Family History 1.144

Gaze History

NSG Memoir

From NSG's diary of world tour 1956

After Singapore they visited Colombo and Aden:

 Monday 9 April  “The noise and smells were terrific. We walked through narrow streets with native shops on each side.  The street was full of people talking and carrying their burdens and every now and then a car would come honking along or a camel drawing a cart.  All sorts of things were being sold from drinks of water to sticky sweetmeats.  Beggars kept coming up and asking for alms; it was difficult to get rid of them as it was of touts who wanted to guide you somewhere – I was not too sure where – the eating houses were full and the scene was like one from the Arabian Nights.  What a lot of cutthroats they appeared to be.  It was very hot and smelly and we returned to our taxi and drove back to the port…. 

Tuesday 10 April  “Most of passengers sleeping off their strenuous tour of Aden and skiting about their wonderful bargains.” 

Then Egypt: 

Friday 13 April  “There was a real mix-up today about our passports.  The immigration authorities came aboard and we were told to queue up to collect our passports. After waiting about an hour they suddenly decided to call out the names instead of in order of the queue.  There was of course a surge to the bar counter where all the books were carefully laid out in alphabetical order by the purser.  At this stage the promoters of our tour to Cairo, Egyptians, took charge, as they thought they knew better.  They started calling out the number of the tour ticket, sometimes the name of the passport-holder and in the meantime people were grabbing books and looking for them.  The Gyppos got tired when they couldn’t find a number quickly and soon looked for another that was being called out from the crowd.  In about a minute the whole of the passports were in an absolute confusion.  When you are told how careful you must be with your book, etc, etc, and to see the way everybody grabbed everybody else’s book and then threw it back it would have given Her Majesty a heart attack to see how we treated her passports. However finally most riots come to an end and everybody appeared to have his own book….” 

On to the Desert:  “What a dreary wilderness it is.  Nothing but sand on either side except for a derelict house occasionally or a police check centre or an army camp on the site of previous British camps….” 

And Cairo:  “The city amazed us with its size.  It must have taken us over half an hour to traverse it, all the time passing down magnificent avenues, wide streets, tree-lined, some with gardens in the centre, lined with tremendous buildings, high 9 to 13 storeys, wide and modern….”

Still Sketching

One of our recent meetings, the U3A Sketching Group sat at a window in Puke Ariki and all tried our hands at the view of Mt Taranaki over the city buildings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over last weekend we were in Auckland staying at my brother's house in Campbell's Bay. Here is the view of the skyline from his lounge window:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we went to Lynmall one morning. While Margaret checked out the shops, I sketched one of the corners of the mall, and an elderly gentleman resting from his labours nearby. I didn't get the perspectives quite right, but the lines of the building didn't exactly help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And on one of those wet mornings I got out our old photos and found the one of the Cathedral in Granada, taken from the Alhambra. This is where Ferdinand and Isabella are buried, the couple who sent Columbus to America:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family History 1.143

Gaze History

NSG Memoir

NSG Diary of world trip 1956 continued

Saturday 24 March  “….Tried to arrange a free church service – had a conference with the Anglican and Lutheran parsons and Rod Gillanders who has been pressing me to do something.  I was anxious not to have a meeting that could be regarded as a counter-attraction to the Anglican service.  I found the Anglican (Enson his name from St Heliers) very co-operative and has agreed to let us have alternate Sundays at 10 am with his own. He is High Church and I thought his attitude very decent.  Said he could not lead our services as his church would not allow it but gave us his Good Friday service that he had already announced and the Lutheran minister – a fine fellow – is to lead it and Rod Gillanders to speak.  It should work out quite happily and is much better than dividing the Protestant people.

“We got into conversation with another honeymoon couple on our deck although they are older.  He is a Pole and was captured by the Germans in the Warsaw uprising in 1944 – later released by the Americans – served with them in Italy for a couple of years – rejected the offer by the Polish Government to return and joined the British Army – several years in England and then went to Australia – his wife an American took a visit to Australia where she met him and got married although she is of Polish descent.  She comes from New Jersey and her telephone number is Bigelow----.  The husband speaks excellent English although up till 1944 did not know any.  I lent them my Europa Touring and they are most interested, as well as being interesting people….”

 

Monday 26 March  “….Still hot – temperature in dining room at breakfast was 88.  Ship is very quiet as everybody is more or less somnolent except me who is busy typing as usual.  Mary is writing letters but that is a very restful job!”

