Keeping in Touch Volume 8 Issue 4 November 2014

Next issue due out March 2015 Contact Lisa Truttman (editor) : 19 Methuen Road, Avondale, Auckland 0600,phone (09) 828-8494

or email historian@avondale.org.nz Views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the New Zealand History Federation Inc.

Newsletter for New Zealand History Federation Inc

www.nzhistoricalsocieties.org.nz

Calendar

2015

7-9 March Okato & Districts Sesquicentennial celebrations (Taranaki Anniversary weekend)

1-3 May 2015 NZ History Federation Annual General Meeing and Conference in Wellington

2016

Keep watch for commemorations of the HMS Buffalo, involving the Mercury Bay Museum. More info soon.

A New Name: New Zealand History Federation Inc.

As from 19 September 2014, the name for the Society has changed officially from New Zealand Federation of Histori-cal Societies to the New Zealand History Federation. This is the culmination of a process starting some two years or so ago, when it was raised that we all want not only historical societies to feel welcome to be part of our Federation, but also museums, history groups, and other institutions and organisations with a focus on our country’s heritage. The change of name was approved at the Annual General Meeting held in Te Awamutu in April this year. You will soon see the new name reflected on our website; the Legacy Editorial Board have already altered NZ Legacy.

2015

NZ History

Federation

Annual General

Meeting and

Conference, in

Wellington

Hosted by Onslow

Historical Society

The 2015 Conference incorporating the Annual General Meeting will be held in Wellington 1st to 3rd May hosted by Onslow Historical Society. A fun and educational weekend mixed with networking is planned and attendees will be hosted to a guided tour of the new War Memorial Park (Opening ANZAC day 2015). Put the dates in your 2015 diary NOW. Enquiries to Secretary, Neil Curgenven, ncurgenven@gmail.com or 0272441348.

Lambton Quay, c.1906. Editor’s collection.

November 2014 2

Closing the Door on

The War, New Homes

for a New Era A review of the seminar held on October 9 this year,

in conjunction with the Auckland Heritage Festival. Jeremy Salmond is a well known heritage architect and a published author. He gave an interesting ad-dress to a large audience during the recent Auckland Heritage Festival. This seminar was held in Saint Ninian's Church in Avondale and it was organised by the New Zealand History Federation. In 1901 New Zealand had about 158,000 dwellings. Many of these were small houses, but they were of a high quality. Most dwellings were stand alone build-ings, but there were examples of terraced houses in Dunedin. They were built of local materials, there-fore, wooden structures were more common in the North Island, while those in the South Island were likely to feature brick or stone walls. These build-ings were predominately a combination of classical and gothic designs. Hence, they had steep pitched roofs in common with gothic architecture as well as classical features such as being symmetrical with a hallway in the centre. Moreover, they were designed to make a statement, therefore, they faced the road and presented their most decorative features in this direction. For example, many had iron or wooden fretwork decorating their verandas as well as finials at the apexes of their gables. There was an attempt to move in a different direc-tion. The Liberal Government passed the 1905 Workers' Dwelling Act to make housing affordable to working people. The idea was to build 5,000 ar-chitecturally designed houses in suburbs such as Petone in Wellington and Epsom in Auckland. Unfortunately, the scheme failed, because only 126 houses were built and they were sold by the suc-ceeding Reform Government. Moreover, the rent was 10 shillings 6 pence per week, which meant that only well paid workers could afford to live in these houses. Many soldiers experienced terrible horrors during the First World War. Hence, there was a social reac-tion towards: comfortable living, healthy environ-ments, fresh air and sunlight. This was reflected in the styles of housing, which gave birth to: bunga-low, arts and crafts and art deco designs. These houses were not primarily designed to make a visual impression by facing the street with decorative fea-tures. For example, their living quarters were ar-

ranged as much as possible to gain sunlight or they included a special room known as the sun room. Casement windows that opened right out be-came a feature to let in fresh air and wide porches referred to as sleeping porches offered a semi out-door environment. Moreover, roofs became less steep so they blended with the environment and front doors opened into alcoves or living rooms rather than formal central hallways. Furthermore, art deco houses concentrated on colour by being painted in soft pastels or terracotta, therefore, presenting a re-laxing visual effect. Finally, it became important to have indoor facilities such as flushing latrines, which were a healthier option to outhouses that required night soil attendance.

