged as a seminal event in the history of solar astronomy for two reasons, for the development of the science itself, and for the fact that, in the intervening 150 years, there has never been a repetition of a solar event of the magnitude he witnessed. Despite the ensuing interest by fellow astronomers and other scientists, the contiguity of the events he had observed and the dramatic experiences with all manner of magnetic and electrical equipment and infrastructure, science in the late 1850s had not yet contemplated the possible dependence of these earth-bound phenomena on violent solar activities.
A century and a half later these interactions are much better understood, as are the processes of nuclear fusion powering the sun, the mechanisms triggering sunspot formation and solar outbursts, the cyclical nature of sunspot activity, the nature of the radiation and particles released, and the means by which they traverse the void to earth. But such refinements were not gained without several decades of controversy, in which Carrington became an early protagonist, as did succeeding generations of astronomers and physicists. Nor were they gained without the development of increasingly sophisticated equipment for data collection and processing.
This may be an appropriate time to remind ourselves of the 1859 events, for applications of that sophisticated science to current studies of the sun are detecting increasingly vigorous levels of solar activity following a long period of relative quiescence, leading to predictions of another outburst of similar proportions. The global effects in the 21st century would paralyse almost every field of human endeavour in ways not even imagined in 1859.
Nelson’s fine Founders’ Heritage Park has a Fire Station displaying old machines and fire-fighting paraphernalia. A notice gives the story of a major fire in 1866 which destroyed some 18 buildings in Collingwood and Bridge Streets. The equipment used was from the city’s fire engine shed which still stands in Albion Square, near the Courthouse.
”but for the waterworks the probability is that six or eight houses, if not more, would have fallen a prey to the fire.”
This fire prompted the formation of a Volunteer Fire Brigade, the building of a new fire station in Harley Street and construction of a reticulated city water supply.
This contribution records the sheer human drama of a fire two years later in which the Volunteer Fire Brigade performed a principal role, and faced a major test in operating the city’s newly installed hydrant system. One of the principals in this drama, which I have called The Great Fire of Nelson, was my great uncle Henry.
Henry Freer Rawson (1839-1879) had thankfully been released from his father’s dread provisional instruction to murder my grandfather in 1860, as recorded in the
2011 issue of the Journal. While briefly serving as a sergeant in the Taranaki Volunteers with the British colonial forces, he had mastered the trade of tooth- pulling. He then moved to Nelson, and from 1862 advertised his ability to ‘adjust artificial teeth from one to a complete set at Mr Lockhart’s, Hardy St, just
The other principal, John Greenwood, junior, was learning new skills as a dentist after a disastrous sawmilling venture at Brooklyn. His distinguished father Dr John Danforth Greenwood, for a time editor of the Nelson Examiner, had earlier written:
‘John as he grows up gives me great satisfaction. His mind expands, his disposition is amiable and his abilities are very considerable’. Greenwood family papers. AG133. Nelson Provincial Museum Library.
The spectacular pyrotechnics of this event, on April 30, 1868, were the talk of the town, providing entertainment for the populace and extensive copy for the no less than three competing newspapers in those pre mass-electronic-media days.
That introduction over, we now read in the “Last night, about ten o’clock, the fire bells sounded the alarum and it was quickly perceived that one of two semi-detached houses of two storeys in Hardy-street, nearly opposite the Institute, was on fire, the flames blazing through the roof before the bell had sounded. Very quickly the hose-reel and hydrant which are deposited behind the Institute were on the spot,...and the hydrant was attached to the fire-plug at the corner of Collingwood-street crossing.”Colonist, in a morning “extra” printed on May 5, 1868:
FIRE IN HARDY STREET, NELSON
The recently installed fire-plug was at what is now Price’s Pharmacy corner. A hose and hydrant from the Government buildings were connected to another plug in Collingwood Street and played water on the rear of the buildings. It was a first test for the new water supply.
Using exactly the same headline the “...just as the audience was leaving the Harmonic Society’s Concert at the Provincial Hall the fire bells pealed out the alarm, and a general rush was made to Hardy-street, the upper part of which, near the Institute, proved to be the scene of the conflagration.” Fire in Hardy Street. (May 1, 1868) Nelson Evening Mail recorded:
Nelson Evening Mail, p.2.
The “It is satisfactory to be able to say in this case how the fire originated. Mr Rawson and Mr J. Greenwood were at work in the front room of Mr Darby’s house, and the latter gentleman, in pouring spirits of wine out of a two- gallon tin, suffered the spirit to come in contact with the flame of a lamp,
Fire in Hardy Street. (May 2, 1868) Nelson Examiner, also under a similar headline, gave yet more detail:
Nelson Examiner, p.3.
The “Mr Rawson escaped by breaking through the window, and jumping into the street, whilst Mr Greenwood was much burnt about the legs in getting into the passage. Mrs Darby was alarmed, and had happily just sufficient time to rescue her children, who were sleeping in the bedroom overhead, and who, finding the passage below already in flames, were forced to make their escape through the window at the back of the house.”Mail also recorded that:
In a detail from the “One of her daughters, who was partially undressed, took up the youngest child and ran through the flames with but little injury.” Fire in Hardy Street, Nelson. (May 5, 1868) Colonist:
Colonist, p.6.
The fire brigade received praise for confining the destruction to two houses only. The Colonist stated: “but for the waterworks the probability is that six or eight houses, if not more, would have fallen a prey to the fire.”
