Blog

By Roselyn Fauth

I first noticed the poster pinned to a community board — an invitation to mark the 70th anniversary of the Seafarers’ Service and March. It welcomed the community to gather, remember, and honour those who have served at sea. So, on Sunday morning, my husband Chris and I took our two girls down to the Benvenue Monument, opposite St Mary’s Church, to watch the ceremony.

I must confess, I didn’t know much about it. For years, I’d thought our local seafaring story was marked by our Deal Boatmen of the 1860s, those who rushed to the rescue at our Port, and the 1882 Benvenue disaster, the tragic shipwreck that took brave rescuers’ lives at Caroline Bay. But recently, while helping create the new history panels at the Benvenue Monument, I discovered that this annual service in Timaru connects not only to our own coastline but to a defining moment in world history: the Battle of Trafalgar and those who served.

A special thank you goes to Shirley Ashton, who kindly saved me a placemat from the Seafearing event, which included information about both the Seafarers’ Service and the Battle of Trafalgar. Reading it later over a cup of tea, I realised just how far back this story of duty, courage, and service at sea really goes.

Long before European sailors and settlers arrived, Māori navigators from nearby Arowhenua and coastal hapū were already skilled mariners, travelling and trading along these same shores in waka and whaleboats. Their connection with the ocean remains an enduring part of Timaru’s maritime story and reminds me that this coastline has always been shaped by those who read and respected the sea.

That realisation changed the way I saw the wreaths, the uniforms, and the flags fluttering in the morning breeze. What I once thought was simply a local memorial now feels like part of a much larger, 220-year story of courage, duty, and devotion to the sea...

By Roselyn Fauth

Free Ground area at Timaru Cemetery. Photo Roselyn Fauth 2025 

When I walk through the older parts of the Timaru Cemetery, I often notice the quiet stretches of grass where no headstones stand. At first glance, it looks like empty space, but it isn’t. Beneath that earth rest hundreds of people who were buried in what was once called free ground. These were the sections reserved for those who could not afford a private plot or who were buried with the help of government assistance.

Out of curiosity, I wanted to learn more about who these people were. It is a deeply sensitive subject, one that touches on hardship, pride, and grief. Sometimes families who needed help felt shame and chose not to record or share the details of a burial. Others had no family or friends left to arrange it. Some were stillborn babies whose burials were quietly managed by hospitals. Whatever the circumstances, each of these people had a story, and together they form part of who we are today.

In November, we plan to unveil a monument at the Timaru Cemetery to honour those who rest in free ground and those who lie without a marker in the wider cemetery. In the past, if public funding was used for a burial, a headstone was not permitted unless the cost was later repaid. I suppose that was to ensure the help went only to those who truly needed it, but it also meant that many graves were left unmarked forever.

In one section of the cemetery there is a large open lawn. I often see people walking their dogs there, enjoying the space, and I realised that many may not know they are walking over more than seven hundred graves. This is the area once known as free ground. Throughout the rest of the cemetery, there are also small gaps between headstones where people rest without a marker to show who they were or that they are even there. These quiet spaces tell a story too, one that is easy to overlook unless you know where to look...

When the reserve for the cemetery was first set aside in the 1860s, burials were led by the local churches. Later, an Act of Parliament transferred responsibility for cemeteries to local councils, which oversaw their management and record keeping. The Timaru Cemetery as we know it today grew from those early church-led burial grounds into a community resting place for all, regardless of circumstance or faith.

I have been learning about some of these people, the quiet ones whose names are written only in the old cemetery ledgers. One of them is Emma Jane Watts, a young mother from Kent, England.

By Roselyn Fauth 

The Bidwill Story Book and Canterbury Maps screen shot 2025

I met a staff member from Bidwill Hospital recently, and we had one of those conversations that lights a spark. She mentioned a lady whose story had almost disappeared from view, a woman who built something remarkable, whose work changed private healthcare in Timaru, yet whose name is rarely spoken today...

Beautifying project: Fine fountain (14 Jul 1979). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 19/10/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/7593

A friend, Liz Shae, sent me an interesting email today. It simply said, “This could be a good project for WuHoo.” Attached were a couple of newspaper clippings from Aoraki Heritage and some photos from the South Canterbury Museum. Liz had noticed something odd.

The beautiful fountain that once stood proudly at the entrance to Timaru Hospital has completely disappeared. There is no sign of it today. No plaque, no trace, no explanation. So where did it go?...