Kenneth Stringer

David Verran, as many of you will know, is one of

the team who put together and distribute

NZ Legacy for the Federation three times a year. The following was meant for inclusion in Legacy, but space didn’t permit. I thought, though, that

David’s points would be of interest to our members,

so asked if I could publish them here. — Editor I recently learnt that WW100 is promoting the following terms for writing about the war:

• ‘The First World War’, and not ‘World War One’ or ‘The Great War’.

• ‘WWI’ not ‘WW1’

• ‘Commemorate’ not ‘Celebrate’

• ‘Served’ not ‘Fought’ ‘Ottoman Empire’ not ‘Turks or Turkish’. I approached WW100, particularly about the use of ‘First World War’ as opposed to ‘World War One’, and they pointed me to book titles from 1920 to 2000. Their Ngram research on Google Books con-clusively shows that while the phrase ‘The Great War’ predominated from 1920 to 1940, from then on ‘The First World War’ took over as the most used phrase in relevant book titles. ‘World War One’ was hardly used as part of a book title. WW100 also noted that New Zealand's War History Branch always used ‘The Second World War’ in their many post-war publications. New Zealand Legacy has hitherto mainly used ‘World War One’,

World War One, or

First World War?

Society News & Views

3 November 2014

Franklin (From the Society’s November newsletter.)

150th anniversary reunion of Bombay settlers.

“The organisers of this event have really put a brilliant programme together and they can be very proud of themselves. Three days of celebration are planned on 13, 14 & 15 March next year. Registration is $25.00pp. Anyone who registers will receive a name badge and their own registration pack which will contain 150th Anniversary keepsakes, the 150th Programme of Events and other goodies and information about the weekend. Registrations close on 30th January 2015. Below is a brief synopsis of the programme that has been put together for the three days of celebrations. For a copy of the full programme and registration form please contact Linton Stuart either by phoning 09 2387299 or email jlstuart@xtra.co.nz Friday 13 March 5.30pm Mix & Mingle at the

Bombay Rugby Club

The cost is $25.00 per person and is restricted to per-sons aged 18+. Nibbles and a light meal will be served and there will be a cash bar available.

but we are certainly willing to follow WW100 recommendations. We can also agree, I believe, that the war wasn’t ‘Great’, that war is never something to ‘Celebrate’, that some ‘Served’ as for example stretcher bearers but didn’t actually fight, and that the Ottoman Em-pire was made up of many nationalities and not just Turkish people. Interestingly, others have carried out similar re-search on Google Books and ‘New Zealand Wars’ certainly has the highest current use, according to http://historygeek.co.nz. However over the whole 1860 to 2013 period, ‘Maori Wars’ was used more often, particularly from the late 1950s to 1990. The latter was a term popularised by the late Professor Sir Keith Sinclair.

David Verran

Saturday 14 March 10.00am to 3.00pm Family Fes-tival This will be held at the Bombay School grounds and will include a Farmers Market, formal welcome and fun run prize giving, photographs, fun & games, his-torical displays and meeting place and afternoon ath-letics. The fun run is separate as it is a Lions Club fundraiser. At 6.00pm on Saturday night there is a dinner & dance cabaret at the Bombay School Hall. Cost is $60.00 per person and includes a delicious gourmet buffet dinner and dessert. Cash bar available.

Sunday 15 March The local churches join together in a special thanksgiving service at the Bombay School Hall at 9.30am and will be followed by morn-ing tea. From 11.30am to 2.30pm the Historical Bus Tour will take place. The cost is $25.00pp. Lunch will be provided at a brief comfort stop From 12.00pm to 3.00pm Bombay’s Amazing Race will take place. Cost is $10.00 per car. Each team will be given a list of clues with destinations to find and tasks to perform in a set order. And then to wrap up

November 2014 4

the celebrations the Final Gathering will take place from 2.00pm onwards at the Bombay Rugby Club.”

