January 2015 Newsletter

January 2015 Newsletter

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Tauranga Historical Society will be held will be held at the Brain Watkins hall at 2.p.m. on Sunday 1 February 2015. The agenda will include annual reports and election of officers.

We have had two members volunteer to accept nomination for the committee and more would be welcome. One has volunteered to accept nomination for the treasurer’s position so it is safe for you to come to the meeting as there will be no pressure on members to take that office.

Subscriptions remain the same as last year and your generous donations can attract a tax deduction as the Society is a registered charity.

HALL BOOKINGS – Phone Meri Low 544 4048

Monthly Meetings

5th April meeting   Speaker – Richard Hart – Flax Mills in the Te Puke area – As well as other sources, Richard has drawn upon the research of the late Alister Matheson who used to attend our meetings and was well known to many of the members.

Jazz in the Garden


Jazz in the Garden from 2.p.m. Sunday 1 March. This is the year for fans of swing music as we have the “Silvertones” playing.  There will be the usual house tours, afternoon tea, cake, plant and book stalls as part of our annual fundraising event.
Donations requested from members of cakes for teas and cake stall, items for the raffle baskets, plants, and books (no magazines). Pickup of goods can be arranged.

WW100

Fiona Kean reports on the Tauranga WW100 committee activities undertaken in 2014.

The committee and a small public group gathered on 4 August to mark the outbreak of WW1 at the Tauranga Memorial Domain Gates.

Lecture Series, Sons of Empire - Organised by the Tauranga Historical Society, Shirley & Stephanie, in conjunction with Waikato University, Nyree Sherlock. Each week presentations focused on delivering a unique New Zealand perspective of WWI: the voices of our soldiers, from the battles and the trenches to their legacy of literature; the diaries, the images and the poetry that remain. The series was so popular and well attended that a move to a larger venue was necessary.

Fields of Remembrance - The sight of so many crosses gathered together has prompted many people to stop and study the names of the fallen. The crosses will continue to be erected in different locations throughout the city during the centenary commemorations. Thanks to PlaceMakers for donating the wood and to Tauranga’s Mens Shed for constructing the crosses and to Paul for his organisation, Tauranga RSA, Tauranga Heritage Collection.

Children of WW1 Veterans Gathering  - Children born to Great War veterans were invited to be part of a gathering at the Mount Maunganui R.S.A in July of 2014. The event was organised by Tauranga WW100 and the Mount R.S.A who provided amazing hospitality, in particular the Women’s Division for the catering.

Cemetery Project - Thanks to the generosity of the community, and the organisation by Heather McLean, three veterans’ graves have been restored. Just over $1170 was raised with the majority of this being spent on the headstones, which were purchased through Veteran’s Affairs.

From Tauranga to the Trenches - mobile exhibition - The exhibition has travelled to public spaces in the city, several schools, and RSA venues. Many visitors have shared their personal family connections to the First World War, while teachers and students have welcomed the opportunity to discover how the war affected their local community. Thank you to Toni and the Hauraki Regimental Association, and WW100 Tauranga for their support of this Tauranga Heritage Collection project.

Web Presence, Kete and Facebook - Establishment of a facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/WW100Tauranga and presence on the Libraries Remembering War Kete http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/en/remembering_war Fascinating updates are made daily and an incredible resource is being created. Thanks to Debbie McCauley and Harley Couper from the Tauranga City Library.

ANZAC Day 2015 -  Planning is underway for the centennial ceremony to be held at the Tauranga Domain. Three committee members have already given considerable time to this and are working closely with the Tauranga City Council.

August 2014 Newsletter

Lecture Series: Sons of Empire

The lectures commence on Wednesday 17 September at 6.30 pm at the Bongard Centre, BOP Polytechnic, Cameron Road, and run every Wednesday for eight weeks. The introduction to the series will be by our President, Stephanie Smith, and the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Waikato, Alister Jones. The speaker on that night will be Dr Kirstine Moffat whose topic is “The Monstrous Anger of the Guns: Poetry, Protest, and WWI”. The regular Sunday meetings will not be held in September and October as we wish to support the lecture series.