Benvenue Disaster 50th Jubilee, 1932. A portrait of three surviving crew members of the lifeboats involved in the Benvenue wreck, taken on the occasion of the fiftieth jubilee, 14 May 1932. Depicts the three men as (from left to right) as Isaac James Bradley, Carl George Vogeler, and Philip Bradley. South Canterbury Museum. 14/05/1932 CN 1457. https://timdc.pastperfectonline.com/photo/06F405BF-F04D-4339-A7A7-381944387269

Vogeler, Carl George, 1860-1934

Bradley, Philip, 1853-1936

Bradley, Isaac James, 1860-1936

 By Roselyn Fauth

Discovering Timaru : past & present. Published by the Timaru City Council in 1984 by Win Parkes. 

Before Google Maps and heritage signs, there was Win Parkes — walking, listening, and piecing together the stories of Timaru by hand. In the early 1980s, she gathered her information from physical archives, old history books, and conversations with locals, creating a remarkable record of our town long before the internet made research easy.

Her 1984 book Discovering Timaru: Past and Present captured the spirit of the place she called home... its land, its people, and its stories. Forty years later, her Timaru Scenic Drive still helps locals and visitors see why this is such a wonderful place to live, work, play, and raise a family.

Discover the book that inspired WuHoo Timaru — and how one woman’s love for the place she lived continues to guide a new generation of explorers to take notice, look closer, make their time meaningful, and fall in love with Timaru all over again...

By Guest writer: Graeme Gunn 2025
Formerly employed by Opus International Consultants, which later became WSP

Graeme helped lead the massive project to digitise the nation’s historic aerial survey films for Land Information New Zealand, safeguarding nearly 650,000 fragile images originally captured by New Zealand Aerial Mapping. Joining the project around 2016

A screen shot from the Retrolens website, which is "your gateway to historical aerial imagery". The platform provides access to a vast collection of historical aerial photographs. Retrolens is made up of a treasure trove of aerial photographs that have been taken since the 1936 through to 2005. It is a New Zealand Crown archive and contains 500,000 images. Historical Image Resource came about as the result of a scanning project that was started in 2015 by partnerships between the Local Government Geospatial Alliance (LGGA) and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). 

One of the best ways to connect to history is to look back at old aerial photos — and thanks to the incredible Retrolens archive, we can do that from our screens, in astonishing detail. I often find myself zooming in on Timaru and the District’s past, tracing the shape of long-lost streets, and even peering into the vege gardens of early settlers to get an idea of how people lived back then.

So when I discovered that the images I love to explore were made possible through years of dedicated scanning and preservation, I reached out to Graeme Gunn, a former employee of Opus International Consultants (now WSP). Graeme spent the later part of his career working on the monumental project to digitise New Zealand’s historic aerial survey films — the very archive that now lets us fly back through time.

Here’s Graeme’s story — one that soars through decades of aviation, photography, and quiet dedication, capturing how our country was mapped from above and lovingly preserved for generations to come...

By Roselyn Fauth

Timaru, circa 1883, Dunedin, by Burton Brothers. Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa (O.034093).

The Dominion Hotel – A Cornerstone of Timaru

Up by the Loop Road, where Bay Hill meets Stafford Street and the sea light hits the stone, stands one of Timaru’s most enduring landmarks.

Long before Stafford Street took shape, this land by the Bay was part of the coastal routes of Ngāi Tahu. The Dominion’s story is one layer among many — a place where people have always paused, gathered, and looked toward the sea...

By Roselyn Fauth

I’m so grateful to everyone who has supported the new monument for those who rest in Free Ground and unmarked graves. A few people have sent in information about people who rest there, and the story of Flora Mullin is really interesting... How did she come to rest in an unmarked grave? The answer led me from privilege to poverty, from printing presses to pauper’s ground — and from the marble glow of Timaru’s Basilica to a bare patch of earth with no name.

The six lower windows in the nave of this church were donated by the late Michael Mullin as a memorial to himself and his wife Mary Mullin. Pray for them. Michael Mullin was a land agent, a farmer and a hotelier. The six lower windows, made by James Watson & Son, Youghhal, Ireland c. 1939, in the nave of Sacred Heart Basilica, Timaru were donated by the late Michael Mullin as a memorial to himself and his wife Mary Mullin. Michael Mullin and his first wife Mary Sullivan are buried at the Timaru Cemetery and his second wife Flora in the free ground. There are 20 more stained glass windows that were donated. https://scant.scgenealogy.nz/sacred_heart.htm

If her husband could afford to give these windows, how did Flora end up not being able to afford her own grave?

Well, to work that out I had to do a bit of a history hunt, and make a timeline. So here is my deep dive into a woman who is listed in row 0, the pauper grave section — also known as Free Ground — at the Timaru Cemetery. An area for people who needed the assistance of the government to inter them to the ground, with the deal that they couldn’t erect a headstone.