Howick Historical Village

On the night of 3-4 November, someone stole the model calf used at the village for display. A call went out on Facebook for information as to the calf’s whereabouts. www.facebook.com/pages/Howick-Historical-Village

Kaikoura According to the Society’s August newsletter, they had received the welcome news that they had re-ceived a grant from the Lottery World War I Commemorations & Environment and Heritage Committee of $1,872,000 + GST for funding to fit out the inside of their new museum. “It was a lot of work getting the application together, and we couldn’t believe the email that they sent to tell us the amount we would get. We kept looking at the 000s to make sure we were reading correctly. Our architect Rick Pearson will now be able to do all the drawings for the interior design … “The jail has been moved; it looks so small sitting inside the new building, and it can hardly be seen

from the Street now. It was an interesting exercise getting it from the old site to the new one … We used John [Fissenden]’s transporter to put the jail on, and Jill [Fissenden] as the lead vehicle for traffic control. Alistair [Brougham] for getting the jail pre-pared for the shift, and Richard [Wallace] for his crane work of putting the jail on the transporter & taking it off at the new site. Between them and other volunteers, we managed to get it under the bridge and into town. “We are all very busy at the Museum, making sure we have all our items catalogued and photographed. Bernard Harmon has sand-blasted the whale pots, anchor, flax-stripper & a plough. In years gone by they had all been painted with silver paint, which at the time was perhaps a good idea, but water has got behind the paint and big chunks that have rusted keep coming off, and if left they would disintegrate over the years. Once they have been exposed to the weather for a week or two they will be coated with a rust killer, and be ready to go to the new Museum.”

Otahuhu (From the Society’s November newsletter)

“Earlier in the year the Society was asked to assist with the location of the graves in the Otahuhu Catholic cemetery in order for some drainage work and a general tidy up to be carried out to restore some damage that had occurred two years previously. The contractors have transformed the cemetery by clearing away the jungle of wild ginger, planting trees, installing seats and putting up a new fence. A stone conservator was also commissioned to repair the damaged headstones, and I happened upon her at work while I was in the cemetery doing some research on the Fencible graves. “Ana Machado is a stone conservator, trained in Portugal, she has been in New Zealand for ten years. She has worked on a number of projects throughout the country including the rebuilding of the beautiful Honeyfield Drinking Fountain in New Plymouth. Built in 1907 it was almost completely destroyed by a drunk driver in a stolen car. Ana was also earlier this year com-missioned by Tainui Holdings to give a new lease of life to the old weathered Post Office Coat of Arms in Te Awamutu which she restored to their former glory.

“The headstone Ana was working on had been com-pletely flattened by one of the many trucks, that two years previously, had turned the

Has anyone

seen the

Howick calf?

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cemetery into a dumping ground. The headstone had to be lifted into place by a crane to be reset and then Ana filled in the chips and cracks in the stone face. The grave was that of Mary Molloy who died in Waiuku in 1905. The fact that she was brought back here to be buried could mean she is possibly related to one of the Fencibles who first settled the area. “The Society committee had only recently been discussing a plan to obtain some funding to promote the Fencible heritage of the cemetery, restore some of the early graves and put information signs out for the public. The recent work by the Church to restore the damage and regular involvement by the parish-ioners in maintaining the cemetery provides a good opportunity for us to work together. The chance meeting with Ana with her expert knowledge of heritage conservation has provided a great impetus to this newly proposed project. “Ana often gets work restoring headstones in the inner-city cemeteries but this is the first time she has worked in Otahuhu, even though it is such an old part of Auckland. She said she enjoyed the quiet of the suburbs and felt the cemetery to be a peaceful place. She has played an important part in the ongo-ing transformation of the cemetery from being an overgrown eyesore into a holy and historic place. The cemetery has once again the respect it deserves. God moves in mysterious ways.”

