Kensington, Timaru, South Canterbury, N.Z.

KENSINGTON - Suburb of Timaru on the south side of the Domain sold for Charles Bowker, a land broker, in 116 sections on 29th February, 1876, then about two miles south of Timaru. The Town Belt circled Craige Ave and the south side of the Timaru Botanic Gardens - Domain Ave.
Zip code 7910

Streets

Reference: Timaru Herald   1864 -1900 
Timaru Herald September 1891
Death. HUGHES - At James Street, Kensington, on the 22nd September, William Hughes aged 37 years.

Timaru Herald, 28 October 1898, Page 2
MARRIAGE. Reilly— Murphy— On October 27th, at the Catholic Church, Timaru, by the Rev. Father Tubman, John Reilly, third son of P. Reilly, Prospect Hall, Waterford, Ireland, to Katie, eldest daughter of J. Murphy, Kensington, Timaru.

New Zealand Tablet, 17 November 1898, Page 17
Reilly — Murphy. — On the 27th October, at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Timaru, by the Rev. Father Tubman, John Reilly, of Prospect Hall, Waterford, to Kate Murphy, of Kensington, Timaru.

Poverty Bay Herald, 13 May 1915, Page 4 Wounded
Wellington Battalion. 10-333 Private Fred Herdern Davey (W. H. Davey, James Street, Kensington, Timaru)

Evening Post, 15 September 1915, Page 8 Wounded - Canterbury Battalion
Anderson, John Allan, 6/402, Pte. (Samuel Anderson, Elizabeth-street, Timaru) ; shock, 20th , August
Griffin, Andrew Joseph, 6/1548, Pte. (David Griffin, Hereford-street, [sic] Kensington, Timaru, father) ; legs

Timaru Herald, 30 August 1878, Page 3
SALE OF KENSINGTON TOWNSHIP.
Messrs John King & Co. sold at auction yesterday, the township of Kensington, situated just outside the South Town Belt. The attendance was very large, the bidding spirited, and the prices realised highly satisfactory, as the following particulars will show : —
Lots Nos. 1 to 6 B. Hibbard at £112 each
7, B. Hibbard, £168
8, T. Mills, £143
9 to 12, R. B. Taylor, £100 each 
13, P. Kippenberger, £106
14, P. Kippenberger, £105
15, Ackland, £108 
16 and 17, Ackland, £106 each 
18 to 21, A. Ormsby, £104 each
22, G. Donne, £135 
23, Kennedy, £87 
25 W. H. Hunt, £53 
26, Wigworth, £48 
27, Stephens, £41 
28 and 29, Coles, £38 each 
30, M. Cormick, £40 :
32, J.Macdonald,£63 
33 and 34, R. R. Taylor, £72 each 
37, T. Mills, £102 
38, T. Machin, £127 
39, Arsatt, £88
40, Russell £151
41 and 42, Reeves, £73 each 
43, Albury, £73 
44, Langbien, £62
45, B. H. Carter, £78
47, Merry, £76 
48, W. T. Barnett, £61 4
49, W. T. Burnett, £52 
50, Craighead, £52 
51 and 52, Alexander, £51 each 
53, Machin, £110 
54, Machin, £86 
55 and 56, J Derby, £77 each 
57, Hollow, £77 
58 and 59, W. Balfour, £73 each
60, W. Balfour, £61
61, G. Downe, £56
62, Browse, £47 
63, T. Hall, £42 
64 to 67, T. Hall, £63
68, T. Hall, £82
69, A. Mills, £90
70, Winterborne, £60
85, Merry, £54
86, Merry, £42
87, Burnett, £39 
88, William Groves, £39
97, Wiggins, £39
98, J. Thomas, £44
99, Carter, £55 
100, Stephens and Martin, £43 
101, J. Harvey, £40 
102, McKenzie, £45 
103 and 104, Stephens, £56 each 
105 and 106, W. Balfour, £52 each
107, W. J. Wilson, £50
108, W. Balfour, £50
109, Drake, £50
110, Hope, £50
111, Gardner, £56
112, J. Mason, £60 
113, J. Lovey, £59 
114, Scarf, £63 :
115 and 116, T. F. Dillon, £85 each 
117, J. Stewart, £121.