And from the Mail : “the second hose prevented the extension of the flames at their rear, by playing on the outbuildings in the direction of Panama House, the inmates of which were in no slight state of alarm.”
The Colonist did, however, criticise the management of the fire and particularly unkind was its comment that: “The Nelson Waterworks... does not seem gifted with that promptitude of judicious action which ought to be “created” by the emergency.”
We can sense the development of media rivalry in the “We regret to be compelled to refer to some very ungracious and certainly unmerited strictures on the management of the Fire Brigade, which appeared in an ‘extra’ published by the “It must also be remembered that our Fire Brigade is entirely composed of individuals who volunteer their services, and who receive no gratuity whatever for the fatigue and the injury to their clothing to which they are inevitably exposed on such occasions. We would also remind the “The “We have been requested by Captain Knight to state that the Provincial Solicitor gives the most positive denial to the assertion made by the Mail’s response:
Colonist this morning. It must be obvious to any dispassionate person that in the excitement which ever prevails on such occasions, some shortcomings must often occur, however desirous each individual member of the Brigade may be to do his utmost to meet the emergency. In fact the most serious difficulty with which the Captain of a Fire Brigade has to contend, is the over anxiety of his subordinates to exercise, so to speak, their own private judgment, and the responsibility of directing and controlling their operations judiciously and inofficiously is confessedly very great.Colonist that, thanks to the niggardly treatment which the Brigade has received, especially at the hands of the Insurance Agents, that body, to whom the community has been so largely indebted on so many previous occasions, is now in a state of positive impecuniosity, and, in fact, but for the kindness of the Provincial Solicitor, would have been unprovided with even the slightest refreshment at the termination of their arduous labors last night.Colonist complains that the hose-pipe was not directed occasionally to the roof of Mr Wagg’s house, which is situated at some distance from Mrs Donkin’s, an open space intervening. We are assured that this house was never in danger ; in fact was not even blistered, and what slight wind prevailed at the time was blowing in the contrary direction. Besides, any unnecessary expenditure of the water in that quarter would have seriously endangered the preservation of Mr Haines’s house, which was in immeasurably greater
Colonist this morning, to the effect that he, as Captain of the Brigade, had refused for some time to attend his representations with regard to the direction of the hose on Mr Haines’s house in preference to the burning house adjoining, and that, on the contrary, he immediately gave directions to that effect. Captain Knight also states that the Editor of the Colonist had no authority whatever from Mr Adams to make such an assertion.”
The “Messrs Rawson and Greenwood were the only witnesses examined and the jury returned the following verdict: the origin of the fire was accidental caused by Mr J. Greenwood pouring spirits of wine from a two gallon can into a brass saucer of flaming spirits which we consider an act of gross carelessness on his part...” An inquest. (May 5, 1868) Mail also reported on the coroner’s inquest into the origin of the fire:
Nelson Evening Mail, p.2.
Sad Postscript: My great uncle Henry departed this life suddenly at age 40, together with others at Wanganui, from drinking from a contaminated water supply. His widow never remarried. Henry left a number of fine landscape paintings, some now in heritage collections at Te Papa, Wellington, the Hocken Library in Dunedin and Puke Ariki in New Plymouth. His sole known Nelson area painting is titled ‘Rainbow Valley’ (1876).
John Greenwood practised dentistry in Greymouth, Wanganui and Feilding, before returning to Nelson, where he died in 1909.
This eulogy was delivered by Ian Lash, a nephew of Max, who was also brought up on the Lash family farm at Rockville.
“He was a member of the Nelson Historical Society for many years, serving as its President, Secretary, Treasurer and Patron.”
Max was part of a family of seven children which was often described as being two families. There was a gap, coinciding with the First World War, between Allan, Jeff and Doris, the older trio, and Trevor, Jack, Max and Gwen.
Max was born on February 13, 1927 at Granny Wigzel’s in Collingwood, the sixth child of W. D. and M. O. Lash, who ran the farm and caves in Rockville.
A sister, Gwen, came on the scene in 1929 and they were special friends for the next 13 years, being the youngest and at home together. They have been close ever since. During their childhood years together they roamed the farm, collecting cones, blue gum bark for the copper, passion fruit and walnuts. They swam at the Junction or down at the Rocks. They went visiting with their mother in the district and up on to the goldfields. A three mile walk to have afternoon tea with Nanny Flowers was not uncommon. They also enjoyed playing duets together at the piano. Max went to Rockville Primary School and then on to Collingwood District High School. After three years there he went to Nelson College for two years, gaining his School Certificate and Matric.
In 1945, having left College, he worked on the family farm and for neighbours. He spent two weeks on a coastal scow, the Pearl Kasper, in the hope of joining the merchant navy. This did not go well, so back on shore he assisted my father, when he took over the farm, digging in a watering system for the stock, cave guiding and anything else going, except hay making, as he got very bad asthma.
During this time Max applied for Teachers’ Training College in Christchurch, and was accepted. He spent 1946 and 1947 there, before doing his probationary year at Takaka District High School. He was a handsome man and many of the senior female pupils there at the time still vouch for that today, as does Jill.
An extra course was always needed at Training College, so Max completed a NZAAA coaches’ course which helped him greatly in the schools where he taught. He also used it in the wider Hawkes Bay community while there, and was instrumental, with his father, in starting an athletics club in Richmond.