5 November 2014

Te Aroha & District From the Museum’s September newsletter.

Time Siren at Terminus Street “Te Aroha’s time siren at the corner of Terminus Street. and Lawrence Avenue, was built in Balclutha, South Island by Mr. Bill Kean and his son Verdon, for use by the E.P.S. (Emergency Precaution Scheme) a N.Z. wide organisation set up during 1939. While at Balclutha it was powered by a 4 cyl-inder Chevrolet engine. “The Kean family came to Te Aroha in 1946, bring-ing their siren with them and had it erected in either late December or early 1947. This was achieved with the guidance of the Borough Engineer, Mr. Norman Annabel, after suitable wooden power poles were obtained through the Thames Valley Electric Power Board and a small “deal” was made with Mr R Sprague the Engineer. Mr. Sprague wanted to pur-chase a new car from Thames Valley Motors which Bill Kean now owned. “The siren then needed to be wired so Mr. Keith Brimblecombe was engaged to complete this task. The actual time signals were triggered from the Borough Electrical Department Substation nearby. Many years later the siren broke down and was not in use for some time. A great number of people had strong thoughts on whether it should be repaired or not. The repair lobby won the day and Mr Don Workman of Te Aroha Tractor and Small Engines got it working again however there was a small hic-cough when nesting birds once again stopped our siren. Now, like before, it is sounded five days a week at 8am, 12 noon 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.”

Left, a detail from a postcard in the Editor’s

collection, showing three First World War

servicemen, one with an amputated arm, a

woman with her baby perched on a boat,

and a man seated behind. All at Queens

Gardens, Nelson. Frank Duncan photo.

November 2014 6

Parnell Heritage Journal

Issue 4 Out Now

Into its fourth year of publication, the Parnell Heritage Journal, brought out by Parnell Heritage in Auckland, covers another range of topics from the past of the oldest Auckland suburb and its surrounds: • “Parnell and World War I”, by Gabrielle Fortune • “Charles Heaphy’s Parnell Years”, by Iain Sharp • “Bishop Selwyn’s Buildings”, by John Stacpoole • “William Garden Cowie, First Bishop of Auckland”, by the

Reverend Frank Wright

• “Paddy’s Puzzle”, by Joana Boileau • “Growing Up in Parnell in the

1940s”, by Les Greer • “Parnell’s Protestors and Peacemak-

ers”, by Warren Limbrick • “Auckland’s Maori Hostelry”, by

Lyn Savill To order: $15.00 per copy, include Postage: $3.00 per two (2) copies. Email: enquiries@parnellheritage.org.nz for bank account details By cheque payable to: Parnell Heritage Post to: P. O. Box 37479, Parnell, Auck-land 1151. Include your name, postal ad-dress and copies required.

Below: Vernon Tava, Waitemata

Local Board, Greg Moyle Waitemata

Local Board, Joanna Boileau, editor

Parnell Heritage Journal and

Rendell McIntosh, Patron, Parnell

Heritage.

All images courtesy Parnell Heritage

7

Do YOU have an important event coming up in

the next 12 months (or longer)???

Let us know, so we can include YOUR EVENT

on the newsletter calendar.

Other Organisations

(From the November e-newsletter from Heritage New

Zealand).

Possible recognition for

Featherston Camp site A Wairarapa farm site with a strong military connec-tion to two world wars is being considered for recog-

nition as a historic place with Heritage New Zealand.

The Featherston Military Training Camp was a prominent feature in the area from 1916 to 1918 when more than 60,000 men passed through the camp before seeing active service. In World War II it was used as a prisoner of war camp, and was the site where 48 Japanese prisoners and one New Zealand

soldier were killed following a riot in 1943.

Heritage New Zealand is inviting the public to make written submissions on the proposal for a Category 1 listing by 3 November. A full report is available here (http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/notified-proposals-and-reviews) detailing the values of the

site.