 

Tuesday 27 March (describing the arrival at Singapore)  “….We were told over the ship’s intercom that the ship would stay in the stream all night but that we could go ashore by launch.  There was absolutely no attempt to control the crowd trying to get off onto the boats.  It was Auckland all over again.  We stayed in a packed sweating mass for over an hour and then clambered down a long row of ship’s steps into a launch.  It was a relief to get into the fresh air.  No officers to control and no attempt to get the people to form into a queue.  The Germans don’t seem to be able to do anything that is out of the usual routine or else are not interested…..”

 

Wednesday 28 March  (in Singapore) “….(at) the Post Office we dismissed our driver and I got the biggest fright of my life.  I had my pocket picked but lost only a few dollars as it turned out.  I put my hand in my pocket and it was empty.  First awful thought: my pocket book with all its money and travellers cheques was gone. We spent a miserable couple of hours at Cooks who were most obliging (their office is air conditioned and beautifully cool) sending cables to London and Auckland to stop payment on the cheques.  We were due back at the ship by 4 so did not have much time or inclination nor did we think we had much money for serious shopping, so after a look at Raffles Square and the shops there we taxied back to the ship which had berthed during the morning, but the wharf was about 2 miles from the main street.  Later that evening I was looking through Mary’s bag for my passport and there was my wallet safe and sound.  How it got there we don’t know but I must have given it to her to mind sometime during the morning drive.  Was my face red especially when I had to explain to the other passengers who had been commiserating with us about our loss. However time is a great healer!….”

Family History 1.142

Gaze History
NSG Memoir

The World Tour 1956 

From NSG’s Diary 

Monday 12 March  “Alas how are the mighty fallen – laid low by mal de mer.  In spite of good resolutions and sundry pills the travellers missed their breakfast this morning.  Most of the day was spent in quiet contemplation – flat on our backs.  The sea has a nasty jobble and the ship will persist in rolling from side to side.  We felt it would really be much nicer to have lunch in our cabin so had it brought.  The steward suggested consommé and sandwiches – we languidly agreed.  The stewardess soon appeared with the viands.  The soup was lovely – hot and almost like beef tea.  The sandwiches were a disappointment.  As Doris will know the Continental idea of a sandwich is not ours.  It consists of a slab of thick bread and butter with another slab of German sausage or cheese on the top.  We ate a couple of the less (sic) innocuous looking ones.  The butter here takes a little getting used to also.  It is like farm butter, a bit greasy and strong.  However all the cooked meals are excellent. 

 

“We recovered a little, sufficient to enable us to attend boat drill in the afternoon and also afternoon tea which is served in the lounge. The tea is good as is the coffee.  We had to go to our assembly stations with our lifebelts properly tied.  G E B(ond) will be pleased to hear that we all have lifebelts.  We retired pretty early after a strenuous day and slept pretty well….”

 

Wednesday 14 March  “Awakened early to a lovely day.  We are feeling like real sailors and hardly notice the motion of the boat.  It is very hot this morning.  Most of the young people are on the boat deck sunbathing in various stages of undress and my visits there are not viewed with enthusiasm by the controlling authority.  How easy it is to do nothing all day.  We just sit and talk and sleep, even reading is an effort.  We are getting to know a few folks; all are very friendly….”

 

Friday 16 March  “…We are told we arrive at Cairns tomorrow morning early and will probably have most of the day there…. We have changed a couple of NZ pounds into Australian but the ship only pays us L1-2-0 [$AUS2.20 for $NZ2.00] it will save time trying to find a bank tomorrow at Cairns….”

 

Wednesday 21 March
[North of Australia en route to Singapore] “….It is interesting to watch the sea – numbers of small flying fish who seem to force themselves out of the water with a corkscrew motion of their tails and then skim for about twenty yards along the top of the water with their wings out and then dive with a plop into the sea.  Some have yellow and some have green wings.  They are quite small.  We also saw a school of porpoises gambolling though one man reckoned they were bonito whatever they are….”

Thursday 22 March  “Awakened about six to find ourselves covered with perspiration which is quite normal these days.  The pillows get soaked and so do our pyjamas.  I have got Mary to cut off the legs and arms of mine so now I sleep more comfortable and look quite chick.  I only need a little lace around the ends!  On looking out saw a number of islands and just before breakfast passed Timor….”

