Widows - New Zealand

Date: 23 Aug 2003

From: Tung Jung oral history project

By: Gee, Sommee, 1936-

Reference: OHInt-0747-02

Description: Interview with Sommee Gee, born in Shatou, China, in 1936. Begins by describing father's three wives (Sommee is daughter of wife no.2 who died when she was 3 months old), and circumstances of the family's immigration to New Zealand in 1941 during the Sino-Japanese conflict. Describes first impressions of New Zealand, the death of her father and stepmother 8 months after their arrival, and her subsequent guardianship by brothers and various relatives. Talks about life at Solway College, Masterton, and contrasts the strict environment of a private boarding school with life with her extended family, some of whom ran a fruit and vegetable shop which supplied the NZ army at Waiouru. Refers to life after school, the Baptist Youth Hostel where she boarded while attending Wellington Teachers College and activities as a student. Compares her opportunity for tertiary education (she was the only member of the family to be given it) with the lives of her brothers. Talks about her teaching career in schools in Blenheim, Wellington and Waikanae. Recalls meeting her future husband, Keith Gee, their courtship and early married life in Invercargill. Describes life in Wellington after their return there, and includes information on her status as an alien and the subsequent naturalisation. Recalls her return to relief teaching, and the difficulties for widowed mothers at the time. Interviewer(s) - Kitty Chang Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-014090 - OHC-014092 Quantity: 3 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 interview(s). 3.05 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete. Colour photograph of Sommee Gee, and copy of black and white photograph of young man holding baby Search dates: 1936 - 2004

Date: 19 Aug 1931

From: S P Andrew Ltd :Portrait negatives

Reference: 1/1-018447-F

Description: Portrait of Dame Christina Allan Massey, photographed by S P Andrew Ltd, 19 August 1931. Shows her seated on a couch, alongside a desk with a photograph of her late husband, Prime Minister William Ferguson Massey. Inscriptions: Marginal notes on negative - left of image - [?] 406 F Massey Dame Christina 19.8.31 Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Physical Description: Film negative

Date: 17 and 29 January 2014

From: Picton Freezing Works oral history project

By: Hebberd, Sandra Elizabeth, 1950-

Reference: OHInt-1621-07

Description: Interview with Sandra (Sandie) Hebberd by Loreen Brehaut recorded on 17 and 29 January 2014. Topics covered in the interview include: family and early life; education; teacher training; correspondence school; marriage; husband Bill’s work at Picton Freezing Works; move of Works to Blenheim; Halal butchers; drinking culture; teaching; changes in Picton after closure of Works; decline of seafood in Marlborough Sounds; children; working at Picton Creche; husband’s sudden death in 2002; and life as a widow. Title supplied by Library. Quantity: 1 Interview(s). 8 digital sound recording(s). 1 digital photograph(s). 1 Electronic document(s) digital abstract. 1 printed abstract(s). Search dates: 17/01/2014 - 29/01/2014

Date: [1890s-1980s]

By: McWhannell, Rhoda Leslie, 1897-1996

Reference: ATL-Group-00730

Description: Comprises 91 notebooks, newspaper clippings, and correspondence compiled by Rhoda McWhannell. Includes 23 diaries recording Rhoda McWhannell's daily appointments and her observations on the weather, dated 1964-1986. Also includes 62 journals containing more detailed comments on McWhannell's activities and current news from 1938-1986, interspersed with cartoons, clippings, quotations, stamps, photographs, and other items. Also includes four journals recording trips to Italy, the United Kingdom, and South Africa; two books of quotations and extracts; a folder of newspaper clippings, cartoons, a greeting card and a photograph; and a parcel of thirteen letters to Mr and Mrs Butler from McWhannell and others. Also includes 31 photograph albums, loose photographs, transparencies and negatives taken by Rhoda and Frederick McWhannell and others from circa 1890s to 1980s. Includes photographs relating to the McWhannell's homestead 'Rozel' and their eucalyptus nursery; forestry and farming at Ōhaupō; the McWhannell and McCurdie families; the World Wars; and more. Title supplied by Library. Quantity: 2 folder(s). 3 box(es) of transparencies. 31 album(s). 72 colour original negative(s). 91 volume(s) comprising 68 journals and 23 diaries. 1309 b&w original negative(s). Processing information: The requirement for the Chief Librarian to give permission to access to this collection was removed on 1 June 2022. The original reference number assigned to the collection, 87-052, was changed to ATL-Group-00730 in June 2022. The photographic component, formerly PA-Group-00780, was incorporated into ATL-Group-00730 in August 2022 during further re-processing of the collection.