Places

Date: 1999-2000 - 29 Oct 1999 - 20 May 2002

By: Selby, Rachael Ann, 1949-; Richmond, Joanna Mary, 1946-; Thorpe, Agnes Anne, 1939-

Reference: OHColl-0673

Description: Maori and Pakeha were interviewed for this project, which looks at the history of Otaki and the lives of ten of its community. Language - mainly English but possibly some Maori within interviews by Rachael Selby Interviewer(s) - Anne Thorpe Interviewer(s) - Rachael Selby Interviewer(s) - Jan Richmond Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-011052 - 011064 Quantity: 8 C60 cassette(s). 5 C90 cassette(s). 10 printed abstract(s) and accompanying photos and material. 10 interview(s). Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete. Several photocopies of photos accompany documentation Search dates: 1930 - 2000

Date: 02 May 2004 to 19 Jan 2006 - 02 May 2004 - 19 Jan 2006

By: Thorpe, Agnes Anne, 1939-; Bisdee, Margaret, active 2007; Otaki District Commercial Gardeners Society

Reference: OHColl-0819

Description: Interviews with committee members of the Otaki District Commercial Gardeners Society to preserve the memory and history of this historic yet declining society which was formed in 1942 with a bi-cultural constitution between the Chinese and European market gardeners of the Otaki district. Interviewees are Dow Kwan Chung, Bruce Corlett, David Foster, Jim Gow, John Griffin, Charman Moy, Peter Thorpe, Kee Sun Young, Andrew Yew Dick Yung and Jack Mun Yung and Jack Koon Yung. Abstracted by - Anne Thorpe Interviewer(s) - Anne Thorpe Interviewer(s) - Margaret Bisdee Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-015207 to OHC-015224 Quantity: 18 C60 cassette(s). 10 interview(s) (1 is a joint interview). Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete Abstract Available - transcript(s) available.

Date: 29 Dec 1999

From: Otaki oral history project

By: Moffatt, Raymond Rodney, 1925-; Thorpe, Agnes Anne, 1939-

Reference: OHInt-0673-05

Description: Raymond Moffatt, known as Ray, was born at home in Otaki in 1925. Mentions great grandfather Moffatt, a missionary, settling in Otaki in 1868, and family living there ever since. Worked with Dr Livingstone. Recalls that family farmed beside the Waitohu Stream from 1925 until ca 1990. Mentions family butcher shop, pig farming, dairy farming, milking, Rahui Dairy Factory, hay press, Otaki Railway Station, local shops, food, school, school boys helping to build a classroom, entertainment. Mentions mother, related to Ngati Raukawa, dying in the flu epidemic after World War I. Talks about father helping restore Rangiatea Church, build wall at Raukawa Marae, and do work for Catholic Church. Mentions his father's concrete making process. Mentions dances, married life, farming. Mentions buying two acres of land for 180 pounds sterling and a cow, and building home. Refers to rectifying purina moth problem, local families, involvement in clubs, including Lions, Citizens Advice Bureau and the Friendship Force. Interviewer(s) - Anne Thorpe Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-11061 Quantity: 1 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 Hours Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-3869. Photos include Ray & Joan's 50th wedding anniversary; Moffatt family; Rita and Edwin Moffatt (Ray's parents). Search dates: 1868 - 1974