Glossary:
Link:  The streets are 75 links wide. The streets are 47.52 feet wide or 15 metres wide.
a.(in a surveyor's chain) a unit of length equal to 7.92 inches (20.12 centimeters).
b. one of 100 rods or loops of equal length forming a surveyor's chain.
Chain: The Town Belt is two or three chains wide. A distance-measuring device consisting of a chain of 100 links of equal length, having a total length either of 66 ft. (20 m) (Gunter's chain or surveyor's chain)  

Photo No. 2. Intersection of Craigie Ave (straight ahead, the bypass through Timaru heading towards Christchurch) and King St. This was the Town Belt. 3 chains wide or 198 feet wide.

Timaru Herald, 18 November 1878, Page 2
A very extensive sale of properties on account of Mr C. Bowker and others. The sale to well attended, and the prices obtained were good, fully showing that capitalists and speculators have unbound faith in the future prosperity of this district. 23 sections, situated in Regent street, off North -street, brought an average of £64 per section, of less than a quarter of an acre. 15 sections in Normmby Township realised an avenge of £18. 3 sections, at Piko, Pleasant Point, £l4 each. They would draw attention to a very large and important sale of properties, to be held at their rooms on Wednesday, next, 20th inst.

Photo No. 1. An old weatherboard house with a corrugated iron roof and a double chimney with two chimney pots.
Who ever built this house knew how to built fireplaces. A chimney needs to be higher than the roof line to work properly otherwise it will smoke.
South Street cottages

The south side of town was considered the poorer part of town with the hospital, cemetery, rubbish land fill
and Peeress Town that had a problem with typhoid and section prices reflected that.

The Tegg family.

The Tegg family arrived at Lyttelton on December 9th 1863 on the ship "David G. Fleming."

Tegg 	William 	27 Middlesex, occupation carpenter 
	Matilda 	23 
	Martha 		 3 
	Ellen E. 	 2 
	William 	infant  (maybe one of the infants that died on the voyage) 

Matilda, moving to New Zealand, at the young age of 23, was under stress. Support from family and friends can help but did she have any? She was very moody and verbose. Her mental health probably began to deteriorate with the birth of each of her children, combined with other external stressors. She was admitted to Sunnyside as early as 1876 at the age 36. By this time she had already given birth to nine children and went on to be gravida XIII, para XIII, (9d & 4s). Depression is a mental illness that tends to run in families and postpartum depression if left untreated can last for years. There is a correlation between a mother’s social class and postpartum depression. She had many risks factors for postpartum depression - age at marriage, parenthood, size of family, low socioeconomic status, low social support, poor marital relationship, unplanned pregnancies, hormonal changes, childcare stress, a lack of free time, low self esteem and she was 10,000 miles away from her own family. The most common age of onset for depression is during the mid 20s and is best treated promptly. She was paranoid. She accused the teachers at Side School for mistreating her children and the complaints were groundless. Depression may make it difficult for a mother to ensure her children are well-nourished. Two of her children are buried at the Timaru Cemetery. One daughter died at six months and an another daughter died at three days but was born to her 1883 when she was 43 years old and this was her thirteenth child. Women with a family history of depression or mental illness are more likely to have depression. William Tegg, a carpenter, abandoned Matilda about 1886. Matilda was still causing havoc in Timaru in 1900 and there after probably put into jail or Sunnyside.

2012 Niceness- Researchers have decided that parents DNA may actually contribute to the kinds of moods and personalities their children inherit.

Ashburton Guardian, 19 January 1916, Page 7 The age at marriage on the health of parents and children.
The health of the children is more powerfully influenced by the age of the mother than by that of the father. The very youthful mother does not possess the experience required to rear the child and to protect it from the numerous diseases of early life to which it is exposed. Nor has she had the experience before marriage to choose the husband best suited to her, with the consequence, often, of an unhappy home life, which is bad for mother, father, and children. At whatever age people marry they risk mistakes, but very young people, guided solely by the emotions, are still more likely to make faulty selection of the partners for life. Add to these considerations that early motherhood is often followed by life-long injury, to the constitution of the mother, as well as delicacy of subsequent children, and it is no wonder that an immense number of early marriages are tragic failures. At the other extreme it is more difficult to fix the age. But in most cases it is desirable that, woman should bear her first child -before the age of 35 or 36. These are the most desirable physiological limits. Between them we have age periods of varying degrees of desirability of marriage. Having regard to the health of the mother and the prospects for the children, the very best age period for a woman to marry is between 23 and 25.