Max always wanted to complete a BA, so his first full teaching job, in 1949, was at Wilford School in Petone, from where he attended Victoria University – with limited success he says in his autobiographical notes.
In 1951 he married Audrey and moved to a sole charge position at Sherenden Primary in Hawkes Bay, and Graeme, Anne, Alistair and Patti were born there. They moved into their own home in Havelock North in 1960 and he became an assistant teacher at Havelock School. In 1967 he moved to Hastings High School for two years.
Max moved on his own to Marlborough Boys’ College as a teacher and Senior
Supervisor of Innes House, the Colleges’ co-ed hostel, in 1969.
In 1971 he married Judy, a fellow staff member, and they moved to Seddon, commuting daily with Max behind the wheel of a school bus. William was born while they were there. The need to complete his BA took them to Christchurch in 1977, and he graduated in 1978.
Their next move was to Motueka, where Judy had a Head of Department position. Max was house husband and a relief teacher in the area during the next few years.
A change of direction in line with his interest in history came in 1984, when he became the Nelson Convenor for the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography project. The information gathered for that publication provided a basis for his writing of Nelson Notables, a book celebrating 150 years of Nelson history.
After 19 years together he and Judy parted, and four years later he married Jill, their common interest in things historical, especially relating to Nelson, and good
One of the skills that he did not develop very well was his driving, and stories about his 4WD trips in the Ute are testimony to this. His attempt to make the garage in Milton Street a drive-through did not stop his exploits though, as he tried to reorganise a shop window with his mobility scooter. His driving was well summed up by his great niece Rachel: “a trip over the Takaka Hill with Max was something to survive”.
There is, however, more to Max than the statistics above and, with the help of others, I have managed to offer a snap shot of some of these:
Max it has been a long and eventful journey. A lot of it happy, and some not so.
You endured it well. May your spirit fly free.
A unique and inspirational institution, Bishopdale Theological College is the only college of its kind to ever exist in provincial New Zealand. Its evangelical convictions have remained true, while it has adapted through more than 140 years of challenges in a modernising world. It has certainly had its trials, but the fundamental need for clerical training in the church, not just in Nelson, but throughout New Zealand, will ensure that it remains an irreplaceable part of our city’s history and future.
“Suter was the very soul of the college and set the tone for the first 23 years of its life.”
Plans for a theological college began in 1867 with Nelson’s first Bishop, Edmund Hobhouse. At the time, clergy were sourced from England. Their supply was unreliable and they were challenged in connecting with an independent, colonial culture to which they were not accustomed. Some of the pioneers had a rebellious attitude and were not as willing to conform to church ideals as the English congregations.
A systematic endeavour of ecclesiastical education had begun with the opening of local colleges in Auckland and Christchurch, but Nelson’s isolation restricted student access to them. Towards the end of his episcopate, Hobhouse privately purchased the 158- acre Bishopdale Estate as a location for the Bishop’s residence and the college he intended to create. He also bought timber for the construction.
In England, the incoming Bishop was warned of the desperate need for clergy trained in Nelson and able to engage with its people. Proving himself as a visionary, Bishop Andrew Suter brought with him four well-trained men to serve as tutors for the proposed school. Construction began on the Bishopdale College in early 1868 and was completed that September. In 1869 students moved in to live with Suter and his wife and the college began, sparking a new age of growth for the Nelson diocese.
In 1874 Suter created the Board of Theological Studies, which set national exams and provided the Licentiate qualification (LTh). The college was fully developed by 1876, with six students, and the following year it became affiliated with the University of New Zealand. This provided students with the opportunity for specialist subjects and meant that studying for an LTh could be entirely completed at Bishopdale.
They had seventeen-hour days, with much of the time devoted to lessons based on those from England, including Evolution, The Meaning Of Hell, Classical Studies, Physics, Structural Botany, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. They were also afforded an intimate look into the life and dealings of the Bishop, who even took them on his pastoral tours. This would have been a valuable and certainly unique learning experience in their line of study.
Suter was the very soul of the college and set the tone for the first 23 years of its’ life. He had a strong influence on the students, who were attracted from all over the country. They varied in age, attainment and circumstances, but the college’s unique environment forged strong bonds and unity. A peculiar feature of the school was its homeliness. The Suters had no family, and so many of the students, admitted by personal invitation, became like sons.
This fostered the cordiality and mutual respect necessary for discussions of theology, but also posed the dangers of disregard for method and self-indulgence. The Bishop was very particular about the kind of student he wished to have at the college, wanting those who would rise above the perceived shortcomings of such a distinctive institute. He believed its small size was a disadvantage, but that this provided a valuable test of both his and his students’ spirit and determination to prove their status among those who had studied at larger colleges. Some students gained a place because of academic aptitude, but others who knew comparatively little were accepted because they had moral qualifications important to Suter, like humanity and genuineness of character.
The Bishop believed that long term in-depth study was essential, because Christian ministers were bound to care for the souls of their congregation, as well as their
Sutton, P., Personal Scrapbooks. Ibid.
Bishop Suter supported youth, admiring their exuberance. He had an odd appreciation for their colourful clothes, saying they had plenty of time for bland robes in the future. But he was their advocate in serious matters of the church too, making it clear that he wished to involve them in current church issues. He felt that the students’ opinions needed respect, and that to exclude them was to doubt them undeservedly, when what they needed most was confidence.