Date: 20 June 2000 - 20 Jun 2000

From: Otaki oral history project

By: Moffatt, Joan Catherine, 1924-; Thorpe, Agnes Anne, 1939-

Reference: OHInt-0673-04

Description: Joan Moffatt, nee Walker, was born in Wellington in 1924. Her parents moved to a soldier's farm in Te Horo in 1923, where she lived until marriage in 1948. Mentions walking three miles to Te Horo Primary School, segregated playgrounds, games, tennis, and boys tending headmaster's garden. Talks about being left handed. Recalls children's chores, ironing, mother's household tasks, living without electricity, and family pets. Talks about Graeme Walker and his poultry farm which was a major employer, his siblings, and farming being in the blood. Mentions family vegetable gardens, birthday parties, Christmas, attending Wellington Centennial Fair, Te Horo dances. Recalls the Trembarths, Grants, Thorntons and Spiers, the blacksmith and shoemaker, Sunday school, her grandfather. Refers to mother having children at St Helen's Maternity Hospital, Wellington. Talks about meeting husband, Ray Moffatt, a dairy farmer, and farming in the Otaki Gorge. Mentions four brothers in Home Guard, her father's response to brother enlisting for World War II, serving in Italy and developing a love of opera. Mentions self and mother knitting socks and baking for Merchant Navy, making Hussifs (needle cases), the Patriotic Society's farewell dances for soldiers, hosting English Merchant Navy sailors, and young women writing to servicemen. Mentions her brother serving in Italy and developing a love of opera. Mentions her father belonging to the Wellington Mounted Rifles, being badly wounded at Gallipoli and in France, being sent back to Britain, and evacuation orders. Interviewer(s) - Anne Thorpe Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-11060 Quantity: 1 C90 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 interview(s). 49 Minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-3871. Photo of Joan in garden; the Walker family; Ray & Joan's wedding photo 1948 Search dates: 1930 - 1950

Date: 11 Oct 2000 - 11 Oct 2002

From: Otaki oral history project

By: Sharp, Cyril Mattias Wilder, 1907-2001; Thorpe, Agnes Anne, 1939-

Reference: OHInt-0673-03

Description: Cyril Sharp, known at Pat Sharp, was born in 1907 in Linton. Talks about grandparents who ran a hotel where there was always music. Talks about father who worked for Rangitikei Milk Company in Bulls for 30 years. Mentions schooling at Levin High School. Mentions briefly working at the Post Office, the Otaki ambulance, the Otaki Maori College. Talks about the Sanitorium, which had 80 patients. Mentions studying to be a plumber at night school in Wellington, but returning to Otaki during the Great Depression. Refers to government housing loans stopping, people doing any work for money, stores having two prices for all goods, sharing jobs. Mentions the importance of the horse stables in early Otaki. Mentions the local Chinese Pakapoo Den and its location. Talks about being a member of fire brigade for 38 years. Talks about being a piano player in a band, and playing at dances, where he met his wife. Mentions playing at the Tobacco Factory Hall during the Second World War. Refers to the Tahiwi sisters who sang. Mentions Inia Te Waiata, the Rikihana family, and Jimmy Sievers the undertaker. Talks about being in a car accident and hospitalised. Talks about working for Laidlaw Leeds. Talks about Otaki personalities, such as Murray Scott who as mayor introduced a sewerage scheme, and retailers Jim Bill, George Gimblett, the Edhouses and the Bakers. Mentions working in Wellington. Talks about his major interests as the fire brigade, rotary and dance clubs. Refers to his children moving away from Otaki, and talks about the old age pension. Interviewer(s) - Anne Thorpe Accompanying material - Photocopy of letter dated 1936 inviting a woman to a dance Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-11064 Quantity: 1 C90 cassette(s). 1.37 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-3872. Search dates: 1900 - 1950

Date: 20 Sept 2001 - 20 Sep 2001

From: Otaki oral history project

By: Swabey, Barbara Vernon, 1910-2003; Thorpe, Agnes Anne, 1939-

Reference: OHInt-0673-01

Description: Barbara Swabey was born in Wellington in 1911. Talks about her grandparents. Talks about how her grandmother Frances Simcox, nee Colenso, grew up on a mission station in Hastings, and spoke fluent Maori. Talks about her grandparents moving to Otaki in 1878, farming and building a homestead on leased Maori land at the Forest Lakes, and having a tennis court and a cook. Refers to her grandfather William Simcox, playing the organ at the Rangiatea Church, when Bishop Hadfield ran the Anglican mission. Mentions the missioners, the McWilliams. Refers to her parents settling in Otaki, and her father working at the butter factory. Mentions attending Miss Baber's (later Marsden) School, and boarding to attend Wellington Girls College. Mentions a governess. Describes holidays at the family's camping bach, her mother learning to drive a car, hotels, and shops. Talks about Karitane training in Wanganui, working as a Karitane nurse in Wellington during the Second World War, and returning to Otaki to nurse her mother until she died in 1958. Mentions travel was difficult during the war. Talks about being a life member of the golf club. Talks about writing articles for the Otaki Historical Society journal. Talks about her mother's family, who came from Birmingham. Interviewer(s) - Anne Thorpe Accompanying material - Notes written by Barbara prior to interview in 2001 Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-11058 Quantity: 1 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 Hours Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-3866. Photo of Barbara ca 2000; photo of Lincoln Imp, bought from England by mother; photocopies of family holiday camp built by Barbara's grandmother (Frances Simcox); photocopy of photo of Barbara as child in a boat Search dates: 1870 - 2000