 

Friday 23 March  “They can’t make salad on this boat.  They cut up tomato and cucumber in large slices with caraway seeds and it is all floating in some oily concoction. (Noel did not like tomato unless it was cooked)  We were all tremendously excited today to notice on the menu for dinner “Almond Pudding”.  ‘Ah’, we said, ‘Something different – a steamed pudding!’ All the people were licking their lips when what arrived was a slice of blancmange – groans and sarcastic comments from all the tables around us….”

 

Family History 1.141

Gaze History: NSG Mmoir

Family Dispersing

In 1955 and 1956 Franklin was Editor of the Bible Class Magazine Contact, and Graham Bond, working with Noel as we have seen, was Treasurer for that project. 

As well as his work for the church, and his membership of the council of the Mission to Lepers, Noel was at this stage elected to the Board of the British and Foreign Bible Society in New Zealand.  He also took part in a project which has had long-lasting effects in New Zealand: the formation of the first Marriage Guidance Council, of which he was Treasurer. The modern network of Relationship Services, which makes such a contribution to the smooth functioning of our communities, owes its beginnings to this group of workers in Auckland in the fifties. 

In September 1957, Franklin and Audrey were married at the Epsom Church and returned to Hamilton to spend the last term of their life in New Zealand.  In January of 1958 the family all waved goodbye to the young people leaving on the Wanganella for Sydney and Bombay.  Olwyn at that time was just finishing her nursing course and starting her work as a staff nurse in the Cardiothoracic Ward at Green Lane Hospital. In the latter half of 1958 she moved to the Pukekohe Hospital to do her maternity training.  In February of 1959 she left for Melbourne to train in midwifery at The Womens Hospital, Crown Street. 

So in August Noel, Mary and Stuart travelled to Melbourne to see Olwyn, and to Sydney and Adelaide by train. Noel and Mary were keen to see more but Stuart wanted to get back to New Zealand to see the All Blacks play the Lions, and to see Catherine.  Olwyn returned to New Zealand at the end of the year, also travelling in the Wanganella.

Family History 2.38

Bigelow History:

Post-1630

from Wikipedia

Colchester, Conneticut, home of Isaac and Mary Bigelow from 1712

The history of the Town gets its first legs On October 1, 1692 when the area known as "Jerimiah's Farme" is confirmed unto Danial Mason, son of Major John Mason, acting on behalf of the Hartford Colony, by Owaneco.

Lyman Viaduct

 

The original settlement known as Jerimiah's Farm was land given unto Jerimiah Adams, of Hartford, by Uncas, sachem of the Mohegan tribe.

 

On October 13, 1698, Michael Taintor, Samuel Northam and Nathaniel Foote III applied to go forth and settle the Town. Jerimiah's Farm was selected as the main point of reference for the town, with its north boundary as the Twenty Mile River. The southern side is bordered by Lyme. The west boundary meets the east bounds of Middletown and Haddam. The east and northeast boundary run to the bounds of Lebanon and Norwich.

 

During the initial settlement, the area was also referred to as the Plantation of the Twenty-mile River.

 

On May 11, 1699, the town's principal founders, Nathaniel Foote, Samuel Northam and Michael Taintor asked the general court of Hartford for assistance with persons hindering the advancement of the settlement, to be transferred under the jurisdiction of the New London colony, and for the Town to be recognized as Colchester. On May 11, 1699 the town name was so named and incorporated into the colony of New London.

 

The town is said to be named after Colchester, a borough and port in Essex, England, where many colonists had emigrated from.

Congregational Church

 

Colchester's early history, like that of many towns in New England, centered around the church parish. In 1703, the General Court of the Colony of Connecticut ruled that the settlement could organize a church body here known as Colchester.

 

Within a few years, several grist mills and saw mills were built to provide grain and lumber for the settlement.

 

In 1706, the first street was laid and called Town Street. Nearly 200 feet wide, it is now the southern end of Old Hebron Road.

 

By 1714, there were nearly 50 English colonial families in town.

 

On 13 Oct 1803 the town of Marlborough, Hartford County was created from parts of the towns of Colchester, Glastonbury, Hartford County, and Hebron, Tolland County.

More on Politics

Politics in the Eighties

By 1981 we were living in New Plymouth, and the candidate was Dennis Duggan.  We did not know many people and had not got in touch with the Labour Party here. But we talked to people about it and supported where we could. 

By 1984 we knew more local people and were deeply involved in the Trade Aid work in New Plymouth. We supported the candidate, Ida Gaskin, by dropping pamphlets, canvassing and driving people to the polls on election day. 