Suter stood up for Bishopdale Theological College against those who preferred a single institute, insisting that it would remove the opportunity for the different ways of thinking expressed by his students. He believed that the study of different views was the only way to truly reach correctness, using an analogy which compared the understandings of various colleges to different coloured beams of light. A pure white light could only be accomplished with the correct combination of colours.
It was achieving some spectacular results. In 1857 there were four clergy in Nelson, but by 1886 there were 26, with over half from the college. In the same year they provided nearly half of all the students who passed grade four of the Licentiate exam.
Suter fell ill, however, and resigned in 1891, causing the college to close. Bishop Mules, a former tutor at Bishopdale, was consecrated in 1892 and it reopened in 1893. He planned to continue the college, but a lack of funds brought the decision that training could be done more efficiently at the university centres, and it came to an end in 1908.
When Bishop Sadlier took over in 1912 he began plans to include the isolated districts in ministry. Realising this could not be accomplished with the undermanned staff of the existing clergy, he resolved to reopen Bishopdale College. This occurred in May 1913, but in August of the following year the Great War depleted the diocese of young men and, lacking prospective students, the college was forced to close once again. Between 1914 and 1919 the number of clergy dropped from 37 to 23 and
A financial crisis in 1977 saw some clergy forced into early retirement or relocation and a depression took hold of the diocese. Lay people were now relied upon to do the work of the clergy. A survey was conducted to ascertain the best way to help the community, the result of which was the expressed wish of the people for ‘good quality input to upgrade their understanding of faith and their skills in living and promoting it’. Pickering, D., 14/6/2011, Bishopdale Theological College interview via email.
Meanwhile, Bishop Sutton had visited England and noticed the significant growth of small teaching colleges and groups for lay people throughout the world. He had met many people involved with this educational phenomenon and, upon his return, joined those who saw the revival of the college as the best way forward.
Bishopdale College recommenced on March 3, 1979 and it became a link in the Theological Education by Extension programme. It aimed to provide Lay training, to enrich the whole diocese, and offered a basis on which students could build and, if they wished, extend to ordination at St Johns in Auckland. It was not until 1981 that, at the students’ request, a qualification was considered. The college moved to offer its own optional diploma for which students were required to study for four years. There was a majority of compulsory biblical history subjects, and either theological, or a combination of theological and elective contextual subjects.
The new courses were designed to provide learning (albeit specific) at a level for anyone who wanted it, no matter their academic competency. This sentiment was rather unorthodox for a tertiary provider. Students were taught to think theologically, rather than to know many facts, in the belief that ‘the handling of knowledge is much more important’ Ibid.
In 1984 the college began to strengthen its outreach and extended its influence to the regional areas. Enrolments had been received from Greymouth, Kaikoura and Cheviot. The introduction of Open Lectures was another important development. These were aimed at graduate students, but were attended by as many as 50 people. They brought people together from around the diocese in a rare opportunity to
The college also became involved in responsibilities not previously envisaged, and outside their own domestic interests. These included the discussion of church issues, surveys and research models and the establishing of bi-cultural educational opportunities. It was contributing to the wider church concerns and looking to future.
Restructuring of the curriculum was considered in 1986 and a radical change came two years later. It was decided that the production of local audio and visual study series was not realistic and, instead, the purchasing of a wide range of study resources was begun. These were provided to the parishes as needed, and gave access to the best materials available. Bishopdale Theological College was now a community resource centre. It gave new life and hope to the diocese, and encouraged those involved to have confidence in their faith, together with the competence to share it in positive ministry. ‘Confidence without competence is a disaster, and competence without confidence is a waste’. Ibid.
In 2004 Bishop Eaton addressed Synod regarding the reconstitution of the college with a complete campus. As Bishop, he strove to find the essence of a truly evangelical diocese and church community. He considered it to be not only one that believed and taught the gospel, but also one whose very life and spirit observed it. Bishopdale Theological College would train its students both theologically and practically to bring the gospel to, and inspire the world around them.
There were strong links with the past in this ‘new’ theological college. Its culture, environment and values continued those expressed by the leaders of the past. When Bishop Eaton resigned in 2006, Bishop Richard Ellena took over and showed his commitment to realising the vision of the college. As expressed in the official college DVD, parallels can be drawn between these men and Hobhouse and Suter.
After several years of planning and discussion, Bishopdale Theological College was re-opened in February 2008. There were three levels of courses offered, with similar focuses to those of the initial college. Firstly, lay level for part-time interest. Secondly, degree level for students wanting to attain a Bachelor of Theology or Ministries. These contain internship style components for contextual work and require three years of full time study. A one-year Diploma of Ministries can be used towards these qualifications. Lastly, in 2011, a five-day intensive Graduate Diploma began.
Initially, classes were held in a room in rented office space in Halifax Street. There was a need for a more settled home to help create the atmosphere desired, however, and in 2009 Bishop Eaton House became the official campus of the college. It is small, but is well equipped to deliver high quality training and build strong relationships. Students are expected to be reasoned and critical and to have other qualities like courage, humility and spirit. These are extremely reminiscent of Suter’s early expectations.
In 2010 the roll of the college reached 28, yet it was still heavily involved in outreach. Eaton House is described as the ‘hub of a wheel’ Evans, D., (2011) Bishopdale Theological College: From Vision To Realisation, DVD. bid.