Mary Tegg was buried in the Timaru Cemetery 10 March 1877 age 6 months.
A daughter Tegg was buried at the Timaru Cemetery aged 3 days in 1883.
Peter Tegg was buried 21 June 1889 in the Timaru Cemetery aged 1 year.
George Tegg is buried in the Timaru Cemetery 23 July 1914, aged 89.

Some of the records are not recorded in NZ Births.
Births				Mother and father
1864 Tegg Letitia 
1866 Tegg Matilda Ann        			    	(died in an Asylum in Christchurch at age 40) 
1868 Tegg Margaret Jessie 
1870 Tegg Florence 
1872 Tegg Minnie Sophia 	Matilda Ann William 
1873 Tegg James Henry 		Matilda Ann William 	(committed suicide at age 17)
1878 Tegg William Frederick 	Matilda Ann William 
1883 Tegg un-named daughter	Matilda Ann William 	(died age 3 days)
1882 Tegg Clara Letitia 	Letitia NR 	    	(had three children out of wedlock)								
1885 Tegg Thomas Henry Cabot 	Letitia NR 
1887 Tegg Isabella Violet 	Letitia NR          	(died at age 2 years)
1909 Tegg Avis Florence Ivy 	Ivy Leah George Arthur 

Deaths
1883 Tegg un-named daughter	 3D 			(infant of Matilda Ann & William)
1889 Tegg Isabella Violet 	 2Y 			(child of Letitia's)
1892 Tegg James Henry 		17Y  			(committed suicide)
1919 Tegg French 		 1M 
1925 Tegg Martha Emily 		66Y  			(she arrived in Lyttelton at age 3 and never married)
1932 Tegg George Arthur 	58Y 
1939 Tegg James Henry 		19Y 

Marriages 
Ellen Elizabeth Tegg to George William Hirst in 1886 
George Arthur Tegg married in 1908 and died in 1932

Christchurch City Council Cemeteries Database 
TEGG, Annie 			    			(probably Matilda Ann born in 1866 in NZ) 
Date of death: 	Saturday, 25 August 1906 
Cemetery: 	Sydenham Cemetery 
Date of burial: Monday, 27 August 1906 
Block number: 	9C Plot number: 14 
Age: 		40 
Address: 	ASYLUM 
Place of birth: England [sic]

Timaru Herald, 16 January 1874, Page 5
Timaru School prize giving Class V. Letitia Tegg.

Inwards Correspondence to the Provincial Secretary
27/06/1876  Seager / Lunatic Asylum to Superintendent - Martha Tegg not ready for discharging.
Edward William Seagar was the first superintendent of Sunnyside Hospital.

Timaru Herald, 24 October 1877, Page 4 Civil Case
Board of Education v. W. Tegg. Claim £3.

Timaru Herald, 8 November 1881, Page 3
The following letter from Miss Haase, the Mistress of the Timaru Side School, to the Chairman of the Committee was read : — " Sir, — Two women, Mrs McKenzie and Mrs Tegg, are in the habit of coming to this school to make groundless complaints about the treatment their children, who are pupils at this school, have received at my hands and those of the pupil teachers. The children referred to have at all times been treated with most impartial justice, but it is impossible to explain this to their mothers, as owing to their rudeness and violence, especially in the case of Mrs Tegg, my only refuge lies in abutting the door and refusing to speak to them. I have referred them to the Committee, but without avail. Mrs Tegg came this very morning and insulted Miss Griffin and me in a shameful manner, threatening to smack us in the face, and telling us it was she who kept us, and a great deal more to the same effect. I was compelled to request one of the teachers to fetch a policeman in order to protect Miss Griffin and myself from the woman's violence...

Timaru Herald, 26 July 1883, Page 3
Elizabeth Tegg was charged by Rebecca Wall with using insulting and abusive language towards her on the 20th instant.

Timaru Herald, 28 July 1883, Page 3
Elizabeth Ann Tegg appeared in answer to a summons charging her with having unlawfully assaulted and beaten Mary O'Rourke, on the 23rd inst. The parties live at Kensington, and disturbance arose between them on Monday last. 

Star 26 July 1883, Page 2
The R.M. Court at Timaru was yesterday the scene of lively proceedings. A woman named Wall had summoned another, named Tagg [sic], for calling her a very foul name, and each party was accompanied by a cloud of witnesses and acquaintances of her own sex. During the hearing of the case these excited females kept up a fire of interjaculatory remarks uncomplimentary to the side with which they did not happen to sympathise, and defendant herself poured forth a torrent of eloquence in her own defence that quite took the breath away from the onlookers. The frowns of the Bench, the pleadings of friends, the coaxing of one constable and the sternness of another, were powerless to stop her, and at last it was tacitly agreed to let her "run down," which she finally did.