Wednesdays
17 Sept - Kirstine Moffat – “Poetry, Protest, and WW1”
24 Sept - Fiona Kean – “Public Opinion in Tauranga from ‘Letters to the Editor’”
1 Oct - Stephanie Smith – “The diary of a BOP Camelier”
8 Oct - Sue Baker Wilson – “NZ Engineers Tunnelling Company”
15 Oct - Dr Damien Fenton – “The Mundane Realities of Trench Warfare”
22 Oct - Dr Nathalie Philippe – “The Liberation of Le Quesnoy”
29 Oct - Dr Cliff Simons – “The Gallipoli Campaign”
5 Nov - Dr Mark Houlahan – “Kiwis and the Shakespeare Hut, London”

Bookings are ESSENTIAL. Please book early to ensure a seat at this free series. Email nyree@waikato.ac.nz. Enquiries phone 027 2867454.

Convalescent NZ soldiers on roof of Aotea Home in Egypt, 1918

Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery, France

Guides in Brain Watkins House

Please, please volunteer to be a Guide. With fewer than ten guides it is very difficult to provide a roster to open the house each Sunday. This winter has been quite busy with local and overseas visitors. Guiding is not a difficult task, and is an interesting way to spend a Sunday afternoon, for guides as well as visitors. It’s also a good way of reaching the young: we recently had visits from two classes from Matua School and found the children very interested in how people lived in the past. The theme they were studying was change and the contents of the house illustrate that well.

The Society has 132 members of whom ten are on the committee and ten are guides, with four being both committee members and guides. We need more. With more people helping, the roster will be less demanding on the loyal few. All new guides are trained then rostered with experienced guides.

Loss of Members

This year the Society has lost two of its significant members. Jinty Rorke, the well-known historian and former librarian, died after a short illness in February and is missed by those of us who respected her breadth of knowledge of local history. More recently Bryan Teasey died. A great-grandson of Joseph and Kate Brain, Bryan donated some family artefacts to the Society over the years and made generous monetary donations each year.

The Brain Watkins Hall

Our facility here is very useful for small groups to hire at a very reasonable cost. If you have connections with other groups interested in a central city venue please phone Meri Low on 578 4048 for further details.

Forthcoming Events

17 September – first Lecture in “Sons of Empire” series
2 November – Sunday meeting to discuss the Strategic Plan and agree on the subscription for 2015
7 December – the Society’s annual Christmas Luncheon – details available later
1 February 2015 – the Annual  General  Meeting. Please think about serving on the committee or standing as an officer of the Society.
1 March 2015 – Jazz in the Garden, our annual fundraiser.  We passed on all of our unsold books this year to another charity so will start our book stall afresh. So please put aside your surplus books for a good cause – the care and preservation of the Brain Watkins House.

May 2014 Newsletter

May 2014 Newsletter

SPEAKERS FOR MONTHLY MEETINGS

6 April –Archaeology of the Tauranga Hotel site presented by Brigid Gallagher – a former member of TV’s Time Team

4 May - (at the Art Gallery) Penny Jackson – Tauranga Artists

8 June - Hannibal Marks, Tauranga’s first Harbour Master presented by Vivien Edwards, local historian and writer and one of our Society members. Note: this is the second Sunday to avoid Queens Birthday weekend.

