PO Box 56076, Tawa Wellington 5249; Secretary ph 232 5901
Website: tawahistory.org.nz
The Tawa Historian
Newsletter #42 – June 2017
Dear Members and Friends,
The Tawa Memorial
I am sure that you will all be pleased to know that progress continues regarding the Memorial. Numerous members and friends joined in the service during which the Memorial was unveiled and dedicated, and a very moving occasion it was. We are grateful to officers and members of the Tawa RSA and the Tawa Rotary club who assisted most helpfully with essential tasks on 22 April 2017. There are still a number of finishing tasks to be completed regarding the Memorial before we complete payments to the contractors, and then make our final reports to all who assisted in the funding of the Memorial. The total cost will be in the vicinity of $180,000. We are grateful the Veterans Affairs have made a donation to the Memorial finances, as some unexpected costs accrued late in the piece. When all is completed, the Memorial will be handed over to the Wellington City Council for its future care.
We are delighted that, from a wealth of comments given or sent to us, the Memorial has been very well received by the Tawa community. We are also touched by the opportunities people are taking, in memory of family or friends, to lay small bunches or flowers, posies, and ANZAC poppies below the main Memorial wall. We hope such a practice will continue.
Progress on publications
Later this year, Gilbert Roper’s book on the tawa tree and the history of Tawa’s bush reserves, will be published and available for purchase. Many years ago, Gil’s M.Sc thesis was written on the tawa tree, and Gil is updating that work and adding to it. It will be a book not only of interest to our members, but also to our Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves. We hope it will appear in time for Christmas 2017.
Other books in preparation at the moment are Willowbank Reserve and its environs, covering topics in South Tawa such as early settlers Earp, Taylor and Greer; Te Patukawenga who gave the name ‘Takapu’ to later generations; the Bucket Tree; Earp’s orchard; McCoy’s Stockade; the two railways and Takapu and Redwood stations; and Arohata Borstal/Prison. Bruce Murray and David Parsons are working on this. Michael Steer has commenced to gather information for A History of Takapu Valley.
Brian Mexted 1928-2017
Most members will be aware that Brian Mexted, an eminent ‘citizen’ of Tawa and a supporter of our Society, died in May. We wish to acknowledge the quality of Brian’s practical work for and advice to the Society. He provided valuable information to us on the historical houses and other buildings in Tawa, and his knowledge of Tawa’s history was a significant contribution to our publication of 26 Oxford Street and the Bartlett Family in 2010, and Tawa Hall (2016). Brian was supported by Michael Steer in the publication of his Memories of Tawa Flat 1928-1958. Committee members always appreciated being able to approach Brian to gain his advice on one question or another on Tawa’s history. Brian was our guest speaker at our AGM in 2009. Michael Steer provided a eulogy at the well-attended service which celebrated Brian’s life, held in Paraparaumu on 26 May 2017.
Wellington City Council (WCC)
We are fortunate to enjoy a positive working relationship with both the WCC and its offshoot, the Tawa Community Board. That relationship has resulted thus far in a number of displays or structures of historical material in various parts of Tawa, such as:
• the bronze plaques which, in footpaths, mark the line of the Old Porirua Road through Tawa;
• the illuminated structure just south of the Tawa Library, which records some historical material; and
• the small information board alongside the Elsdon Best Memorial in Grasslees Reserve.
With the RSA and Tawa School we also placed a small bronze plaque below the Memorial Oak, now over 80 years old, which stands outside the gates of Tawa School; and with Kiwi Rail we worked to have historical material and illustrations placed in the walls of the new (2013) Tawa Railway Station building.
We are now investigating three other matters of a similar nature:
• an information board in Willowbank Reserve to alert visitors to the historical importance of both the Reserve and its immediate environs;
• an information board regarding Dr Brian Webb, in whose memory a Rose Garden was established in Grasslees Reserve; and
• we offer our support to the Tawa RSA should they decide to take up with the WCC the possibility of a new resting place for a large rock, currently in Willowbank Reserve, on which is set a plaque reminding residents of the end of World War 1 on 11 November 1918.
WW1 was a cataclysmic event in New Zealand’s history. One tenth of all New Zealanders, men women and children, of that time served overseas in the NZ Army, and casualties totalled over 50,000. With the unveiling of the Tawa Memorial, there is now a part of Grasslees Reserve which can accurately be called Memorial Corner, for it contains not only the Memorial, but also the Webb Memorial Rose Garden and the Best Memorial. There is therefore some logic in having the WW1 memorial rock and plaque also placed in this ‘corner’.
Tawa Historical Society AGM
Our AGM will be held on Monday 21 August 2017 in the Tawa Community Centre. We trust that a good number of our members will attend this important event when the activities of your Society in 2016-17 will be scrutinised. Please mark your diaries now. After the AGM, Jill Day, recently elected to the Wellington City Council, will speak, and supper will be served.
Kind regards,
Bruce Murray
Chair,
Tawa Historical Society