At this stage I was working for Maatua Whaangai, a programme which was introduced by Robert Muldoon at the instigation of some of the Maori leaders, including Sir James Henare. I respected Muldoon’s willingness to listen to their submissions and act on them. 

However I found his cancellation of the compulsory superannuation scheme introduced by Kirk and Rowling less to my liking. After a generation and a half I believe even more that this scheme would have provided some security for individual New Zealanders, and a nestegg investment for the whole country. We would not now be worrying about the future of our retirement provisions, and I blame Muldoon for all of this. 

I was even more displeased about his support for the UK when Margaret Thatcher went to war against Argentina over the Falklands. Another imperialist adventure in my opinion.  Of course Argentina has a claim to the Falklands, it is the nearest country to them. This question is a matter of negotiation and compromise, not war. 

In 1987 the candidate was Harry Duynhoven, who was by this time a friend, because we had been working together for some years on the shop committee for the Trade Aid Shop. So we did all the usual supporting activities for election campaigns, and were delighted when Harry won the contest and went to Parliament. I replaced him as chair of the Trade Aid Shop committee. 

Since then we have supported Harry, and his successor, Andrew Little, at each election; for one three-year stint I was Chair of the Electorate Committee, and Margaret is now its secretary. 

Not that we have agreed with every last decision of Labour Governments or oppositions! But we prefer to see the country moving in the direction of fairer sharing of resources, greater equality and social justice, which is the direction represented by the Labour Party. We also give a cheer and a half from time to time for the Greens, many of whose policies we also like.

Political Dreams

Towards a Better Future

I would still prefer to be supporting a more radically left-wing party, but I think pragmatism wins: it is no use voting for a party that has no chance of becoming at least part of the government of the country. 

We also supported Labour members at local elections, most notably Clair Stewart as mayor at three elections.  Clair was the wife of J J Stewart, and had tried to become the candidate in competition with Harry; she was a good mayor, as all the recent ones have been. 

During her first term, I was appointed to the Council sub-committee on Community Development, which advised the Community Development staff and allocated grants from Council funds for community organisations. I worked with Vivian Hutchinson, Helen Armstrong (wife of the National Party MP, John) and Councillor Kim Gilkison, along with Tuti Wetere and a couple of others. 

Some years later, during the term of the Clark Government, I was appointed to the Lotteries Distribution Committee for Taranaki, which again distributed funds for community organisations. Both these committees had very clear and transparent systems for considering applications and allocating the funds. For a couple of years I chaired the Lotteries Committee and met a couple of times a year with the other regional representatives in Wellington. 

I think the Lotteries system of allocation should be extended to cover pokies and TAB and other gambling profits, to ensure that it is all fair and transparently so.

 ____________________

I am convinced that we need to continue to develop our democracy. The work which was started by the 1832 Reform Act in Britain has not been completed. 

First of all, the right to vote should be extended to everyone.  It is unsatisfactory that 25% of our population are debarred from voting, and I am referring to those under 18 years of age. 

Many of our schoolchildren are well-informed enough to cast a vote, and those who are thought too young would of course have their vote cast by their caregiver. 

Throughout my lifetime successive governments have changed rules so that couples with families have a harder row to hoe than others; parties make speeches about family-friendly policies but do not usually introduce them: Family Benefit has gone, couples jointly paying Income Tax has gone, families struggling with disability still have not been given all the help they need. 

I am sure this is partly because parties do not have to consider the extra votes that children should be wielding. 

Secondly the system should be changed to put even more emphasis on consensus decision making, rather than parties just having to please the bare majority. MMP was a step in the right direction.  But policy decisions should take into account the views of every group in society, not just the majority ones. 

Abandoning unanimous jury verdicts is a step in the wrong direction: if one or two jurors are not convinced, how can anyone say there is no reasonable doubt? My experience with consensus on committees is positive; lack of consensus usually means some of the group have not fully understood. 

And thirdly I am utterly convinced that the Monarchy sends the wrong message to everyone, ourselves and foreigners. Monarchy is a top-down system, democracy should be bottom-up! How can you work with what everyone wants to happen if all your symbols of nationhood are shouting: top-down, top-down! 

That will do for a start.

Postscript to Maatua Whaangai

 

Personal Experience of fostering

Maatua Whaangai was a great scheme, but the next change of government saw it scrapped in favour of the new Children and Young Persons Act with its Family Group Conferences. The discussion of the principles of this Act was going on all the time I was working with DSW, and introduced us to the concepts of Restorative Justice. 