Timaru Herald, 31 July 1883, Page 3
Daniel McKenzie was charged, on the information of Wm. Tegg, with wilfully breaking a door and window of the value of 30s, in complainant's home at Kensington, on the 20th inst. This case rose out of a neighbor's quarrel in respect of which an assault case was heard on Friday last. The evidence showed that defendant had taken part in the disturbance, had chased Mrs Tegg into her house and kicked in a panel of the door in attempting, as it appeared, to kick Mrs Tegg as she retreated into the house. Under cross examination, Tegg's children denied that their mother took out a carpenter's adze to defendant, and denied that anyone threw a tomahawk at him through the window, and so broke it. Defendant in explanation laid his daughter, a little girl, was being ill-used by Mrs Tegg and her daughters. He went up to protect her. Mrs Tegg came out with a carpenter's adze, and said some most offensive language to him. His Worship called up Mrs Tegg and told her that she bad been largely to blame herself. These neighbors' quarrels were a great nuisance, and he would stop them if he could. He would order that the defendant and Mrs Tegg, through her husband, be bound over in the turn of £25 each to keep the peace towards each other and everyone else for six months.

Timaru Herald, 3 October 1883, Page 3
Matilda Ann Tegg, aged 17, was committed to Sunnyside Asylum on the certificates of Drs. Hogg and Drew that she is of unsound mind.

Timaru Herald, 3 January 1884, Page 5
The annual distribution of prizes previous to the breaking up for the Christmas holidays, of the Timaru Public schools, took place on Thursday, Dec. 20. About one o'clock the children belonging to the Infant School and the Side School assembled in the long room of the Infant Department, the Head Mistress of the Infant School. Miss Kippenberger, being in charge of the whole. SIDE SCHOOL— BOYS. (General Proficiency — Standard II., George Tegg, Ist;

Timaru Herald, 9 October 1885, Page 2
The assault case William Tegg v. Matilda Ann Tegg did not come on, there being no appearance of either party.

Timaru Herald, 2 February 1887, Page 3
George Arthur Tegg said he was down by the viaduct about 1.15 p.m. on Monday with some other boys.

Timaru Herald, 20 July 1886, Page 2
Matilda Ann Tegg was arrested yesterday afternoon by Detective Kirby for using obscene language, and generally conducting herself in a very disorderly manner. It appears that prisoner is quite a nuisance to the many people who reside in Rose street, and that repeated complaints have been made to the Police about her. So late as yesterday morning a fresh complaint was made about her and the officer named at once proceeded to her house. On his arrival she came out of her house and made use of very obscene language. In fact she became so violent and insulting that he was obliged to arrest her. The scene was such a lively one that in a few minutes a crowd of fully 250 men, women and children had collected, and what with Matilda Ann and her dog, Detective Kirby had a gay time of it. The latter took his mistress' part right gallantly, and before the arresting officer got rid of him he was minus a piece of the left leg of his trousers. Finally, prisoner was taken safely to the lock-up, and will make her appearance before Mr Beswick this morning.

Timaru Herald, 26 February 1889, Page 4
Magisterial Timaru — (Before F. LeCren and M. J. Gray, Esqs., J.P.'s.) Drunkenness. Wm. Johnson, arrested on Cain's Terrace at 2 a.m. on Sunday was fined 5s or 24 hours. Michael J. Kennedy was fined 20s or a week. AN UNCONTROLLABIE VAGRANT. Matilda Ann Tegg, an elderly woman, whom the officers of the Charitable Aid Board admit their inability to control, was charged with vagrancy. She had been sent to gaol for a month a short time ago as a caution to behave more quietly in the wards, and on being released from gaol was readmitted to the wards. Her habits were not a whit improved by the month's imprisonment, and the caretaker was compelled to turn her out again. From his evidence and that of the inmates it appears that the objectionable thing about her is her "continual jaw, jaw, jaw."

Star 26 February 1889, Page 3
A Termagant. — The officer in charge of the poor wards at Timaru has more than his match in a protégé of the Charitable Aid Board, an old woman named Tegg. She has no respect for authority or anything else, and her weakness is to stick up anybody she meets anywhere and string out her grievances with such a wealth of detail that time would never allow of her completing the tale. In the wards this ceaseless flow of complaint is a nuisance, and attempts to check it at unseasonable hours constitute new grievances, to be protested against in still higher tones till daylight doth appear. The stricter discipline of gaol appearing more in keeping with her moods, the Bench sent her back there for a couple of months.

