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Date: 6-7 May 1998 - 06 May 1998 - 07 May 1998

From: Government House oral history project Stage I

By: Hawthorn, Raymond George, 1927-2007

Reference: OHInt-0636/4

Description: Ray Hawthorn was born in Wellington in 1927. Gives details of his family background. Describes spending school holidays with his maternal grandfather, a butcher, at Rongotea. Describes his work routine, killing a pig and making sausages. Recalls difficult times during the Depression and his father's unemployment. Describes time off school for infantile paralysis (polio). Talks about growing up in Owen Street in Newtown, Wellington, being a cub and a boy scout and attending Wellington South School. Describes employment as a telegram boy with Post and Telegraph. Discusses restrictions on telegrams during World War II. Talks about becoming Government House delivery boy then being transferred from the Post Office to the Internal Affairs Department. Mentions Albert Naulls. Describes the Official Secretary at Government House, David Fouhy, and comments on the formality. Mentions the Governor-General was Sir Cyril Louis Norton Newall. Describes how the butler ruled one half of Government House, the Official Secretary the other. Describes lunches, etiquette, forms of address and curtseying. Discusses formalities at staff meals and explains the hierarchy. Discusses military hero Lord Freyberg who was the next Governor-General from 1946-1952. Comments on Lord and Lady Freyberg as a couple. Recalls visits of Eleanor Roosevelt, Lord Mountbatten, Field Marshall Montgomery and Lyndon B Johnson. Comments on politicians Sir Sidney Holland and Peter Fraser. Talks about the gardens at Government House and changes to the building before a royal tour. Discusses the 1953 Royal Tour, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. Mentions the Tangiwai disaster. Talks about getting married in 1956 to Shirley Goldfinch who worked at Government House. Describes his daily working routine, with reference to the mail, becoming senior orderly and later Administration Officer. Discusses the etiquette of presenting decorations. Talks about Lord Norrie, Governor-General from 1952-1957, and Lord Cobham. Mentions Lord Cobham's love of cricket. Discusses relationships between Governors-General and Prime Ministers. Mentions Walter Nash. Talks about English aides de camp before the time of Lord Porritt and changes with employment of more New Zealanders as staff. Describes the replacement of David Fouhy by David Williams as Official Secretary. Discusses the relationship between the Official Secretary and the Comptroller. Describes moving Government House to Auckland for three months each year. Talks about Sir Denis Blundell as Governor-General from 1972-1977 and then Sir Keith Holyoake. Comments on Waitangi Day and protest, Dame Whina Cooper and the 1981 Springbok Tour. Interviewer(s) - Hugo Manson Quantity: 5 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 interview(s). 4.30 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-3398.

Date: 8 Mar 2000 - 08 Mar 2000

From: Government House oral history project Stage II

By: Brown, James, 1925-

Reference: OHInt-0642/1

Description: Jim Brown was born in Christchurch in 1925. Gives details of his family background and childhood home on a farm at Russells Flat in Canterbury. Recalls being taught to shoot, fish and box by his father. Mentions that he was in the Army for World War II and the Korean War. Talks about attending school in Fendalton, boarding with his aunties and being an altar boy. Describes getting prizes for boxing at Christchurch Boys' High School and mentions being a welterweight in the Army. Recalls being in army cadets at school and the feeling of responsibility. Describes winning a scholarship to Duntroon and being there from 1945 to 1947. Discusses being posted to Japan in 1948 for the occupation. Talks about his hearing loss from years of working in tanks and with gunfire. Describes being aide de camp for Keith Stewart in 1948 and going to Government House. Describes being in Korea in 1951 and 1952 and his feelings about battle. Recalls returning to New Zealand and marrying Patricia Sutton. Talks about becoming Comptroller at Government House in 1961. Mentions General McKinnon. Describes how Lord Cobham was the Governor-General at the time. Discusses forms of address and his duties including financial duties. Discusses being the first New Zealand born Comptroller. Comments on the relationship between Lord Cobham and the Prime Minister, Keith Holyoake. Mentions that David Williams was the Official Secretary. Recalls the visit of the King and Queen of Thailand. Describes the controversy over the Cobhams' cars. Mentions Mac the chauffeur. Describes becoming an instructor at Duntroon from 1962 to 1965 then going to Waiouru and Linton with the Army. Mentions being Commissioner of Civil Defence from 1971 to 1977 before becoming Official Secretary at Government House in 1977. Recalls interviews with both Sir Denis Blundell, Governor-General when he first arrived, and his replacement Sir Keith Holyoake. Recalls escorting Sir Keith Holyoake to London to get his commission. Describes talking to the Queen. Discusses his daily routine as Official Secretary, the Governor-General's diary and the hierarchy at Government House. Comments on the relationship between Robert Muldoon and Governors-General Sir Keith Holyoake and Sir David Beattie. Mentions Holyoake's health. Discusses the redecoration of Government House by Lady Beattie and the committee she convened, Friends of the House (FROTH). Discusses the 1984 snap election, a media party being held at the time of its announcement and the reaction of journalists. Gives details regarding the proroguing of Parliament. Discusses the 1981 Waitangi Day protests and the 1985 Waitangi Day standoff when Sir David Beattie was kept waiting. Talks about the relationship of David Lange with the Governor-General, the Official Secretary's relationship with the Secretary to the Cabinet and communication with the secretary at Buckingham Palace. Discusses family at Government House mentioning the mother of Sir David Beattie and family weddings. Interviewer(s) - Hugo Manson Quantity: 5 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 interview(s). 4.30 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-3403.