It meant that the Maatua Whaangai idea was expended to all needy children who came to the notice of the authorities. Teenage offenders would attend a conference with their families, where the whole whanau would recommend a course of action and commit themselves to helping. Police and social workers would attend, take part, and monitor progress. 

That was the theory; Ray Roebuck got the job of seeing that it worked.  He persevered in that job for many years, and its success in Taranaki is largely due to his patience and common sense. 

Many years after I left Social Work officially, Margaret and I fostered one of her second cousins, Christina Burnard, when she was about twelve years old. We attended several family conferences and were able to persuade Christina’s mother, Paula, to co-operate with the social work staff, and the social workers to recommend that Christina go back to live with her mother.  

We have kept in touch over the years and still see Christina from time to time: she has a good partner and together they have two fine children.

Family History 1.140

Gaze History: NSG Memoir

Mid-fifties

In Berne

After a year’s course at the Secondary Teachers College a few yards up the road from home, Franklin left to teach in Hamilton.  Mary was apprehensive because also leaving to teach in Hamilton was Franklin’s girl-friend, Audrey Butcher.  Her own experiences of losing two boyfriends, one to illness and one to accident, at an early age, made her nervous of the emotional upheavals involved in such relationships.  Noel, too, as we have seen, had had his own failure in love.  But they supported each other and waved their son Goodbye as he left home on the great adventure of life.  Olwyn’s nursing course in those days meant living in at the hospital, so the house was suddenly much emptier now that two children had flown the nest. 

At this stage of his life, Noel’s activities in connection with the Leprosy Mission began to bear fruit. The New Zealand committee hit upon a fundraising method which proved a world-beater.  They found a contractor who undertook to process second-hand clothes for them, to collect the clothes left out by householders, and to pay the proceeds to the Mission. In a few years this method established the Mission as a leading charity, providing as much for the international work as the UK Council raised in some years.  The Leprosy Mission was the pioneer organisation in what has since become a common form of fund-raising. The work was not without its problems: there were good and bad contractors in the second-hand clothes collecting business.

 

Fortunately at this stage Noel had the support of a friend in the new Epsom Church minister, Rev Ewen Simpson, a well-read, thoughtful man, whose sermons interested Noel. Noel and Ewen had worked together on Baptist Union committees for some years.  Ewen was interested in the challenge of a small church like Epsom, and had a family who were just starting University studies and appreciated the closeness of Epsom to Auckland University,  having lived for some years in Hawkes Bay.

In London

 

In 1955, Mary was unwell for a time, and was eventually diagnosed as having shingles, which curtailed her energy and activities for a few months.  Noel proposed a holiday overseas, and in 1956 they left by the Arosa Star for Europe. Noel kept a diary of this trip, until they left the UK, which gives us a detailed picture of their journey. Stuart boarded with Graham and Nola Bond at Papatoetoe and with Aunty Dot at Bellevue Road. During the year he graduated into long trousers, was taught to drive the car by his aunt, and started to notice a young lady called Catherine!

On the return home, with Mary much improved, Noel and Mary moved into a new home in St Leonards Road.  Stuart was at Grammar, and playing rugby for his school.  Noel would often go to watch him play.  On one memorable occasion Stuart scored a runaway try and the family was never allowed to forget it!  

At the same time, they found Franklin’s plans had moved on.  He announced that he and Audrey were planning to get married the following year and had been accepted by the Baptist Missionary Society to work in India.  There was a tussle between the young couple and the missionary society about the marriage plans, because it had always been the custom for the man to try the situation first and then, if his health and commitment stood that test, the fiancée could follow and marriage would take place in India.  But Franklin and Audrey wanted to change that and marry towards the end of 1957 before leaving together.

This put Noel in a difficult situation: all the members of the mission council were his friends, and he worked with some of them closely on Union Executive and College Board.  He did mildly explain to Franklin that it was not easy being in the middle, but eventually the mission authorities conceded the point graciously, and the old rule was changed for ever, to considerable applause from older missionaries who had wanted to buck the system themselves!

 

 

Family History 1.139

Gaze History

NSG Memoir

continued, Graham Bond writing:

 

Noel retraced his route only to find his boat acting as a silent policeman in the centre of the intersection of Gt South Rd & Greenlane Rd. 