It started with a comment on one of my Facebook posts. Someone kindly shared information about Flora as an example of a person who rests there. There was a fantastic link to research done by genealogists on the history of stained glass windows and the Roman Catholic Basilica on Craigie Avenue in Timaru.

But that wasn’t Flora’s world....

By Roselyn Fauth

Government Report "Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1875" - AJHR 1875 I H 12a 7. The great thing about this document is that it contains authentic voices from government correspondence — especially Marine Engineer John Blackett’s 1874–75 memoranda — which give you factual grounding and period tone. Below are the key elements we can weave into the blog (either as direct quotes, reworded extracts, or background context).

When you first open the .pdf Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1875 — H–12A: Further Papers Relative to the Introduction of Immigrants, it doesn’t look like much after a quick scroll through the pages. A set of tables. A handful of letters. The kind of bureaucratic paperwork that would have once sat in a file room. But when you slow down and look closely, this unassuming government report helps to reveal part of Timaru's port story  in context with the country, an insight into progress, power, politics, and persistence. I see a young colony deciding who gets infrastructure, who gets ignored, and how small coastal towns like Timaru had to fight to be seen...

By Roselyn Fauth

At first glance the cemetery looks like neat rows of stones. Look closer and you notice the gaps, not because there are no graves, but because some people never received a marker at all. I never noticed that before. Once you’ve seen it, though, you can’t unsee it.

I’ve been looking for Ann. She died 165 years ago. She was the mother of the first recorded European baby born in Timaru. We know when she died, but no one knows where she is. I can’t find her.
And that not knowing has pulled me deeper than I expected, into maps, minutes, and memories of people I’ve never met.

The Timaru Cemetery, first established in the 1860s, is one of the earliest public memorial landscapes in the region. Its monuments, from early settler graves to ornate family plots, show how the community chose to remember the people who shaped early Timaru....

By Roselyn Fauth

I had a fantastic conversation with a friend today who taught me a new word: presentism. 

I’ve always known the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but I’d never thought about what it means to be careful about judging a person by their time.

It made me think about how we see the past, how every generation looks back through its own lens, deciding what to keep, what to question, and what to learn from.

Sometimes, when I’m walking through the Timaru Districs Cemeteries or read about people who helped shape our city, I catch myself wondering... were they good, or just good for their time? Would they recognise our values today, or find us strange for holding them?

Those kinds of questions don’t have easy answers, but I do think they are worth asking. Because when we look back, we are learning about ourselves as well as studying history....

By Roselyn Fauth

Two portraits of two Timaru Mayors, here is my reflective heritage essay exploring leadership and tall poppy culture through the lives of James Craigie, Mayor of Timaru Borough Council: 1902–1913, and Muriel Hilton, Mayor of Timaru Borough Council: 1959–1962. They were two Timaru mayors who led in very different eras but shared the same courage to serve, stand tall, and lift others. Images: James Craigie South Canterbury Museum 2016011031. Mrs M E Hilton South Canterbury Museum 2016011041.

They never knew each other, yet I bet both carried the weight of a growing Timaru city on their shoulders.

James Craigie and Muriel Hilton led Timaru in different era's, in different ways. Decades later, their stories ask us the same question: how do we lead with courage, care, and kindness in a world that doesn’t always reward it?

Every community has its own microculture of service and vision, and these two mayors are an interesting example of this. One an Edwardian visionary who built for progress and beauty, the other an Elizabethan mid-century trailblazer who led with care.

I have done my best to learn more about them, though it is tricky — without experiencing or truly understanding the eras they lived in, I can only reflect as thoughtfully as I can through the lived experience I have. We can understand people within their time while also reflecting on what their choices mean to us today. Their stories are more than politics; they invite us to think about what it means to belong, to serve, and to keep believing in a community. I wonder if they ever felt lonely or frustrated, or if they sometimes felt that people didn’t always believe in them.

Here is my blog about the two mayors, and my attempt to make sense of New Zealand’s “tall poppy syndrome,” a social phenomenon where people who achieve success, stand out, or show confiden...

By Roselyn Fauth - based on obituary from the Aoraki Heritage Archive.

I’ve spent the past few years tracing the Turnbull family — their buildings, their lives, their part in shaping Timaru’s early skyline. I’ve followed their story through streets, plaques, and the city’s old newspapers, building a picture of how one family left such an enduring architectural mark.

But one day, while scrolling through the Aoraki Heritage Archive at the Timaru Library, I came across an obituary clipped from a 1953 newspaper. The headline simply read: “Timaru Community Was Well Served by Mr P. W. Rule.”

