Family History 1.116

Family History: NSG Memoir

During the Depression

 

 

Connie continued with her nursing career, eventually becoming Matron of Wellington Hospital. She never forgot Noel.

Within a few months of all these significant family events, the Wall Street Crash occurred. Fortunately Fred had invested his earnings wisely and he was secure throughout the Depression years.  But Noel had a hard time of it, struggling to earn enough to keep himself, let alone a family, before things began to improve toward the end of the thirties.  

Fred and Julia threw themselves into the work of their church, and other charitable activities, and into keeping in touch with their extended family.  In 1931 Fred was elected president of the Baptist Union of New Zealand.  His Presidential address, “A New Zealander’s Free Church”, outlined the arguments for the existence of democratically governed congregations, for the principles underlying the “free, secular and compulsory” nature of New Zealand education, and for the fact that New Zealand had no “established” religion. 

One of Fred’s special interests for the church was the need for a Theological College to train ministers. During the thirties he was part of a group of church people working towards the establishment of a Baptist Theological College in New Zealand. 

Often during these years Noel’s income was less than one pound in a week.  He had a constant stream of men coming up the stairs asking for a handout.  He helped all he could by giving them a voucher for a meal at the YMCA canteen.  Noel was a committee member of the Young Mens Christian Association at this stage. He was also instrumental in starting a social group for his mates at the church: Baptist Young Men of Auckland, or the BYMOA Club. The membership included Henry Massam, Royston Brown, Harry Jones, Roy Thompson, and Reg Barker. 

The turning point in the success of the law business came when a colleague retired and passed over several accounts to the struggling young lawyer, and then a few months later, a colleague in the office one floor below, who had co-operated with Noel from time to time, died and left the whole of his business to Mr Gaze.  Not only did Noel acquire several good clients, he was also able to move down to the first floor and thus be twice as handy to Queen Street.

Politics again

Council Affairs number 3

The third issue was the major problem of sewerage. Consultants had been studying the area for some years and there were two proposals on the table. One was the usual process of cleaning up the sewage and pumping it into the sea, but the route was over a reef of broken rocks, which posed expensive engineering work.

 

The other proposal was to clean up the effluent in oxidation ponds and pump it onto the pine forests to the west of the town. This idea, which was to cost a little more than the other, caught the imagination of the local people and was adopted by a popular vote at a public meeting I chaired. 

The sewerage scheme was not completed until many years after we had left Paihia, but I regarded it as one of my achievements! 

In view of my position and responsibilities in the town, I did not work on the 1975 campaign, but supported our candidate, David Lange, behind the scenes. 

At the beginning of the year I had been introduced to the new Prime Minister, Bill Rowling, at Waitangi, after the school re-enactment of the signing of the Treaty. 

The following year I met him again, this time at a PPTA Conference in Wellington, where I was the Far North delegate. I remarked to him that he was looking better in health than eighteen months before. I suggested that being Leader of the Opposition was a less gruelling job than being PM. He disagreed: the PM, he said, had lots of officials to do his dirty work, whereas the Leader of the Opposition has to do it all himself.

 

In 1977, the centenary of the Abolition of the Provinces, and therefore the first establishment of smaller local bodies like counties and boroughs, we celebrated the hundred years since Bay of Islands County was formed.

 

We had a parade through the town, and some of us wore Victorian clothing and so on for the occasion, as these photos show:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family History 2.11

 

Bigelow History: pre-1630

Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona and Prince of Aragon

In 1131, when he was around 18 years of age, Ramon Berenguer IV inherited the county of Barcelona from his father, Ramon Berenguer IV.

 

A few years later he was betrothed to the infant daughter of the King of Aragon, and the marriage treaty virtually made him King of Aragon when his father-in-law should die. This union of the two political entities, keeping their own laws and systems, but part of one kingdom, gave the noirth-eastern region of Spain a size which enabled it to balance the Castille region to the west.

 

Ramon Berenguer IV made deals with the rulers of Castille to share the takeover of Andalusian districts conquered from the Moors, and he also allied himself with Italian powers to conquer other Moorish principalities. So modern Catalonia was completed.

 

At the same time, he was also helping his brother, who was Count of Provence, against the County of Toulouse, and ensuring that his family's interests north of the Pyrenees were strengthened.

 

Wikipedia says:The Chronicle of San Juan de la Peña said he was, "[a] man of particularly great nobility, prudence, and probity, of lively temperament, high counsel, great bravery, and steady intellect, who displayed great temperance in all his actions. He was handsome in appearance, with a large body and very well-proportioned limbs."

 

In 1162 he died in Italy, leaving the Aragon/Barcelona kingdom to his son, Ramon Berenguer; he in turn changed his name to Alfonso II of Aragon, which left his younger brother, Peter, in charge of the French part of the family domains. Peter swapped his name for Ramon Berenguer. (Confusing!)