6 July – Captain AD Blair & the Q ships in World War 1 presented by Harley Couper, a Tauranga City Librarian.

3 August – Images of Tauranga presented by Alf Rendell, long-time local photographer and new member of our Society.

HALL BOOKINGS – Phone Meri Low 544 4048

LECTURE SERIES
Sons of Empire - from the Utmost End of the Earth: New Zealand and World War I

In conjunction with the University of Waikato at Tauranga, the Tauranga Historical Society has arranged a lecture series to commence near the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. A variety of military historians from Wellington, Hamilton and the Bay of Plenty will present a series of 8 lectures commencing at 6.30.p.m. on a Wednesday night. All lectures will be held at the Bongard Centre, Cameron Road. The Lotteries Grants Board is funding the lecturers’ expenses with a WW100 grant. Some of these titles have not been finalised.

17 Sept ‘The Monstrous anger of the Guns; poetry, protest & World War 1’ Dr Kirstine Moffat
24 Sept ‘Public Opinion; Tauranga’s concern expressed through letters to the editor’ Fiona Kean
1 Oct ‘Imperial Camel Corps in WW1; from diaries of a BOP camelier’ Stephanie Smith
8 Oct ‘Miners in Khaki; New Zealand Engineers Tunnelling Company’ Sue Baker-Wilson
15 Oct ‘Trench Warfare; the Western Front’ Dr Damien Fenton
22 Oct ‘The Last Battle; the liberation of Le Quesnoy 4 Nov 1918’ Dr Nathalie Philippe
29 Oct ‘Gallipoli Campaign’ Dr Cliff Simons
5 Nov ‘Inside the Shakespeare Hut; Kiwis and the Bard in WW1’ Dr Mark Houlahan.

JAZZ IN THE GARDEN once again drew a good crowd to hear Marion Arts, singer, guitarist, teacher and all round popular musician. Stalls again raised necessary money to keep the books balanced. Once again the committee thank the members who helped on the day, donated goods for the stalls and supported our annual fundraiser.

RESEARCH
 
In February 2014 the Society was contacted by Sol Kawage, a researcher at the University of Reading in the UK, who is investigating the history of information design in sewing patterns, analysing patterns from different eras, producers and countries to see how they instruct their users and if they have changed over time. She came across the Brain Watkins House collection on the Internet and asked us if her American friend Tom Rieke, who was staying in New Zealand, could come and photograph samples of our pattern collection. On Sunday 23 February, Shirley and Stephanie met Tom at the house and spent an 1.5hr with him, laying out patterns for him to photograph (and having a very agreeable and interesting conversation as well). The majority of patterns were from Australian magazines and dated from the 1930s through to the 1960s. The digital photographs were relayed through to Sol straight away and she was delighted with them, as they were just what she was hoping for. A piece of research which twenty or thirty years ago either wouldn't have happened, or would have taken months, was arranged and accomplished in less than a week, thanks to the Brain Watkins catalogue being on line and the magic of the digital camera.

SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
If there is a coloured sticker on your newsletter it indicates that your 2014 subscription has not been paid. This Historic Review is included in the 2014 sub so please pay or let us know if you do not want to belong any longer. Individuals $35 couples at same address $40. Post cheque to Treasurer, 233 Cameron Rd Tauranga 3110 or bank online 031355 0660053 00 with your initial & surname as an identifier.

August 2013 Newsletter

Marquetry from cupboard in bedroom, Brain Watkins House

Monthly Society Meetings

Unless otherwise stated, all general meetings of the Society are held at 2.p.m. on the first Sunday of the month in the hall at the rear of the Brain Watkins House, followed  by afternoon tea.

4 August 2013 -  Our president Stephanie Smith will talk about “A few of my favourite things” – special items from the archives at the Tauranga Library. On this occasion the meeting will be held at the Okahukura Room on the first floor of the Library.

1 September 2013 -  Brigid Gallagher, late of the History Channel’s Time Team will tell us about her finds from below the Grumpy Mole, the site of three former Tauranga Hotels.

6 October  2013 -  Peter Vickers BDS (Defence Studies)  will speak on ‘Cameron, Grey and the Invasion of the Waikato’

3 November 2013 - to be advised.

New display cabinet in History Room, Brain Watkins House

Thanks to the generosity of a benefactor who prefers to remain anonymous, your Committee has been able to commission a display cabinet for the History Room. Some of the house's smaller treasures can now be displayed safely and attractively. Members are encouraged to come and have a look. Our very grateful thanks to the donor.

