Johnson, Joan, 1923-2011

Date: 1945-1948, 1980-1987

By: Johnson, Ralph, 1950-

Reference: MS-Group-2344

Description: Ralph Johnson's papers cover chiefly records relating to the Town and Country Players' activities, and letters between Ralph's parents while his father, Neil Johnson, was with the Friends Ambulance Unit. Neil gives detailed descriptions of life in China in the aftermath of World War II and the emerging Civil war, and of life in Calcutta during the Partition crisis. Joan Oldman's letters are informative about nursing life in New Zealand during the closing days of World War II. Source of title - Supplied by Library Relationship complexity - For further material on the activities of the Friends' Ambulance Unit in China see the Oral History collection at OHColl-0050 Arrangement: Divided into three series. The first series relates to Town and Country Players' material, and the second to the letters of Wreford Neil Johnson and Joan Oldham. The third holds the few papers relating to neither of these topics, which are chiefly to do with Ralph Johnson's acting career and theatre in Wellington. Ralph Johnson acted with the Town and Country Players, a theatre company formed in 1980 to "bring live theatre, dance and music to rural areas". His father, Wreford Neil Johnson, served with the Friends Ambulance Unit, both in China 1945-1947, and in Calcutta in 1947 during the Partition disturbances. His mother, Joan Oldham, was a nurse at Hanmer and then at St Helen's Hospital in Christchurch during this time. Quantity: 27 folder(s). 0.50 Linear Metres. Physical Description: Mss, typescripts, printed matter, photos Provenance: Donor/Lender/Vendor - Donated by Ralph Johnson, Porirua, Aug 2014 Transfers: Photographs relating to the Town and Country Players, and a smaller collection taken by Neil Johnson while in China are under appraisal at the Photographic Archive, Jan 2015. Several copies of theatrical posters and fliers have been transferred to the Ephemera collection where they are held at PR-14-0566. Copies of the periodical 'Act' have been transferred to the Serials collection for appraisal, Jan 2015. The collection as a whole was received in the Manuscripts and Archives Section, with transfers from there as stated. - To Photographic Archive - See PA-Group-00978: Johnson, Ralph, 1950-: Photographs mainly relating to theatre company Town and Country Players - To Ephemera Collection - Posters and programmes relating to Town and Country Players (Reference PR-14-0566) - To Serials Collection - Copies of the periodical 'Act' for appraisal.

Date: 1945-1948

From: Johnson, Ralph, 1950- : Papers

Reference: Series-5866

Description: Comprises letters between Wreford Neil Johnson and his fiancee, Joan Oldham, while Johnson was serving as a business and finance manager with the Friends' Ambulance Unit in Zhengzhou and Shanghai and then in Calcutta from 1946 to 1947. His letters on Chinese life and the work of the FAU give a detailed and 'unofficial' picture of life in China in the late 1940's, between the end of the Japanese occupation and the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, while his letters written from Calcutta reflect the sense of crisis caused by the Partition in India prior to independence. Joan Oldham was nurse at Queen Mary Hospital, Hanmer Springs, then St Helen's Hospital in Christchurch, before returning to Hanmer. Her letters give a detailed and readable account of nursing life between the closing days of World War II and the immediate post-war years. Quantity: 13 folder(s).