In March 2011 an inaugural graduation ceremony was held for the first five graduates of the new college. Nearly 100 years after its effective closing as a campus school, the reopening was a landmark event in the history of theological education in New Zealand. It was hailed by Bishop Ellena as ‘one of the most far-reaching and visionary initiatives’ Oliver, D., (2011) Bishopdale Theological College Trust Board Trustees
Information Folder. Unknown Authors, (1982) Diocesan Synod Yearbook, p.20.
Bibliography
Due to space limitations the bibliography used for this article has been unable to be reproduced here. For a full list see: www.theprow.org.nz/bishopdale-college/#Further_sources or contact the editor.
For many decades now, Charles Monro has been credited with introducing rugby to New Zealand. It was a simple game, suited to all New Zealanders whether they were immigrant settlers, Maori or, more recently, Polynesian. It grew in popularity because we became so good at it, beating our Australian neighbours during the 1880s and 90s, and then the best that Britain could offer. The intense struggles against South Africa simply increased our passion for the game and strengthened rugby’s influence on our society.
“A respected citizen, in his later years the former orchardist was affectionately referred to as ‘Old Plummy Monro’ by many locals.”
Today, rugby is a multi-million dollar business and, whether we like the present game or not, our pride as New Zealanders is influenced by the success, or failure, of the All Blacks.
Players and coaches have been richly rewarded for their part in rugby, but the man who started our game went to his grave without any real recognition for what he gave us.
Even as late as 1930, sixty years after the first game, when Monro was 79 years old, his contribution was largely unknown. That year he wrote to the Union requesting a ticket to the test match against Britain at Athletic Park. The Union minute book records: ‘Mr D. McKenzie forwarded a letter from Mr C.I. Munro who, it is claimed, is the founder of the playing of Rugby Football in New Zealand’. He was sent a ticket and was
I pestered the New Zealand Union to introduce a trophy honouring our game’s founder. Two years ago the Hillary Shield was introduced for competition between the All Blacks and England. Monro was among the suggested names for the trophy offered to the England Union, but it is understandable that the better known Sir Edmund Hillary was chosen. Finally, last year, Charles Monro’s name was given to the Volunteer of the Year award, an appropriate choice, reflecting the amateur nature of the game he had introduced.
Very little had been written about Monro, which probably explains why he never had a profile in New Zealand rugby. Since the late 1970s, I have been aware of the Monro diaries and the fact that there was a story to be told, but no journalist or author tackled the project. Five years ago Charles’ grandson, Neil Monro, and I attended the Union’s annual meeting as Rugby Museum delegates. As we drove homewards we discussed the Union’s record profit. We joked about the royalties the family could have been receiving, had his grandfather started rugby as a commercial venture! It was then that I decided to write a book myself. The family kindly agreed to give me access to the trunk containing diaries and letters, some from before David Monro came to Nelson.
So, what sort of a chap was Charles John Monro? With no-one surviving who knew him, my impressions of his personality have been gained from reading his diaries, his father’s diaries, and the many letters written by his family and friends. Unfortunately, there is precious little surviving material relating to his rugby activities. His father’s diaries, held at the Nelson Provincial Museum archives, give some information about his youth.
Charles Monro was born in 1851 at the family farm, Bearcroft, at Waimea West, the fifth of seven children. Ten years earlier his Scottish father, Dr David Monro, had purchased sections in the new settlement of Nelson from the New Zealand Company. From his home in Edinburgh he regarded the purchase of land in New Zealand as a good investment, and had no intention to spend the rest of his life in New Zealand. Had he remained in Edinburgh, he could have continued the family tradition of being head of the Anatomy Department at the Edinburgh University Medical School. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather had been chairmen of the department for a succession of 128 years.
I haven’t studied Dr Monro’s life in detail, but assume his reasons for coming to Nelson were to view his investments, develop the town sections and farmland allotted to him, and then sell at a handsome profit and return home. It didn’t turn out that way as, when he arrived in Nelson in 1842, things were pretty chaotic. Hundreds of immigrants from all walks of life and from Britain and Europe were arriving and having to fend for themselves. The New Zealand Company had not delivered on its promises of providing the rural land the settlers had paid for.
Given his well educated background, many settlers looked to David Monro to take their concerns to the Colonial Government in Auckland. Politics, both local and national, was to consume much of his time over the next 30 years.
He built a house on his farm at Waimea West which he named Bearcroft. His neighbours were the Dillon family from England, and David was soon attracted to their house-maid, Dinah Secker. I expect the romance caused considerable gossip within the new community – a wealthy professional courting a common servant. Dinah was English, from a family of 12 children who had lost their mother at a young age. Their father did his best to provide for the large family from his low income as a farm-worker.
Prospects in England for Dinah were not bright and she found a position accompanying the Dillon family to New Zealand. She was responsible for looking
Their first child, Aleck (Alexander), was born the following year, followed by Datty (David), Georgie (Georgiana), Charlie (Charles), Connie (Constance) and, finally, Harry (Henry) in 1860. Another child, James, was very weak at birth and only lived for two months. Family illness was to plague the Monro family and Charles outlived all his siblings. By the time Harry was four years old he was blind, paralysed and could barely speak, and he died in 1866. Datty suffered from tuberculosis but, despite his poor health, he was a good scholar at Nelson College and his father sent him on to Oxford University. Soon after he started at Oxford his health deteriorated, and he returned home to be nursed by his mother for eight months until his death at the age of 21.
