NEWSLETTERS 2007

Karori Historical Society Newsletter

November 2007

The Society’s Next Meeting will be held on

Tuesday 4 December 2007 at 7.45pm

at St Ninian’s Hall, Newcombe Crescent, Karori

CATHERINE HODDER, who was elected to our committee at this year’s AGM this year, is our December meeting speaker. Her topic will be:

‘SCHOOLING IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY’

Catherine has many qualifications, but it is her MA degree with first class honours in the history of education in New Zealand that is relevant in this particular instance. Her talk will cover schooling in the 19^th century with some local examples. Education is an area that we all have opinions on so please join us for a stimulating evening.

At the conclusion of Catherine’s presentation our traditional Christmas supper will be served.

SEPTEMBER MEETING

Walter Cook, photographic librarian from the Alexander Turnbull Library, gave a most interesting talk and slide presentation on the theme of “Wellington City Landscape and Vegetation
from 1840”. The historical photographs were interspersed with more current views and Walter’s knowledge and enthusiasm for his subject were enjoyed by 56 members and friends.

SPEAKERS FOR 2008

We are currently considering speakers for our quarterly meetings next year. If you know of someone you think our members would be interested in hearing –
or if you have an idea for a particular topic – please talk to the president or one of the committee members

	FAREWELL TO THE OLD COMMUNITY HALL Some members of the Society, together with other locals, attended the farewell to the old hall held in September. This was an opportunity for people to socialise, listen to music, and to look at the memorabilia before the hall was demolished. Wally Simmers, chairman of the Hall Replacement Committee, took the opportunity to brief people on planning for the new hall to be built adjacent to the Karori Community Centre and days prior to its demolition. The foundation stone and some of the stained-glass windows from the old hall are to be preserved.
	CHRISTMAS PRESENTS It’s that time of year again when our thoughts turn to giving. This year why not give someone (who has been meaning to join the Society for years, but never got around to it) a SUBSCRIPTION TO THE SOCIETY? $15 for an individual - $20 for a family. And of course there are always our great publications - Terawhiti and the Goldfields - $39.95: Karori Streets 1841-1991- $16 Wreck of the Penguin - $16
	REMEMBRANCE Betty Arnold, a long-time member of the Society died recently. Betty was born in Taranaki and always retained an active interest in rural affairs. We will remember Betty’s cheerful and outgoing nature and extend our condolences to her family.
	WEBSITE Hard to believe that our website is now five years old – and going from strength to strength. It’s a very user friendly and accessible site – so check it out www.karorihistory.org.nz If you haven’t already logged on - give it a trial. Have you tried driving through the tunnel yet?

The Committee all join me in wishing all our members a peaceful Christmas and good health for 2008.

See you for a Christmas toast on the 4^thCheers Judith

August 2007

The Society’s Next Meeting will be held on

Tuesday 4 September 2007 at 7.45pm

at St Ninian’s Hall, Newcombe Crescent, Karori

GUEST SPEAKER:

At our next meeting - Walter Cook from The Alexander Turnbull Library will give an illustrated talk on:

“WELLINGTON CITY LANDSCAPE AND VEGETATION FROM 1840”.

Walter’s talk is one of many events outlined in the Heritage Gardens Spring Festival brochure.

The Heritage Promotion Council has listed an outstanding range of events for the months of September, October and November – we will have brochures available at the meeting.

Last Meeting – June AGM

Thank you to all those who attended the Annual General Meeting in June. The following officers were elected:

President Judith Burch

Vice-President Jan Heynes

Hon. Secretary Henry Brittain

Hon. Treasurer Frances Sutton

Hon. Auditor James Graham

Committee Elizabeth Bradford Kim Gray John Harper Catherine Hodder Adrian Humphris Robin Ormerod Phil Rogers

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION OVERDUE

If you have not yet paid your subscription, an invoice is included with this newsletter. You can pay by post or at the September meeting – PLEASE BRING THE REMITTANCE SLIP WE HAVE INCLUDED,THIS WILL ASSIST OUR TREASURER. Thank you

HISTORY OF KARORI BOOK

History of Civil Defence in Karori – information needed.