 

OFFICE 1946.  I soon learnt to appreciate his wisdom, his integrity and his sense of humour.  He was a great mimic and many was the time that we shared a good laugh. Money was not the sole aim but making friends and helping those in need was a priority.  Noel was highly respected both in the legal and in the Christian community. It was a privilege to work beside him.

 

In the early 50s Noel subscribed to TIME magazine. His interest in Constitutional Law had continued since the days of his graduate studies, and specially his regard for the American system.  He followed the 1952 Presidential Election in the pages of TIME and discussed it with colleagues and with Franklin, who read TIME after Noel had finished it.  There was general satisfaction when Eisenhower was elected.  As ever, the Gaze home was often open to visitors and friends.  And in these years there was on such occasions a sing-song around the piano, all the old songs being trotted out, from Lily of Laguna to Riding Down from Bangor. 

Noel had again been persuaded to help with youth work, this time as an officer of the Auckland Baptist Young Men’s Bible Class Union. Franklin was a Bible Class leader at Epsom, and also attended the Union meetings. In 1953 Noel was President of the Union, and Franklin was elected Secretary. The basement of the Grange Road house became the Union office, with a Gestetner duplicator churning out newsletters and minutes. The highlight of this partnership was a successful Easter Camp at Eastern Beach in 1954, the first time a combined young men’s and young women’s camp had been held.  450 young people packed the campsite. 

Stuart had enrolled at Epsom Primary school when the family shifted to Grange Road, and by now he was completing his primary education at Normal Intermediate. Olwyn had completed her secondary studies at St Cuthbert’s and decided to try dental nursing, so enrolled at the Training School not far from the old Bellevue Road home where Auntie Dot (Doris) lived.  It took only a few weeks for Olwyn to find she was not happy looking at people’s mouths all day, and she switched to general nursing and started her training at Green Lane Hospital in July of 1954, finding this much more to her liking. Noel was always fully involved in supporting and encouraging his children whenever there was a decision or a new step to be taken. 

At the end of 1954, there was a General Election.  Noel took Franklin to a political meeting in Dominion Road to hear a speech by the local National candidate, Duncan Rae.  And on the day before the election, Franklin turned 21 and so qualified to vote.  He also sat his last University exam on his birthday.

Family History 1.138

Gaze History: NSG Memoir

South Island Holiday

At the end of 1951, with a railway strike following on the heels of the great Waterfront Strike, the family planned a South Island holiday.  Mary and Olwyn were to take the train to Wellington, while Noel took Franklin and Stuart and most of the luggage in the Prefect by road.  The strike meant that the womenfolk had to go in the car as well.  They left a few days before Christmas and motored as far as Turangi, where they took out groundsheets and sleeping bags and slept on the side of the road under a line of pine trees. 

Next morning they continued on their way.  The car was cold (no heating in those days, or air conditioning); the boot door was down and all the luggage, covered by a canvas tarpaulin, was packed on it.  The children sat in the back seat. At Wellington, the car was hoisted on to the ferry in a sling, and the family boarded in the more conventional manner by gangway. 

In Cathedral Square 1951

After a day or two in Christchurch, they headed south along State Highway 1, eventually reaching Invercargill on New Year’s Eve.  On New Year’s Day they visited Stewart Island, and then headed north towards Te Anau.  The roads were unsealed, petrol stations were few and far between, so two four-gallon tins of petrol were carried on the boot along with all the luggage.  The dust from the hot, summer unsealed roads came into the car through the boot opening.

After Te Anau, the family spent a few days in Queenstown and then headed back to Dunedin and places north.  During their journey through Canterbury, the car’s electrical system developed a fault, so that the horn refused to sound.  When there was a corner coming up the whole family would shout, to warn oncoming traffic of the immanent danger! 

In spite of all the difficulties, Noel guided them all safely back to Auckland, with a stopover at the Chateau at National Park on the way up the North Island.  This was the occasion of a memorable scene in the Hotel dining room: when the waiter brought dinner, there was a cooked blowfly on Noel’s plate! The embarrassed waiter quickly replaced it when Noel gently drew his attention to it.

Expansion 

Noel’s business was still expanding, and Graham Bond had gone off to work in his father’s office after graduation.  As a stop-gap Noel asked Franklin to work one day a month to work on the accounts, which helped with the student budget and served to introduce Franklin to the work of a legal office. The auditor at that stage was again Henry Massam, Noel’s old friend. 