Timaru Herald, 26 April 1889, Page 2
The Hon. Mr Hislop, Colonial Secretary, came up from Oamaru yesterday, to confer with the Charitable Aid Board, in regard to the transfer of the old Immigration Barracks to the board for use as a destitute children's home. The Mayor, chairman of the board, mot Mr Hislop at the train, and Mr Jackson, ex-chairman, who was going on by the train, and Mr Turnbull M.H.R., had a quarter of an hour's conversation with the Minister and the Mayor about it lit the railway station. Mr Hislop was shown over the barracks by the Mayor, who gave him particulars of the children now supported by the board at Burnham and Nelson, and of those maintained in the barracks and a few boarded out. A plan and a description of the building and site were also supplied. He showed much interest in the condition of the children and old folks in the home, and among the latter the voluble Mrs Tegg gave him a specimen of the exuberance of her verbosity.

Timaru Herald, 1 November 1892, Page 3
A youth named Tegg, between 16 and 18 years of age, who had been employed for the past fortnight or so at Hedges and Sons' willow farm at Milford, was found yesterday morning hanging dead in a stable on the farm. The Coroner went out in the afternoon to hold an inquest. An unfortunate youth named James Tegg, aged about 18, committed suicide by hanging himself on Sunday night. He was employee at Mr Geo. H. Hedge's osier works [Gaiser farm (sic), near Temuka] [basket maker], and not putting in an appearance in the morning at the usual hour a search was made for him, and his corpse was discovered suspended to a beam in one of the sheds. No reason is assigned for the act, but the youth is believed to have been of somewhat weak intellect. Deceased has a brother here, lately employed by Mr George Watts, but now in the hospital. Two of his sisters died in lunatic asylums. [Osier: Any of several willows having long rodlike twigs used in basketry]

Timaru Herald, 2 November 1892, Page 2
An inquest was held at Temuka on Monday afternoon before the Coroner Mr C. A. Wray, and a jury of which Mr Henry was foreman, into the suicide of James Tegg, mentioned in yesterday's issue. F. J. Hedges, one of deceased's employers, stated he had been in their employment about a fortnight, but as the works were stopped last week he did not see much of him. He seemed "soft," and slow at his work. They walked to Temuka together on Sunday evening, and he observed nothing unusual in his manner. Had noticed that he seemed to fret about his brother going to the hospital. W. Phillips, a fellow employee, gave evidence of finding the boy hanging to a rafter in a shed, to reach which deceased had used a ladder. The boys used to call deceased " luny." Constable Egan in his evidence stated that he found a piece of paper on the floor of the shed with the words written on it, " There is nothing I am good at, so I am going to hang myself." The Jury returned a verdict of "Temporary insanity."

Timaru Herald, 14 October 1893, Page 4
G. A. Tegg, a youth, the driver, and G. Watts, cordial owner, the owner, were charged with cruelty to a horse by working it whilst it was suffering from a sore leg.

Timaru Herald, 6 December 1900, Page 4
The South Canterbury Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. The secretary reported that one of the inmates of the Home, named Tegg, had been misbehaving, coming in intoxicated, and creating a disturbance, using abusive language to the caretaker, and occasionally using or trying to use his fits. The secretary was instructed to turn him out if he misbehaves again, and let him be dealt with as a vagrant.

Evening Post, 11 July 1910, Page 8
Before Mr. W. Inglis, J.P., this morning, at the Petone Police Court, G. A. Tegg was convicted and fined 10s for drunkenness.

Evening Post, 27 March 1911, Page 8 Petone
George Arthur Tegg, for obtaining liquor during the currency of a prohibition order (two charges), was convicted and discharged in each case.

Evening Post, 18 April 1912, Page 2 Petone
Penalty for default was fixed at seven days' imprisonment. For a breach of a prohibition order, George Arthur Tegg, who did not put in an appearance, was fined 40s, with costs 7s. "I will send him to Rotorua if he comes before me again," said his Worship. Dr. M' Arthur, S.M., presiding.

Evening Post, 17 September 1913, Page 8
George A. Tegg appeared to answer a charge of assaulting one Belsher, at Ngahauranga, on 5th August. Accused, who pleaded guilty, said he had lost his temper and had struck Belsher on the face. The Railway Department pressed for a heavy penalty, but owing to the general good behaviour of the accused, the Magistrate took a lenient view of the case and fined Tegg £1.

