History
Growing up in New Zealand 1925-1950, Part 27: Greymouth; My Home Town on the West Coast
Greymouth – My Home Town Joyce Beumelburg – 05/07/02 The one and only time I saw the Aurora Australis was on a sharply clear Saturday night in the mid thirties in Greymouth – my home town on the so-called wild West Coast of the South Island. With two teenage girlfriends, I was ambling home after…
Nelson – The Early Years
Dorothy – 24/04/02 When I looked at a visitors’ guide to Nelson which gave a very brief account of its history I felt I must find out more about it. Since then I’ve been exploring several accounts of Nelson’s past and this article is a summary of what I’ve read. The next Nelson article will…
New Brighton and the Pier
Dorothy – 12/04/02 The Pier today Photo source Peter Dunbar Interest in New Brighton from 1860 New Brighton has been a place for enjoyment for Christchurch citizens and visitors since 1860. In that year five men had walked through the dense undergrowth, toe toe, flax and swamp to reach the beach. One of the men,…
Richard Greenaway – family historian and librarian
Family historian and librarian Dorothy – 29/03/02 Richard Greenaway is the person you are most likely to talk to if you are interested in genealogy or the early history of Canterbury and go to the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre at Christchurch City Libraries (CCL) – formerly Canterbury Public Library. The early history of Christchurch is…
Yesterdays of Golden Bay
– Glimpses of Past Industries and PWD Camps Pauline Blincoe – 01/03/02 Pauline Blincoe’s name first appeared in NZine in the article on life in the PWD camps on the Kaikoura Coast, where one source of information was her book Public Works Camps: Poor Kids’ Paradise. Inspired by her determination to record social history while…
Growing up in New Zealand 1925-1950, Part 26
Treasured Autograph Books Dorothy – 21/12/01 Why have an autograph book? What do young people in 2001 think is the purpose of an autograph book? Most likely it is as a place to collect the signatures of people who are in the limelight for their achievements as sporting idols or stage performers. The role of…
Growing Up in New Zealand 1925-1950, Part 25
Life in the Public Works Camps on the Kaikoura Coast in the 1930s Dorothy – 14/12/01 This article is based on an interview with Leslie Walker (nee O’Callaghan) supplemented with information drawn from the stories published in Public Works Camps: Poor Kids’ Paradise compiled by Pauline Blincoe. During the Depression of the 1930s many men…
Growing up in New Zealand 1925-1950, Part 24: Life on a West Coast Farm in the 1920s
Part 24 – Life on a West Coast Farm in the 1920s Children never at a loss to devise their own fun Dick O’Callaghan and Leslie Walker (nee O’Callaghan) – 21/09/01 From left to right Leslie, Dick and Eileen O’Callaghan at the front entrance to the farmhouse Photo source Leslie Walker (nee O’Callaghan) Dick tells…
Growing up in New Zealand 1925-1950, Part 23: Life on a West Coast Farm
Part 23 – Life on a West Coast Farm in the 1920s – Difficulties and responsibilities Dick O’Callaghan – 14/09/01 We moved to the West Coast in 1922 when I was only eight. The farm was some three miles distant from the Punakaiki River and to reach it we had to cross both that river…
Growing Up In New Zealand 1925-1950, Part 22: Entertainments and hobbies for those growing up in towns and cities
Part 22 – Entertainments And Hobbies For Those Growing Up In Towns And Cities Dorothy – 07/09/01 These varied greatly partly according to the parents’ income, interests and attitudes. Freedom to roam Several of the people interviewed for the articles about growing up between 1900 and 1925 commented that young people had a lot of…