Before long Noel was able to employ Gordon Jones, son of his old friend Harry Jones, who had spent his adult life as a missionary in India.  Gordon was of course studying for a law degree, but after working in law for a few years he decided to follow his parents and head for the mission field.  

Graham Bond, who accepted Noel’s offer of a partnership at this stage, writes:

 

I'm honoured to recall moments in the life of NSG.  More than 20 years association in legal practice with him and never a cross word between us.  

 

PAPATOETOE---- Kolmar Rd was a large property surrounded by hedges which he hated.  His hedge cutting became slower & slower as he used the hours to consider some of the problems of his clients.  His vege garden was also too large for his liking.  He planted onions under the watchful eye of a certain oldest son who blotted his copy book by following along behind and replanting the onions up side down. The son may have been up side down for a short while thereafter.  Their house was always full.  Young people always found a ready welcome as did long term guests such as Rev Lloyd Crawford and Mrs Olsen.  

 

MT.EDEN ---- St Leonards Rd.   After spending many of my student years working for Mr Gaze I left him to join my father’s firm where I was never happy but stayed there for duty only.  During a social call Mrs Gaze and Nola had been having a heart to heart when my state of mind was discussed. The outcome of this discussion changed our lives forever.  Gordon Jones who had replaced me in the office was going overseas and it was suggested that I should take his place and join the firm as junior partner. Noel left us to go and fetch Olwyn who was at Girls Brigade. As I was parked in his driveway I had to shift my car so moved over to temporarly park in the neighbours drive.  My very old car moved partly over and then stalled.  Noel did not hear my warning toot.  The resultant crash cemented our partnership.  

 

Our families shared an old house at Goldworthys Bay during the holidays of Xmas 1952.  Noel borrowed a small dinghy which he collected from the owner on a trailer not built for boats.  To his surprise the trailer was empty on arrival at St Leonards Rd. 

 

To be continued

Family History 1.137

Gaze History:

NSG Memoir

Changing Eras

In 1950 Noel was promoted to membership of the national Board of the Baptist College; demand for its services was growing rapidly and it was outgrowing its property. Over the next few years, Noel and his colleagues of the Auckland Administration Committee searched the area for a suitable larger property.  They eventually found what they wanted half way down Victoria Avenue, and the change was made.  At the same time, the College became embroiled in an unpleasant controversy.  

 

When Dr North had retired, the Board of the College had sought a replacement from Baptist ministers in the UK.  Those were still the days of cultural cringe, and no-one really believed a

New Zealander would have the necessary qualities.  So the Rev Luke Jenkins was appointed.  However after a year or two it became clear that some church members were not happy with their new College Principal.  Well qualified and with teaching experience, Luke Jenkins was doing what the Board, or most of them, thought was a good job. But a few more extreme Church members from the south threatened to have him removed at the end of his contract. Noel, as chair of the Auckland committee, was delegated the unpleasant job of telling Luke he might not get re-appointed. 

Noel found himself in the middle and not particularly popular with either party. It was a difficult time for him, made no easier when at the end of the year the appointment was, in fact, not renewed. The Board made strenuous efforts to find a Principal who was more acceptable to the majority as well as having the necessary skills, and at the end of 1953 Rev Ted Roberts-Thomson arrived from Australia to take up the Principalship. Ted and his wife became close friends with Noel and Mary over the following years. 

In 1952, Noel had been elected to the Council of the Baptist Union, for which he had been an honorary solicitor for some years. With his other church responsibilities, local and national, he was now away from home in the evenings more often.

Christmas 1941; Julia, seated second from left,

Auntie Lizzie next to the right.

Mary's father, William Bigelow is standing, left.

But before this the family was undergoing other changes. 1951 saw Franklin at University with a National Scholarship. He talked with Noel about following law, and enrolled in Arts and Law at the University.  But during the year Franklin announced to his parents that he intended to pursue a career as a missionary and so in consultation with Mary’s cousin Royston Brown, who was then Chair of the Council of the Baptist Missionary Society, he concentrated on an Arts qualification with a view to teaching. 

In 1951, too, Julia’s sufferings came to an end, and she was buried alongside Fred at the Purewa cemetery.  Doris was left alone in the big house where she had always had family company.  Later she invited a friend, May Berg, to board with her and was from then on less lonely. 

In 1951 too, Mary’s father died. Noel and Mary were now part of the oldest generation. Auntie Lizzie finally died in the following year.