Evening Post, 17 February 1915, Page 8 Petone
George Arthur Tegg, for procuring liquor during the currency of a prohibition order, Was fined 20s, with costs 7s. Penalty for default was fixed at three days in gaol.

Evening Post, 28 April 1915, Page 8 Petone
On the application of the police, a prohibition order was issued against George Arthur Tegg.

Timaru Herald 05/08/2008
Characters brought Craigie Ave alive
Inevitably Craigie Avenue must come into my meanderings around our lovely city. I say inevitably because after its modification and inclusion into the bypass through Timaru it is not difficult to see that it carries more traffic than King Street or Otipua Road going south from the city. James Craigie was mayor of Timaru for 10 years, served on the harbour board and was a member of Parliament and the Legislative Council. It is thus right and proper that his name should be held in the highest regard and indelibly printed on our memories. As a result of the by-pass realignment, number four Craigie Avenue was demolished. However, the memories of this residence are so strongly imprinted on me that I must pass them on to the reader. This particular house was half way between North Street and Heaton Street on the eastern side of Craigie Avenue. During my years at Main School, 1934 to 1941, I would pass this house once or twice a day. One day, just outside the gate and the hedge-line, a magpie popped out. It was quite a young bird that seemed friendly. While standing looking at the bird an elderly man came through the gate and spoke to the cheeky bundle of feathers. He looked at me. Later, I was to learn he was Mr Roland, an Austrian Jew, who because of the Nazi threat, was astute enough to see what was coming in Europe and shifted his family of two parents and five grown-up children to New Zealand. From this simple incident we - that is, Mr Roland and myself - became firm friends. That day he asked me to buy some steak for his magpie friend, which I did and on many occasions later. This also led to me being introduced to the rest of the family. Mrs Roland was taller that her husband and was a very warm, welcoming person. I believe Olga was the eldest daughter and the other three girls were Phyllis, Elsa and Stephanie, while Max, their only son, was, I believe, the youngest. The family brought with them two marvellous skills, even if only for a short period of time. They were expert glove and button makers and all experienced musicians. Classical musicians that is, with piano, violins and possibly a viola and cello. I still see Mr Roland clearly. He was short, solidly built, always wearing his little skull cap and kept himself mostly downstairs, away from the throb of machines in the glove factory around and above him. The family moved north after Mr Roland died.

Across the avenue and just beyond Napier Street stands the Sacred Heart Basilica, a magnificent masterpiece of architecture which you could say is imposing in its isolation. Unlike the beautiful inner-city churches which seem to lose something being closely surrounded by other buildings and streets, the Basilica can be seen from far off and must have a strong influence on its parishioners. It was apparently completed in 1911 after an earlier church burned down. In today's world one has to wonder how the faithful of the time ever managed to assemble the necessary money to create such a landmark. If only the building could talk, what a wonderful story it would be able to tell. I had a brother and a sister married there during the Second World War.

Crossing the avenue to the east we come to the block bounded by Craigie Avenue, Rose, Heaton and Browne streets. Marist Brothers School was situated on the south-east corner while St Patrick's Hall was, and still is, west of the school, and on the north-western corner was a residence for the priests and helpers. Most of the north-eastern area of this block comprised playgrounds. Not only was I familiar with the school but also known to many of the boys. Some of them in particular were Ted Fitzmaurice, Kevin Norton, John Griffin, Clem Durning, Gerald Richards, Bernie Welford, Peter Conroy, Felix Cain, Des Vuleta, Les Plever, Jim O'Brien and Cyril Fitzgerald. Passing close to the school twice a day was a boy, who will remain nameless, who took delight in beating the hell out of me. I could never work out why but I certainly did not provoke him. One day, after a hiding, I got part way down Rose Street (which at the time was not sealed), picked up a flat beach stone and let fly with it. By some magical fluke it hit him on the forehead and he never touched me again.