Until then, Percy Watts Rule had been just a second name in the partnership of Turnbull & Rule — a quiet presence beside the Turnbull legacy I’d come to know so well. But this obituary was something else entirely. It wasn’t just a list of buildings and titles. It was a portrait of a man who was deeply cultured, endlessly curious, and loved by his community.

The more I read, the more I realised how much of Timaru still bears his touch — and how much of his story has quietly slipped through the cracks of time.

So this is my attempt to put him back in the frame...

By Roselyn Fauth

Well, I didn’t expect to end up here — standing inside one of my favourite buildings in Timaru, celebrating its 100th year — all because of a lockdown walk through the cemetery.

Like many, we spent those quiet Covid days exploring close to home. I found myself drawn to the cemetery gates, reading names and wondering about the people behind them. One day, I noticed a tall monument right in the centre. It wasn’t a grave, but a memorial to Richard Turnbull, one of Timaru’s founding citizens. I went home to find out who he was, and that search turned into years of research, side quests, and discoveries about the Turnbull family and their part in shaping our town.

Which is how I’ve ended up here tonight, celebrating the Oxford Building — one of their finest legacies...

By Roselyn Fauth

So, I came across a digital booklet in the Aoraki Heritage Collection... a 1969 publication titled Trinity Presbyterian Church Timaru, N.Z. 1865–1969: A Historical Record of the First 104 Years. Written for the church’s centennial, it carried the measured tone of mid-century reflection — when history was often told through institutions rather than through personal voices. I was interested because I had been on a deep dive into a impressive looking church that used to stand on Barnard Street that is no longer there. While on the hunt for Trinity, I learned about Rev. George Barclay (1835–1908).

Interestingly, the booklet called him “the father of education in South Canterbury.” I was curious, what did he do to earn a title like that in the 1860s? And what could his story reveal to us now, more than 160 years later, as education once again stands at the edge of evolution?

Join me on my latest history hunt, a side quest from looking for Trinity, and learning about a young minister in a new British Colony...

By Roselyn Fauth

The old blue stone Gleniti School and Library. Designed by Maurice de Harven Duval, a French or Belgian architect who worked in South Canterbury between 1877 and 1895.  After the new Gleniti School opened in 1975, the old stone building was leased to the South Canterbury Arts Society, who continue to use it today. The building is a Category A heritage item, recognised for its history, architecture, craftsmanship, and cultural significance. The school opened in July 1879 with more than 60 pupils. Mr Walker was the first headmaster. - Photography By Roselyn Fauth

Most country schools of the 1870s were put up in timber. That made sense at the time. Timber was quick, cheap and practical. The trouble is that wooden buildings do not always last. Many of those early classrooms have been lost to fire, weather or redevelopment. Gleniti is different. In January 1879 the Waiiti School committee gathered at the home of T W Fyfe. They asked for their new school to be built in stone. Fyfe was a local quarryman, and it is easy to imagine his influence. That simple decision gave the school a future. Instead of vanishing like so many others, the Gleniti School is still with us almost 150 years later...

By Roselyn Fauth based on my great aunts account.

Imagine this. It is 1913. You are a young mother in England. Women cannot yet vote in the UK. The first World War looms on the horizon... and you decide to board a ship to New Zealand with your eight-month-old baby in your arms to join your husband on the otherside of the world, (18,500 kilometres) with a £26 fare.

That mother was Sarah Cloake (nee Couling), and her baby was Mary, my grandfather Harry’s big sister. In September 1913 Sarah left Devon with Mary in a cabin shared with six women on the S.S. Corinthic. She was seasick for the entire six-week journey, and strangers took turns caring for Sarah's baby. They were sailing to a country they had never seen, to join Bertie Cloake who had already gone ahead to chase his dream of farming in Canterbury and make a head start.

I often wonder what went through Sarah’s mind on that voyage. The Titanic had sunk only the year before. Did she worry her ship would make it? Did she stare through the porthole trying to picture what lay ahead? Did she dream of the farm life Bertie had promised her, or ache for the streets of Devon and the family she had left behind? What did it feel like to carry a baby across oceans, sick and exhausted, needing strangers to keep her child alive? And what must it have been like, after all that waiting, to finally step off the ship in Wellington, to see Bertie again, and take her first breath of New Zealand air?

My dad Geoff Cloake, has a precious letter written by his aunty, Mary Cloake, my grandfather Harry’s sister. It is the only piece of writing we have from a relative who set down their story in their own words. In Mary’s voice we hear more than just facts. She described what she saw and how it felt. This blog is built from her account, her words in quotes, woven with what Mary's has taught me about her. By reflecting on Mary I have learned so much more about myself.