Dr Monro felt helpless in witnessing the sufferings of his children and noted the extreme stress his wife was enduring. During visits home from his parliamentary duties he would walk up the hill to the cemetery and grieve at the family plot where his three sons lay. He had become all too consumed by politics, and probably regretted that he hadn’t given it all up to spend time in Nelson supporting his family. Elected to the first New Zealand Parliament in 1853, Dr Monro was Speaker of the House from 1861 to 1871, receiving a knighthood for his services in 1866.
The family moved from Bearcroft into Nelson in 1858. At first they rented Sunnyside from the Fell family, who were away in England, and then purchased Newstead in 1864. Both homesteads still stand today, with Sunnyside now known as Warwick House.
Charles seemed to enjoy the country life at Bearcroft more than being in town. He had become an accurate shot with a shanghai, using it to scare birds from the fruit-trees, and on the rabbits which had become numerous. He attended Bishop’s School for two years, followed by three years boarding at Nelson College.
The least happy period of Charles’ life commenced on his 16th birthday, when he was put on a boat, alone, for England. Sir David instructed his brother- in-law, George Skene, to find a school suitable for educating prospective army officers. Skene chose Christ’s College, on the outskirts of London, a cold stone and brick building. Life for Charles there would have been similar to that at Rugby School, as depicted in Tom Brown’s Schooldays. He was very home-sick and longed for a return to New Zealand and its more pleasant climate. He suffered a persistent cough during the long, cold and damp winters, but worked hard at his schoolwork and became a sub- prefect. During holidays he visited his father’s relatives in Scotland, but seemed to prefer the company of his mother’s relatives at Widford in Oxfordshire.
He played rugby and took full part in athletic sports, despite having previously
George Skene was concerned about his nephew’s future, however, and the intention to make him an officer in the British Army. He was surprised to learn from Charles that his father had never discussed having a future in the army with him. All he wanted to do was to achieve in the classroom and on the sports field, and to meet his many relatives, before returning to New Zealand. After several strongly worded letters from Skene, Sir David finally accepted that Charles wished to return home.
It was a much happier teenager who returned home to Nelson early in 1870. He joined the local football club, which had been formed two years earlier. The Nelson Club played by a mixture of rules, with members undecided whether to play soccer or Australian Rules. Charles convinced them to experiment with the rules of Rugby School and used his experience gained in England to coach them.
The club needed opposition, so they approached Nelson College and persuaded the headmaster, Frank Simmons, to allow Charles to instruct his pupils in the rugby game. The historic rugby game between the Nelson Club and Nelson College, played at the Botanical Reserve on May 14, 1870, has been well documented, as have the other games in the town that winter.
Later in the season, the club sought new opponents and asked Charles to arrange a game in Wellington, where he was staying with his parents. His father was completing his final term as Speaker of the House. Charles had played for the local football team and convinced many of them to change to rugby, and the Nelson challenge was accepted.
Unable to find a suitable ground in Wellington, Charles walked all the way out to the Hutt Valley before locating one, and he played an important role in arranging the game. He met with Julius Vogel, who kindly gave permission for the Government steamer to divert to Nelson and bring the team to Wellington free of charge. He selected and coached the Wellington team, played for Nelson and also refereed the game.
A plaque has recently been laid at Petone, near the site of that historic game, and many descendants of those pioneering footballers attended the ceremony. It was the fore-runner of inter-provincial rugby, and sowed the seed for the establishment of the new game in other towns. Charles played rugby in Nelson for a few more years, and also played in Blenheim when working at Bankhouse, the family property in the Wairau Valley.
Charles’ efforts in establishing rugby in New Zealand would not have succeeded without the assistance of his enthusiastic team mates in Nelson. In particular Robert Tennent and Alfred Drew, who had led the formation of the Nelson football club in 1868. Drew moved on to Wanganui in 1872 and later to New Plymouth, establishing rugby in both regions. Tennent also promoted the game in the towns he was transferred to during his career with a bank.
Ex-Nelson College pupils took the game to other parts of the country and one of them, Joseph Firth, had a huge influence on the growth of rugby as a player, referee and coach. Firth had a long teaching career at Nelson College, Christ’s College and became headmaster of Wellington College. He developed rugby in the schools and initiated what is now the college quadrangular tournament.
Charles’ life from 1870 is difficult to follow for several years, like a jigsaw puzzle with many missing pieces. Only a few letters and a couple of brief diaries document his activities. He worked briefly for a bank in Nelson but preferred to be outdoors. He spent a lot of his time working on Bankhouse Station, which Aleck Monro managed and later owned. I don’t think the brothers got on too well together. He spent many weeks in Gisborne, apparently with the intention of buying a farm there. Letters indicate that he needed the approval of his father for anything he did, and he may just have wanted to be away from his dominating family.
After Sir David died, in 1877, Dinah relied on the advice of her son-in-law, Sir James Hector, who had married Georgiana Monro. Hector, a leading scientist, had been a close friend of Sir David. It now seemed that Charles could do nothing without his approval, and the family wanted him to settle at Bearcroft. Given his passion for fruit trees and the suitability of the land for orchards, I can only assume he sold the property to get away from family interests.
Charles wandered away to Wanganui and Patea, investing in land and businesses. From the mid 1870s he suffered from back pain, lumbago, for which there was no known cure. A small pocket diary records a trek he made on horse-back from Wanganui to Rotorua in 1878. He spent several weeks at Rotorua and describes his visit to the famous Pink and White Terraces, where he bathed in the warm pools. Bathing daily in the thermal pools failed to cure his back pain, however, and he suffered from it frequently for the rest of his life.