One remarkable figure at Marist Brothers was Brother Marcellin, a giant of a man who could be both gentle and strong when wielding the cane. He was renowned for his ability to swim two lengths of the Century Pool under water. St Patrick's Hall has been in the community for a long time. The South Canterbury Competition Society used it for many years. These competitions became an important part of our pre-war amusements. Scottish and tap dancing, ballet and singing, pianoforte and violin, brass instruments and recitations, were among the subjects and competitors would come from all over the South Island. Mrs Triggs, Miss Thwaites and Mrs Lyons were some of the teachers whose pupils took part. The hall was used for many different functions, including Saturday night dances where liquor was not allowed near the hall. At the western end of Browne Street, across the avenue, is Roncalli College, brought about by the melding of St Patrick's Boys' High School and Mercy College (for girls). This took place in 1980 and took its name from Pope John XXIII who formerly was Cardinal Roncalli. Today, this co-educational school is forging ahead in leaps and bounds.

Anzac Square has, since the earliest days of Timaru, been a popular playing area in the southern region of the city. Soccer, cricket, rugby, athletics and marching teams, Wirth's Circus and many others used the area. The square itself is bounded by Browne Street, Rose Street, Catherine Street and Craigie Avenue and occupied about two-thirds of the whole block, while the remainder at the southern end was where the Century swimming baths and the Aorangi Croquet Club were situated. I took part in many cricket matches there and, when a funeral procession passed by, it was an occasion for play to stop. Caps and hats were removed and all the players stood to attention. Once, during one of these stoppages, I was umpiring close to a batsman who happened to be a priest from the Basilica nearby, a man twice my age. He suddenly said, "you know son, it is always the fool of the family who enters the church".

The Century Pool stands on a raised area above and to the south of the square itself. It appeared to us nippers of 70 or more years ago as an open-air swimming pool with seating on one side and primitive changing sheds on the other. In our time Mr Burford, or "Burfoot", was the caretaker and man-in-charge. He was a short man aged 50 or 60 who would cycle laboriously from near the hospital. Resplendent in his saddle-tweed trousers, vest and jacket, we would wait what seemed an awfully long time for him to take his bike clips off and wheel his bicycle through the gates before he allowed us to stream in to see who could be first into the cold water. We had to pester our parents to get enough money for a season ticket. Apart from all the other activities which went on in and around the pool there were then at least three active swimming clubs. They were the south, the west and the north swimming clubs attached to the Century, West End and Waimataitai pools respectively.

At this time, of course, there was precious little entertainment available to younger generations and the swimming carnivals which the clubs regularly held were well attended and fiercely contested. It was always a matter of wonder to me to watch the finals of the men's freestyle races when six or seven strapping young men would hit the water as one and suddenly there was a wave generated which they carried along with them until they and the wave hit the wall at the end of the race with hardly a metre separating the swimmers. I cannot recall all the contestants at the time but Mike Shanahan, Curb Campbell, Gordon Griffiths, Harman Mahan, Dan Shanahan and Colin Griffiths were among them. One night I heard one of my brothers ask Curb Campbell why he always broke at the start of the races. His reply "it's the only way I get a chance to beat you b.....s."

These marvellous evening carnivals would always end with the ladies' and men's relay races and I am sure at these times, had the three pools had roofs, the thunderous noise from the spectators would have lifted them right off! The ladies' races may have been a little more subdued but were just as hotly contested. It is a pity I can remember only three young women who took part. They were Josie Symond and my sisters Gwen and Jean.

Not to be forgotten are the long-distance races conducted by the South Canterbury Swimming Centre. These were the half-mile and the Speechley mile which usually were contested in Timaru Harbour.
On the south side of the Century Pool was, and still is, the Aorangi Croquet Club. As a member of the botanical garden staff, I was sometimes called upon to mow the grass areas. Strangely, to me at least, the complete Anzac Square block was surrounded by a single row of beautiful trees (mostly oaks) but there was none on the eastern boundary from the croquet courts to Browne Street.

Not too far from Anzac Square is Russell Square on the eastern side. I have no idea who named Russell Square but I can assure readers that it bears no resemblance to London's Russell Square, from which it probably gained its name. It is a grassy area which we as children used to the fullest. It had a single row of trees, oaks and ashes, around its perimeter. On many balmy nights local children would sometimes still be playing cricket or rugby as the moon rose in the east. We did not have boots or gloves, or even a proper rugby ball. A pick handle was used for a bat while the wickets were a large oak tree with a chalk mark for the height of the stumps.

Sometimes today we think we know our neighbours and perhaps believe that we are generous with our friendships. However, the number of different people who resided in the square before the Second World War is amazing. On the south east corner was the majestic residence of the Reverend Mr Dow and his family. He was in charge of the old Trinity Church. Next door, on the south side of the square, came the Boddye family son George played rugby for South Canterbury. In the south-west corner the two Miss Fussells lived and we did not see them often. Next to them came the Box family - one of the boys was a partner in the auto engineers, Averis and Box. Continued next week.