Cemetery Activities

The shorter days and colder weather have slowed the wet and forget spraying in Tauranga's historic cemeteries. Heather McLean and Fiona Kean have now completed several sprays of the Avenue's cemeteries and have begun the older section of the Pyes Pa cemetery.  They are happy to report that the 'Wet and Forget' is doing its job, and many of the inscriptions which had previously been obscured are now visible. Spraying will start again when the weather gets warmer.

The graves of Joseph and Kate Brain lie in the 17th Avenue Methodist cemetery. Their daughters Elva and Bessie are also buried in another row there.

Brain Family News

The death occurred in Hamilton in July of Arthur Joseph (Dick) McNaughton at the age of 94. He was the last surviving grandchild of Joseph and Kate Brain.  He served as a sergeant in the 2nd Expeditionary Force in WW2, and is included in the photograph with his brothers on the timeline in the History Room.

Email Newsletter Distribution

If you are continuing to receive your newsletter by snail mail, but have email, please advise the secretary at taurangahistorical@gmail.com, and further contact will be by that medium. 

April 2013 Newsletter

Society Meetings

Sunday 5 May, 2.00pm. Heather McLean - Her topic is ‘Highlights and achievements from 40 years of genealogy’ Held in the hall at rear of Brain Watkins House

Sunday 9 June 2.00pm at the Tauranga Art Gallery, Willow Street. The curator, Penny Jackson will give us a talk and guide through the Mauao exhibition.

Sunday 7 July 2.00 p.m.  Dr Peter Vickers BDS BDefStud will speak on ‘Cameron, Grey and the Invasion of the Waikato’. To be held in the hall at rear of Brain Watkins House

Stephanie Smith our new President opens Jazz in the Garden on 3rd March

Jazz in the Garden

On Sunday 3 March the Society held its annual Jazz in the Garden event, opened by new president Stephanie Smith.  This is the first year we have held the event in March instead of February. The weather was sunny, though fortunately not quite as hot as last year, and visitors enjoyed the music provided by two talented young keyboard players from Tauranga Boys’ College.  $1450 was raised for the Society after paying the musicians, with the popular second hand bookstall making the most money. So the message is - start putting books away for next year's stall.  The crowd was slightly down on last year's event but all the stalls showed a good return.  One of our members has offered to find sponsorship for the event so next year we should be able to provide excellent entertainment as well as have increased advertising.  Thank you to all the members who contributed to the afternoon tea and donated cakes, plants and books for the stalls.  The Save the Children folk again agreed that it is a worthwhile event for them to attend which means we are supporting another charity as well.

Brain Watkins House Collection

Besides all the furniture, paintings and objects a visitor sees when walking through the house there are many more that are stored in drawers, wardrobes and boxes (some under the bed). With five daughters born before 1900 it is not surprising that there are many examples of handwork, whether crochet, embroidery, tatting or hand sewing.  To be an accomplished needlewoman was an expectation from all young women of their era.  They were also taught to draw and paint and in the house are many examples of Esther Brain’s oil paintings and Bessie’s charcoal drawings. The plaster statue of Britannia on a shelf in the front hall is an artist’s model although we so nor have any works where she is portrayed. However, clues to their inspiration lie in the postcard albums where the originals of the two horse paintings from the rear hall are found and the large oil over the fireplace in the lounge is very similar to postcards of cattle in a lake in Kilkenny. Other inspiration came from popular Victorian English artists such as Arthur Elsley whose framed drawing of a girl and her dogs is very similar to a Bessie Brain composition in the same room - probably a copy of another of his works. The third accomplishment of every young woman was music and although there has not been a piano in the house since the Society inherited it, the evidence remains with a selection of sheet music of popular songs of their day.