We need a paragraph or two on this topic for our History of Karori book. We know that some training activities took place in local churches, but if anyone has a more comprehensive view of Civil Defence activities in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Jan Heynes would be glad to hear from you –

Phone: 4768-714, or janheynes@xtra.co.nz

PUBLICATION

We congratulate our Society member, Margaret Alington, on the recent launch of her book An Excellent Recruit: Frederick Thatcher, Architect, Priest and Private Secretary in New Zealand.

Marsden Boooks in Karori are stocking this fascinating and comprehensive story of one of the first professional architects in New Zealand, who also found time to act as secretary to Sir George Grey, and also to be ordained as an Anglican minister.

TERAWHITI GOLDFIELDS

KHS member, David Luke, featured in a recent article in The Wellingtonian (2 Aug 2007) in which he spoke about the history of the goldmines and the threat to the mine sites and access routes if Meridian Energy places wind turbines on the Terawhiti Station. This is of great concern as much of the historical and archaeological value of the area will be lost when the proposed installations take place.

The Resource Management Act seemingly provides for the protection of such sites,but David Watt, New Zealand Historic Places Trust central area regional co-ordinator, said that while “both the Terawhiti gold fields and Sievers Track are recognised as historic sites by the trust neither are registered with the trust,” although registration is now being looked at. He says that “Meridian have been given permission to modify archaeological sites in the area to construct the wind farm”.

Karori Historical Society has written to NZHPT and Meridan Energy, expressing our concerns about the need to protect these historic areas.

SEARCH FOR c1900 COMMUNICATIONS OBJECTS

Karen Astwood, from the Museum of Wellington City and Sea, is looking for communication equipment to support a display called “Innovations and Inventions”. The items she mentions include c1900 telephones, telephone exchange and telegraph equipment, office desk lamps light fittings and shades, Post Office uniforms, or clothing that clerks would have typically worn.

If you can help Karen, please contact her at karen.astwood@wmt.org.nz

WEBSITE / MEMBERSHIP

Our membership is now 164. This number includes those who haven’t paid their subs yet as we know that once prodded these will come in !

The number of hits on our website continues to rise and so far 230 people have taken the cyber ride through the Karori Tunnel. As Phil, our Website caretaker says, “The Internet is like rust – it never sleeps !” Eager- eyed viewers will note the ride is pre lights at the bottom of the hill. Maybe we can find some tram-ride footage ,,, now that would make it really historical.

See you at our meeting 7.45pm Tuesday 4 September

Karori Historical Society Newsletter

May 2007

The Society’s Next Meeting will be held on

Tuesday 5 June 2007 at 7.45pm

at St Ninian’s Hall, Newcombe Crescent, Karori

AGM BUSINESS

Annual Report and Accounts
Election of Officers:
President, Vice-President, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer
Election of Committee
Election of Honorary Auditor
General Business

GUEST SPEAKER

Dr Archie Kerr who will talk about“MEDICINE IN ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN TIMES” - or -

“THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME”

I am sure we are in for a fascinating evening – do join us.