In 1880 he headed off to Europe, spending a year in Italy learning the language, studying Italian opera and receiving singing lessons in Naples. He developed a fine baritone voice and, in later years, often sang at concerts and in operas. He brought several hand-written manuscripts home with him, which are now in the regional museum in Palmerston North. When he built his home in Palmerston North, the drawing room ceiling was over four metres high and featured Gothic arches designed to provide excellent acoustics for singing. He once entertained a group of touring Italian opera singers there.
While overseas during the early 1880s he visited relatives in Britain and was on the hunt for a Scottish bride. He came home without a partner, however, and disappeared into remote country north of Wanganui, to a farm he purchased but lived on for only a few months.
Charles’ mother died in 1882, and it is likely he was at last free of all family pressures. He was wealthy and spent a considerable amount of his time at banks, legal offices, and with land agents. He invested in timber companies, mining companies, farms and town sections, with some investments bringing good returns, while others failed.
His life turned in 1885, when he married Lena Macdonald, the daughter of a Nelson bank manager. The couple spent two years in Europe and Britain, visiting friends and spending considerable time in Italy. They also visited Java, a place which Charles had read much about, as it was renowned for having the largest variety of bird species in the world. He had always had a fascination for birds, particularly game birds.
Charles wrote extensively of their travels through Java, sending articles back to a Nelson newspaper, and later published his writings in London. His new bride didn’t enjoy riding by horse and cart along remote tracks, through bush where man-eating tigers lurked – not the most pleasant location for a honeymoon.
Their first child, David, was born while they were overseas. The family returned home in 1887 and settled in Palmerston North. Charles bought 51 acres across the Manawatu River from the town and built a new home, which he named Craiglockhart.
The two-storey homestead, completed in 1890, still stands today in the grounds of Massey University. Charles lived there for the next 43 years, until his death in 1933. He planted hundreds of fruit trees and his orchard became a visitor attraction when in full blossom. He was renowned for the quality of his plums. Eventually the heavy work in picking, packing, and delivering fruit became too much for him and he leased the orchard out, later selling it. He built a large glass house for grapevines and made his own wine, apple cider, and plum wine.
Within a few years the Monros were joined by wealthy neighbours, who also built large impressive homesteads featuring croquet greens, tennis courts and other amenities.
The gentlemen decided to form a golf club, with Charles becoming its first president. He spent many hours
Polo was another activity the town’s social set pursued with a passion. Charles had played in the first polo game in New Zealand, in Nelson in 1871. He was not an active player in Palmerston North, but attended games and tournaments; the tournament ball was a social highlight for the town.
Charles spent much of his time in town, attending to his business interests, before visiting the Manawatu Club, the common ‘watering-hole’ for the gentlemen of the town. Issues of the town and the world would be discussed and he would play at the billiard table. His diaries frequently mention a slow start next morning.
He was not an early purchaser when motor cars began appearing in the streets in the early 1900s. An expert horseman, he was content to continue relying on his trusty horse to get about town and take him home from the club. He was 55 before he learnt to ride a pushbike and had extreme difficulty in balancing on two wheels, recording several bad crashes which took skin off his face. Charles was well into his sixties before getting a car and had difficulty adapting from a set of reins to a steering wheel and pedals. A shocking driver, he never really became competent, and was a concern to other motorists and pedestrians.
The Monros had three sons and two daughters and Charles devoted much time to his children. He attended many of their school activities and took the family on picnics and holidays. I believe that Charles was a more loving father than his own had been. The two older boys went to Wellington College and Peter went to Wanganui Collegiate, with all three becoming medical doctors. Mary married, but Linda contracted polio at the age of 22 and became wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. After Charles’ death, in 1933, Linda and her mother remained at Craiglockhart until the property was sold to the university in 1944, and they then moved into town.
From time to time Charles visited Marlborough, staying with his sister Connie whose husband, Philip Dillon, farmed across the river from Bankhouse. His other sister, Georgie Hector, lived in the Hutt Valley and her children often spent their school holidays at Craiglockhart.
A respected citizen, in his later years the former orchardist was affectionately referred to as ‘Old Plummy Monro’ by many locals. He took part in many local activities, was charitable towards local organisations, and took an interest in local rugby, boxing
He read extensively and, with his earlier travels overseas, was a very well educated and knowledgeable man. A regular letter-writer to newspapers, he debated issues as wide-ranging as religion, river- protection, house-servants, bull-fighting in Spain and Chinese immigrants.
The topic he debated most fiercely was the methods engineers used for river control. From his experiences at Bearcroft, by the Waimea River, at Bankhouse, by the Waihopai River, and with the Manawatu River, which he crossed almost daily, he had developed a deep knowledge of how rivers flow and how gravel accumulated. He had prevented erosion at Bearcroft by the accurate placement of groynes and maintained that serious damage caused to the Fitzherbert Bridge could have been prevented, had the council listened to his advice of earlier years.
The Monro family regularly attended All Saint’s Anglican Church in Palmerston North, although Charles didn’t attend as often as his wife. Lena did a lot of work for the church and he helped with activities. The church organist was Charles’ old rugby mate, Alfred Drew, who had arrived in Palmerston North a year before the Monros.