Taylor Street 

George Taylor left Scotland in 1860 sailing to Victoria, AUS. where he mined for four years before sailing to New Zealand and the goldfields of Otago. In 1868 he travelled back home, married and then brought his bride back to Cromwell. George Taylor's son, Walter Taylor, was b. Jan. 1st 1870, Dunedin. Walter was educated at Shotover, and learned his trade as a fellmonger and wool scourer under Messrs R. and F. Wallis, at Gore. He was married, in 1898, to a daughter of the late Mr Andrew Aitkin, Waikaka Valley and by 1903 had two sons.  They lived at Myross Bush, Southland. Walter Taylor and Charles Alfred Wallis were proprietors of Taylor and Company, Fellmongers and Woolscourers, Myross Bush from 1898. In 1908 he and his family, wife Mary Downie Taylor, moved to Timaru and within a year he had purchased the wool scouring business of Morgan Evans & Co Ltd at Saltwater Creek. The name was changed to Walter Taylor & Co Ltd. Walter and Mary purchased a two-acre property in King St. in 1908 and it was eventually sold in 1946 after Mary's death. The house is now situated on Taylor Street. In 1951 a memorial window was unveiled in memory of Mary at Chalmers Church, Timaru. Mary had been an active member of the church and the family had decided to donate the window to the church as a mark of respect.  It is a White Friar window, made in London. The Risen Christ, eight appearance to the Apostle is in the south nave. Timaru Herald 21st Feb. 2008  Mary Downie TAYLOR died 8th August 1945, aged 69 years and is buried at the Timaru Cemetery. Her husband Walter died 9th September 1952, aged 82 years.

'Our farmers were very often the donors of stained glass.'

 There is only one large home in the Taylor Street cul-de-sac which now houses state houses and retirement cottages.
It was ran as a 'Bed and Breakfast' for years as it is a huge place with lots of rooms. In 2010 the house is now flats with an unkempt look.

Otago Witness 21 April 1898, Page 44
A very pretty wedding took place at Waikaka Valley on Friday, April 8, the bridegroom being Mr Walter Taylor, of Myross Bush, eldest son of Mr G. Taylor, Gore, and the bride Miss Mary Aitken, eldest daughter of Mr A. Aitken, of Waikaka Valley. The ceremony took place at the residence of the bride's parents at 11 a.m., and was performed by the Rev. P. Ramsay. The bride looked very pretty in her travelling dress, which was made of blue cloth trimmed with pale pink silk. She carried a lovely bouquet, the gift of the bridegroom's mother. The bridesmaids, Miss Jessie Aitken and Miss Maggie Taylor looked very pretty in cream nun's veiling, and wore handsome gold bracelets, the gift of the bridegroom. Mr George Taylor acted as groomsman. The bride was the recipient of some costly and handsome presents, but as you do not publish detailed lists I need not enter into particulars. — Guest.

Births: 			Mother		Father
1899 Taylor Douglas George 	Mary Downey 	Walter 
1901 Taylor Margaret Stewart 	Mary Downie 	Walter
1903 Taylor Andrew Aitken 	Mary Downie 	Walter
1908 Taylor Mary Elizabeth 	Mary Downie	Walter 

In the Upper Waimakariri Basin near Cass there is a station, Grasmere. Sealy Rutherford purchased the station in 1903 and added Cora Lynn Station, next door, in 1907. In 1917 Rutherford sold the Grasmere's leasehold land. Rutherford was left with the Grasmere freehold around the homestead and Cora Lynn and he sold this in 1922 to Walter Taylor and Harry Faulkner and in 1927 they bought back the Grasmere lease from Joseph Studholme and Walter H. McAlpine. They ran the station in conjunction with another farm down-country, which provided winter grazing for the sheep. Taylor was a wool-scourer from Timaru and in 1930 the falling price of wool forced the partnership to sell out to David McLeod and Charles Leslie Orbell. McLeod after a brief trip home trying to borrow family money to buy a farm here, he found a partner in Leslie Orbell, who was from a well-established farming family in South Canterbury. Later McLeod bought out Orbell, and spent the next 40 years at Grasmere, which at one stage covered 60,000 acres (24,000 hectares). Walter's musterer's hut. built in 1937 (sic).

Domain Ave and the Timaru Botanical Gardens and cemetery to the right.

South Canterbury NZGenWeb Project