LAST MEETING Members who attended our March meeting enjoyed Peter Kitchin’s reminiscences about his experience as a journalist working for a number of newspapers. He also spoke about his weekly column, ‘Flashback’ which appears once a week in the Dominion Post; and also some of the very interesting people who have lived in Karori about whom he has written obituaries.	MEMBERSHIP Our membership is showing a steady increase to over 160 which we think can be attributed partly to the accessibility of our excellent web-site. We have over 160 members now and aim to continue this increase in support of the Society’s aims to preserve and monitor Karori’s historical sites and provide information on them. If you know of anyone interested please bring them along to a meeting and introduce them to other members.
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION NOW DUE We have included an invoice with this newsletter. You are welcome to pay your subscription at our AGM. If you choose this method - PLEASE BRING WITH YOU THE REMITTANCE SLIP WE HAVE INCLUDED – THIS WILL ASSIST OUR TREASURER Thank you.	PARLIAMENTARY LEGISLATION SUBMISSION At its last meeting the committee agreed to make a submission opposing some of the proposed changes to the Births, Marriages and Deaths Registration Bill. Our particular concerns were the proposed lack of access to these documents, which are some of the essential research tools necessary for all historians and genealogists, and the lack of prior public consultation.
PUBLICATIONS Congratulations to the Karori Golf Club on their publication; FOUR TO THE FORE – ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF GOLF IN KARORI 1905-2005.This has been written by David Sercombe, who members will recall talked to us at our last AGM in June 2006. It’s a good read with lots of interesting historic photographs. For anyone interested in golf and its history this is a must. Contact Craig or Helen at the golf shop phone 476 7337 to purchase a copy for $20.	COMMUNITY HALL Good news – the Wellington City Council has agreed to retain the land next to the Community Centre for community purposes for five years to allow residents to fundraise for a new community hall to be built on the site. This is a very welcome result for the community - now comes the hard work of fundraising. The Society will continue to keep a watching brief on this project
KARORI NORMAL SCHOOL Congratulations are due also to the Karori Normal School for organising a very successful 150^th anniversary during the Easter weekend. To mark the occasion the organising committee published “KARORI NORMAL SCHOOL Frontier Classroom to City School 1857 – 2007” This is a history of the school for the past 50 years and includes a reprint of the booklet Karori School Centenary. Again, this is a very worthwhile publication which is available from Marsden Books for $25. We have added these two books to our collection. It is great to have some more local history being published. We hope it will not be too long before our history of Karori is ready for publication: good progress is being made by our team.	DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND EMAILS A note of caution from our editor re the above – with the explosion of digital photography and email there appears to be a decrease in the numbers of family photographs printed out, and letters written concerning family affairs. This is arguably a dangerous precedent from an historical point of view as both photographs and letters have been an important resource for working historians and family researchers. For those interested in history this is worth noting and ensuring that prints of photographs and emails are made and retained just as they were before the new technology became so popular.
OUR WEBSITE If you haven’t already logged on - give it a trial. The website recently celebrated it’s 5^th birthday – from over 50 hits a week it is now getting visited over 50 times a day – which when you think of it – our little historical society in this great big cyber web of information – um – that’s amazing ! As to our latest addition to it - have you tried driving through the tunnel yet ? At least 100 people have already ! www.karorihistory.org.nz	CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STOCKADE A reminder that the editor is always interested in receiving contributions. Close-off date 1 OCTOBER 2007 SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE Terawhiti and the Goldfields - James Brodie (328 pages) - $35 Karori Streets 1841 - 1991 - W G Chapman & K Wood - $20 The Wreck of the Penguin - Bruce Collins (128 pages) - $20 Homewood - R W Lithgow (20 pages) - $10 Contact the Secretary

See you at our meeting 7.45pm Tuesday 5 June

KARORI HISTORICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY 2007

The Society's MARCH MEETING will be held on

TUESDAY 6 MARCH 2007

at St Ninian's Hall, Newcombe Crescent, Karori

at 7.45 p.m.

We hope all members have had a restful and enjoyable break during Christmas and New Year despite the sometimes inclement weather. We look forward to 2007 and hope you will enjoy the programme of speakers we have organised - starting with -

Peter Kitchin’s - ‘Reflections on a Newspaper Career in Wellington’

Some of us are familiar with Peter’s weekly Flashback items in the Dominion Post – they are always of historical interest.

DECEMBER 2006 MEETING – John Sullivan Curator of the Photographic Archive at the Alexander Turnbull Library showed us a number of images of the early days of Karori’s settlement together with a selection of some of the archive’s latest acquisitions.

PROGRESS REPORT ON – THE HISTORY KARORI PROJECT

Frances Sutton has formatted the majority of the completed texts following the Style Guide published by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture. This has been a major task and we are grateful for her help. Three members of the committee are meeting regularly to ensure the project stays on track/keep moving along……

WEBSITE

Our membership is now 164. This number has come from a steady increase over the past quarter which we think can be attributed partly to the accessibility of our excellent web-site. If you haven’t already logged on try it at – www.karorihistory.org.nz With the advent of YOUTube and ease of access to moving images the website will start to make video scenes of Karori accessible on the Net Watch this space !

DATES OF OUR QUARTERLY MEETINGS FOR 2007

Tuesdays

6 MARCH 5 JUNE (AGM) 4 SEPTEMBER 4 DECEMBER

Please make a note of these in your diary now so you don’t forget

THE STOCKADE

Issue No. 39 is at the printer. We hope it will be included with this Newsletter – if not it will be sent to you shortly. Our Editor has advised that she is looking for contributions for Issue No. 40 – so all those aspiring contributors do start writing. The close-off date will be 1 OCTOBER 2007.

For Newsletters 2005/2006 CLICK HERE For PREVIOUS Newsletters CLICK HERE