In his later years Charles suffered from a weak heart, which prevented him from
When the Miranui flax mill was finally sold in 1928 there was insufficient money to pay Charles out, and he was given a thousand acres of then worthless flax swamp in compensation. He spent much of his life savings employing men to make the land suitable for farming. The area was surveyed into lots ranging in size from 60 to 130 acres that had to be leased rather than sold. Charles was left almost penniless and on his death, in 1933, one of his sons had to pay his rates bill. The titles were eventually sold during the 1930s, which helped support Lena and Linda at Craiglockhart. Lena died in 1962 at the grand age of 96.
I hope these few words have helped describe a man that Nelson can be proud of.
To my mind, Charles Monro should not be remembered just for the fact that he introduced rugby here. He sowed the seed of what became a way of life for a large portion of New Zealanders, with rugby becoming a major influence in our social development.
Rugby has been a way of life for generations of New Zealanders, and we must thank Charles Monro and his team-mates of the Nelson Football Club, along with the headmaster and pupils of Nelson College, for starting something which has given our tiny nation its own unique identity in the world.
2/8/1891. “Every one must regret the necessity which arose to introduce vermin such as ferrets, stoats and weasels into New Zealand. Wherever they are thick they not only exterminate imported game, but what is worse, the curious flightless birds of New Zealand, which make it one of the most interesting countries in the world to naturalists, are sure to disappear. There is in addition the trouble that it is necessary to protect all poultry yards with fine meshed wire netting or by other means. Nothing but the direst necessity could justify the introduction of such vicious, bloodthirsty little brutes as the members of the weasel family. The necessity, however, did exist. The mischief caused by rabbits is notorious.”
20/8/1891. “A few days ago we drew attention to the clause in the Rabbit Nuisance Act, 1882, which imposes a penalty of not less than £5 or more than £10 on anyone killing a stoat or a weasel. At the same time we expressed the opinion that action should be taken to exempt the Blind Bay region from the operation of this clause. Since then it has come to our knowledge that three or four more of the vermin have been seen in the Waimea, and that the settlers are becoming somewhat alarmed, fearing, as they do, not only depredations upon their hen roosts, but the slaughter of their young lambs, by these ferocious little animals.”
27/4/1892. “The annual meeting of the Nelson Acclimatisation Society was held yesterday evening.... It was feared that the importation of stoats and weasels would not only do much harm to poultry, but would go far to exterminate native and imported game.”
8/5/1892. “We have been shown today a young weasel about three parts grown, one of seven that were caught in a rabbit burrow in Eves’ Valley, Waimea West. It is unnecessary to say that the whole brood were despatched without mercy, and utterly regardless of legal consequences. Already the vermin are playing havoc among the poultry in that district, several fowls having been found dead with the mark of the beast on their heads. It is feared that these little animals are going to prove a terrible nuisance to the settlers.”
18/3/1897. “At the annual meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society reference was made to the spread of stoats and weasels... in Upper Waikato a number of sheep were found dead with a puncture in the neck... When the stoats and weasels were first introduced every Acclimatisation Society in the North Island protested about them being liberated in the north till the result of the experiment in the South Island had been ascertained. No attention was paid to their protest...”
13/10/1897. “One of the delegates at the Acclimatisation Conference, remarking upon the importation of stoats and weasels for the destruction of rabbits, said that though he lived 100 miles from where they were first taken out, they were increasing so enormously that they must eventually destroy both imported and native game.”
15/11/1905. “In view of the losses incurred by poultry keepers from stoats and weasels, the Nelson Poultry Association last evening unanimously passed a resolution in the direction of getting protection removed from these animals, at least so far as the Nelson district is concerned...”
But it was already too late!
“A huge rat which thoughtlessly wandered into the Council Chambers last evening met with a quick and tragic fate. The alarm was raised from the press table, one of the occupants of which picked up a poker lying near and made a bad miss at the rodent as it slipped under the table and made gaily off behind the Mayor’s chair. Cr. Wilkens, however, offered stout resistance on the flank, and sent the rat back in the direction it came, a well-directed ink bottle from the Town Clerk helping to impress it of the danger it was now in. A pressman, armed with a fire shovel, administered a gentle tap to the rodent which again made off in the direction of Cr. Wilkens, who, no doubt thinking of his football days, got one of his feet under the animal and sent it reeling back, where the fire shovel put on the finishing touch. The last scene in the incident was the rodent being carried out of the Chamber on a shovel by a blushing pressman to the plaudits of the Councillors. Mr Vigor-Brown, M.P. and Mayor of Napier, who was in the body of the Chamber, was an amused spectator of the incident, and will no doubt return to his home with a good story of exciting times experienced by Councillors in Nelson.”
Nelson Evening Mail, April 1914.
The table on the following pages lists the names and other details of the 69 pioneers listed on the Takaka Pioneers’ Memorial.
This is a best current effort at defining who, why, where and what each pioneer was. I apologise for omissions (no records found) and mistaken information.
I acknowledge considerable thanks to local historians, families and individuals who have published comprehensive family histories, Papers Past website, Golden Bay Museum, Richmond and Nelson Libraries, Nelson Museum Archives, Stoke Latter Day Saints Family Centre, Nelson City and Tasman District Council cemetery records and various genealogy websites.
The initials following “Arrived NZ” date are: NN Nelson; LYT Lyttelton; WN Wellington
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