 

 

 

 

 

Family History 1.115

 Gaze History: NSG Memoir

 

Courtship and Marriage

 

Over the years he became friendly with Connie Valentine, a member of one of the other church families.  Connie was a nurse, and the engagement was welcomed by both families and their many friends. Connie’s youngest sister, Edna Buddle, writes:

 

 

 

My memories of Noel are still clear, even though they go back to the early 1920s.  I can recall the warm hospitality of Mr and Mrs Fred Gaze and Doris, at 75 Bellevue Road, and at the Milford Beach house, where Noel took me swimming, rowing in the old dinghy and playing miniature golf.

 

Noel was a regular visitor to our home in Balmoral Road.  I was only 13 months younger than my brother Stuart, with two very much older “courting” sisters.  Our practical jokes were not always appreciated, but Noel, in particular, accepted our pranks with good humour, and even allowed us to occasionally accompany them on walks up Mt Eden on a balmy Auckland evening.  Music played an important part in our home: singing around the piano, with Noel’s clear tenor voice ringing out.  An occasional ride in the Gaze family Buick was a highlight in the 1920s.

 

Noel was a wonderful role-model for us, as teenagers, with that delightful sense of humour which endeared him to us all.  And so at Christmas 1928 we were all shattered when Con terminated her relationship with Noel.  But the hospitality of the Gaze family never changed.  In January 1931, when Geoff Coop was born, I stayed at the Milford house for about a week.

 

Then in 1940 on the tragic early death of Joe Coop [husband of Edna and Connie’s sister Rito, and friend of Noel] Stuart and I travelled to Auckland by train, to be met by Noel, who was a tower of strength at that time, and to Rito for many years.

 

I still remember when Noel started his legal practice next to John Courts, a far cry from today’s Gaze, Burt!

 

He remained my legal advisor even after I married Pat, whose father started the legal firm, then Buddle, Anderson and Kirkcaldie.

 

The last occasion we spent with Noel was, I think, in 1963, when he advised us on the puchase of our home in Simla Crescent. 

Noel’s cheerful personality, integrity, humour and lasting friendship made him one of the most unforgettable characters I have ever known.

 

 

More Yachting

 

Second Christmas on Shamal 

During 1975 I spent many happy hours cruising in the Bay of Islands, often taking my marking with me during the weekend. I also joined the Waitangi Yacht Club and joined in the racing as often as I could. One of my best crew was my English Department colleague, Roger Taylor. Roger was a very experienced sailor. Having been a member of the crew of the James Cook Endeavour replica on its journey from North America to new Zealand when it was wrecked at Parengarenga Harbour in the far north.

 

Roger had also taken part in the single-handed race from New Plymouth to Mooloolaba in Queensland, and still owned the boat he had sailed then.  It was a concrete-hulled 19 footer, with no superstructure above the deck except the mast and rigging. The yacht was designed so that it could be sailed from below the deck in rough weather. Roger had taught himself to wake every 45 minutes when asleep to check on his course. 

Being a small boat, his entry arrived last of all at Mooloolaba, having encountered storms and been rolled right over twice on the way. 

 

I learned more from him and from the other old hands who crewed for me from time to time. Sometimes I also joined races from Russell or Kerikeri as well. There were three well-supported boating clubs in the Bay at that time.

 

The second January (1976) I again took Terry on a cruising holiday, but this time also engaged another crewman for the trip.  He was an American tourist, and worked on the yacht in return for travel with us.

 

We set out and made for Great Barrier, where we spent a few days at Tryphena anchored near the wharf. After Christmas we sailed south to the Coromandel Peninsula and down the east coast to Mercury Bay. There we met up with Stuart and Catherine and their family and spent a happy day sailing them around the bay. At this stage our American crew had gone walkabout for 24 hours to explore this part of the country.

 

We said goodbye to the relatives and headed north, spending a night in the lee of Great Mercury island. Then we rounded Cape Colville and flew down the west coast to Te Kouma Harbour, where we sat out a cyclone with a host of other yachts taking shelter.

 

When the weather cleared we sailed west to Waiheke and on up the Tamaki Strait to the anchorage at Rangitoto next to Motutapu Island.  Here we sat out another storm and had to stop the boat dragging its anchor in the middle of the night.

 

Next day we sailed in to Auckland, and I put Terry on his plane back to Dunedin for school, and then  with the American to help, sailed home to the Bay of Islands to get ready for school. 

During 1976 I regularly took groups of pupils out on the yacht on sports afternoons, along with one or two other teachers who also owned yachts. With eight on board we could divide up the jobs and rotate the crew so that everyone got a chance to try out each task.