Date: 27 Jul 2000

From: Otaki oral history project

By: Gimblett, Frederick George, 1929-; Thorpe, Agnes Anne, 1939-

Reference: OHInt-0673-06

Description: Frederick George Gimblett, known as Ted, was born in Northcote, Auckland in 1929. Talks about how his family moved to Otaki in 1939, where his father, bought the general store within days of the start of World War II. Mentions his father being rejected for enlisting in the war. Describes in detail the store, and products sold. Talks about a fire that gutted the store in 1942 and getting a government permit to restore it. Talks about the store's conversion to a Four Square shop, which his brother Jack took over in 1968. Talks about taking over his father's hardware store the same year. Talks about his father's involvement in the community, including the Otaki Council, president of the Grocers Association, golf, Masonic Lodge, school committees, and his love of English cars. Describes how his father looked after key townspeople, such as the bank manager, police and stationmaster. Refers to the bank manager as the 'lord of the manor'. Talks about class structures in the town, and to Maori being called 'Natives', and only being allowed to play golf on Wednesday afternoon. Talks about neighbouring families, and describes shopkeepers and shops. Talks about helping in the shop after school, stamp club and boys brigade. Talks about school, teachers, and discipline. Mentions a lack of jobs in Otaki after the war when soldiers returned. Refers to Paraparaumu, and describes Waikanae. Mentions his first car, a Morris 25. Describes Jim Sievers, the local undertaker, and related stories. Talks about the Civic Theatre. Talks about premarriage entertainment, dancing, courting at badminton and tennis, and the rifle club. Describes involvement with golf and rotary. Mentions children and siblings. Accompanying material - Notes on Gimblett family on Main Street, including photocopies of photos of their stores (4) Interviewer(s) - Anne Thorpe Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-11063 Quantity: 1 C90 cassette(s). 80 Minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-3871. Photos of Gimblett's first shop (interior) and Gimblett's Hardware Ltd (exterior) Search dates: 1939 - 1960

Date: 20 May 2002

From: Otaki oral history project

By: Manz, Arthur Herbert, 1917-; Thorpe, Agnes Anne, 1939-

Reference: OHInt-0673-07

Description: Arthur Herbert Manz was born in Wellington in 1917, and his family moved to Otaki in 1920. Recalls his German grandfather, a cottage weaver, who after the industrial revolution worked in the railway workshops. Recalls his father, a cabinetmaker, who emigrated to New Zealand, worked on the Manawatu Gorge railway construction, helped build the Hutt Park Grand Stand, and toured overseas with the 1905-6 Wellington Bowling Club. Mentions that his father's ethnicity became an issue during World War I, and that his mother was of English descent. Mentions getting pneumonia walking to school, school life, not being able to play football, movies, stores, dances, music and parties. Mentions the tuberculosis sanatorium. Talks about the Otaki Maori Racing Club. Talks about education and training to be a teacher. Mentions beekeeping and the Hautere Defence Rifle Club. Describes a trip to Mount Ruapehu in 1937 in a Model T truck, mentions the conditions of the roads. Recalls joining Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1940 during World War II, and having to request exemptions from the Provisions of the Alien Control Emergency Regulations because of his German nationality. Mentions that his sister worked as a WAAF for five years. Talks about his postings, including Taieri, Wigram, Hobsonville, Waipapakauri, Suva, Florida Island. Mentions he was trained in being a flying instructor, night flying, and Tiger Moths. Talks about returning to teaching after World War II, at Waitohu School, and being principal of the Otaki Health Camp School. Mentions Rangiatea Church being built. Talks about the Otaki Rotary Club, the railway station, rifle clubs, his wife and children, fishing, and leasing land to Chinese growers. Describes the Otaki Brass Band and the people involved in it. Interviewer(s) - Anne Thorpe Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-11054 - 5 Quantity: 2 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 interview(s). 2 Hours Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-3864. Search dates: 1920 - 1960