“The report supports the view this site should be con-sidered for inclusion on the New Zealand Heritage List given it has special or outstanding historical and cultural significance or value,” says Heritage New Zealand's Central Region Acting General Manager

David Watt.

“This is a poignant time in our history with this year marking the centenary of World War I starting and next year the Anzac landing at Gallipoli. Both world wars shaped our identity, particularly World War I which many consider forged our identity as a nation in our own right. To have this site in the heart of the

Wairarapa is special.”

In 2011 parts of the camp were declared an archaeo-logical site, reflecting their significance. Memorials and plantings in the council reserve opposite the camp’s main entrance include international links with

Belgium and Japan.

Call for hand-coloured

photographs

Author Peter Alsop is seeking interesting hand-coloured photographs for his latest book on the genre, which has until now been sidelined as “dangerously close to the category of kitsch”. Peter is the author of two recent books on New Zealand’s advertising in-dustry - Selling the Dream and Promoting Prosperity, and says hand coloured photography is now being reappraised. His book will feature examples from public and private collections. “We are keen to know of any images which may illustrate (a) good, average examples from across the whole historical genre or (b) the very best examples artistically of portraiture, landscape, still life or other categories.” Contact: palsop@paradise.net.nz.

November 2014

Kennedy Park WWII Defensive

Installation Preservation

Society — appeal for WWII ar-

tefacts.

The picture was taken in the Battery Observation Post in 1944 and depicts the telephone communications equipment we would like to source. I do hope that the picture is clear enough to jog someone’s memory! We are also after any Field Artillery sighting instru-ments that may be gathering dust in some shed some-

where...

As with any organisation involved in historic reserva-tion, we are not exactly awash with money but can

always consider amending our fundraising objectives!

John Pringle, ror: Kennedy Park WWII Defensive Installation Preservation Society

PO Box 102-101, North Shore, Auckland 0745

Phone: (09) 410 5700 Fax: (09) 410 5712 Mob: 021 047 0557

“The camp has national and international signifi-cance as well as being particularly sacred for those whose loved ones died here. As well as the riot a number of returned servicemen died at the camp

as a result of the 1918 flu epidemic.

“The camp is a rare location in New Zealand used as a military training camp and a prisoner of war camp. Few places can be associated with the story

of New Zealand’s war efforts in such detail.”

The Heritage New Zealand Board will consider the proposal and review public submissions at its

meeting in December.

Christchurch Clock Restoration

Christchurch’s restored Victoria Clock Tower (http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/3670) was offi-cially unveiled on 22 October by Mayor Lianne Dal-

ziel.

The clock was damaged in the February 2011 earth-quake and the clock face’s motionless display of 12:51 was for many months a sobering reminder of the events of 22 February. But now the clock has been brought into the present with its newly repaired

mechanism keeping accurate time.

The Victoria Street clock tower was designed by Benjamin Mountfort to sit atop the first wooden sec-tion of his Canterbury Provincial Council Chambers. The tower was made by Skidmore and Sons in Cov-entry, England and sent to New Zealand in 1860 in 142 packages. Over the years it was placed in various spots around the city until it was moved to the present

site in 1930.

As part of the unveiling Mayor Dalziel, along with local school children, buried a time capsule to be

opened in 100 years’ time.

Heritage New Zealand Southern General Manager

Rob Hall attended the opening.

“It was a lovely sunny day and the clock tower looks really good,” says Rob. “There’s a bit of a heritage precinct in that area with the retention of the Harle-quin Public House, Victoria Mansions behind the

clock, and the Peterborough Centre.”

Heritage New Zealand supported the early proposal for restoration and was part of the resource consent process. The primary restoration was organised and funded by the Christchurch City Council. The clock tower’s legs were deconstructed and reinforced with a new internal concrete structure. The foundations and spire were strengthened and original stone was used

in the tower’s veneer.

Heritage New Zealand Conservation Advisor Dave Margetts is pleased with the outcome. “We at Heri-tage New Zealand regard the clock tower as a signifi-cant Category 1-listed landmark which is an impor-

tant part of Christchurch’s heritage.”