 

In the Spring we joined in the mid-week evening races from the Yacht Club at Waitangi. The first week in November, I invited Margaret to crew along with Terry, but Terry developed a cold and wanted to stay home. So Margaret was put through her paces, and came through with flying colours.

I think it was probably this experience that convinced me she was a pretty good all-round companion! That was the day president Jimmy Carter won the US election .

 

Family History 2.10

Bigelow History: Pre-1630

Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona

 

 

Ramon Berenguer III is known as "the Great", because it was his reign that created the broadest reach of the Catalan Empire, to Nice in the east, and Valencia in the south.

 

When his father, Ramon Berenguer II, was killed in 1082, he became co-ruler with his uncle, Berenguer Ramon II, until the latter was forced into exile in 1097.

 

He was also Count of Provence, because he married Douce of Provence in 1112. Douce was his third wife.

 

By inheritance, conquest, and marriage, he extended the domain of the Barcelona regime on both sides of the Pyrenees.

 

Ramon Berenguer III established good relations with the Italian republics of Pisa and Genoa, both of which had powerful navies, and with Pisa attacked the Muslim islands of Majorca and Ibiza.

 

As a result of the domination of these islands, many Christian slaves were released from Muslim ownership. Also with Pisan help, he attacked Muslim districts to the south, like Valencia, and made them into his dependencies.

 

In 1116, with these victories behind him, he travelled to Rome to ask the Pope for a crusade to liberate the old Catalan capital of Tarragona. So by 1118 Tarragona was also taken, and rebuilt, and so the ancient bishopric of Tarragona was re-established as the centre for Christianity for Catalonia, instead of the French see of Narbonne over the mountains.

 

Late in his life, Ramon Berenguer III decided to become a Templar, and divided his lands between his two sons: one became count of Provence and the other of Catalonia.

 

He died in 1131.

 

Family History 1.114

Gaze History: NSG Memoir

Graduation and first employment

In 1925 Noel graduated Master of Laws, at that time the youngest person to graduate with an Ll.M. from a New Zealand University.  For some seasons he played soccer with a team at the Metro-College Club during these student years. He was, of course, like his family, deeply involved in the work of the church, in Bible Class, Sunday School, Choir and in social and sporting activities organised by the Bible Class Movement.  In the mid-twenties, a large group of Baptist young people who lived in the Mt Eden area got involved in the youth programme of the Grange Road Baptist Church, and Noel and Doris were part of this group.  At an Easter Camp at Milford Beach he was baptised in the sea on the Easter Sunday morning.  No warmed and sheltered baptismal tanks inside churches for that hardy generation!

In the mid-twenties, a sad event occurred: the illness of Noel’s best friend, Frank Crocombe. He was diagnosed with cancer, for which the treatments in those days were much less effective than they are now. One of those treatments was blood transfusion, which in those days was carried out direct from person to person.  Noel volunteered to provide the blood, and the transfer was carried out, but Frank died in spite of it.  Noel always felt he had contributed to the death; the whole family was devastated. 

On 6^th September 1926, Noel left his employment with the firm of Stewart, Johnston, Hough and Campbell (Whitaker Chambers, Wyndham Street).  His colleagues passed the hat around and bought him a present, and twenty-one signed this letter:

“Dear Mr Gaze,

                   We, the Staff of the firm of Messrs Stewart, Johnston, Hough and Campbell, with which you have for a good many years been associated, offer you the accompanying present as a token of our hearty goodwill on the occasion of your leaving us.  Your unfailing courtesy and good-humour have been as much appreciated by us all as, we are sure, your promptness and application to work have been by our principals.

                   May you have a really good time on your coming holiday trip and the best of luck when on your return you set up for yourself in business.

                   Yours very sincerely,”

The trip they mention was a holiday in Australia with Fred, Julia and Doris.  They saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge half finished, they toured the Jenolan Caves and the Blue Mountains at Katoomba. 

When they returned, Fred prepared to sell his business and retire, and Noel set up his law practice for himself in an office on the second floor (Level 3) of the Security Buildings in Queen Street, between John Courts corner (now Whitcoulls) and Whitcombe and Tombs.  It was directly opposite the big new Auckland Electric Power Board building built later, close to several banks and handy through a rear entrance to the Lands and Deeds Registry in High Street, and the magistrate’s court nearby.

 

 

Zaida Coad (nee Brown) remembers:

 

When I was about 6 and had been seriously ill, I went to Sunday School at Grange Road one Sunday when it was raining. Noel was secretary of the Sunday School.  He said I should go home because I had got wet. I said I wanted my ticket for learning my memory verse.  He said, “I will give you a ticket if you promise to go home.” For a young man he treated me very kindly and I have always remembered him.