So here we go, enjoy this story about Mary, the baby once cared for by strangers at sea, who grew up to care for others strangers babies. It's a story that belongs to our family, and to Timaru and New Zealand history too.

“I was born in Newton Abbott near Torquay, Devon England on 18 June 1912. Dad’s lifelong ambition was to emigrate to New Zealand and buy a farm. Dad sailed for New Zealand on the S.S. Corinthic. My mother and I followed on 13 September 1913.” — Mary Cloake

The journey began with a dream...

By Roselyn Fauth

From left to right, Jack Clarke, George Graham, and Tom Fyfe, The Plumber Who First Climbed Aoraki, the day after their successful climb of Aoraki/Mt Cook on Christmas Day 1894 - George Mannering via Teara.govt.nz / The-Dominion-Post

On Christmas Day 1894, while families across New Zealand gathered for roast dinners and hymns, a young plumber from Timaru stood on the summit of Aoraki/Mt Cook.

Tom Fyfe wasn’t born into privilege, nor did he chase fame. From a bluestone schoolhouse in Gleniti to the roof of New Zealand, he carved a path that would inspire generations of climbers — including Sir Edmund Hillary....

By Roselyn Fauth

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns,[a] was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burns

At the gates of Timaru’s Botanic Gardens you can wave to a marble poet. He’s there to greet you, though he never once set foot in New Zealand. For years I thought our Robbie Burns statue was something uniquely Timaru — until a Facebook post from Ballarat popped up in my feed, and there he was again! I soon learned that Robbie stands in many corners of the world. So why did our town choose to honour Robert “Rabbie” Burns — the ploughman poet of Scotland — with pride of place in the park? The answer stretches from the heart of Ayrshire to the clay soils of South Canterbury, weaving together heritage, identity, and community memory, a bit like the threads of a tartan kilt....

Andrew Fyfe, NZ centenary: Invaluable community service by St John Ambulance (23 Mar 1985). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 03/10/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/7275.

Did you know Timaru helped shape the Red Cross in New Zealand, or that our St John volunteers carried more than 400 influenza patients during the 1918 epidemic? My latest history hunt began with Andrew Fyfe and ended up in Jerusalem, Malta, and right back at Caroline Bay, uncovering the women of St John whose stories are too often left in the margins.

Sometimes a story takes you places you never expect. I was digging into the Fyfe family recently, a family whose name threads through Timaru’s history in surprising ways. The Fyfes were connected to the blue stone quarries that built our landmarks, involved in schools where they gave back to education, and known for their passion for the outdoors. Andrew Fyfe himself was a mountaineer. Their story is one of work, grit, and community service.

Somewhere in the muddle of dates and details, I stumbled across a newspaper article by Andrew Fyfe, published in 1985, marking the centenary of St John in New Zealand. Here was another Fyfe, this time recording the story of St John Ambulance in South Canterbury.

That article included som interesting detail about Timaru’s St John story... the cycle stretchers, the bitter disputes over who controlled the Citizens Ambulance Hall, and the haunting days of the 1918 influenza epidemic. And it sent me on a history hunting journey: one that began with Fyfe, and has now carried me all the way back to Jerusalem, forward through Malta and Britain, and back again to Timaru’s streets. Along the way, I found myself looking for the people in the margins of history, especially the women to learn more about who we are today, by reflecting on our past...

By Roselyn Fauth 

Map of Fyfe's quarry and a photo of the stone being shifted out of the quarry.

I was on my way into the Timaru Botanic Gardens through the Gloucester Gates, heading for the Robbie Burns statue to photograph threads of our Scottish past, when I bumped into my friend Leanne Penderville. We first met as volunteers on the CPlay Caroline Bay Playground project, and now she works as a real estate agent with Raine & Horne. Leanne told me about a house that had just come on the market – a bluestone home dating back to the 1860s. She kindly emailed me through the details, and I was astonished to realise it was the Fyfe family’s house.

A few years earlier I had dug into the history of the Fyfes while researching Gleniti and Centennial Park. To discover that their family home is still standing today, and now looking for new owners, I was keen to revisit my research and add in the fantastic information collected by the real estate agents.

And that brings us to David Fyfe — a young Scot whose fascinating journey took him from a shipwreck in the icy seas off Newfoundland to the sweet waters of Otipua Creek, and the bluestone quarries that helped shape Timaru.

By Roselyn Fauth

Photographic albulm, Cultural facilities, Industrial facilities, Commercial facilities, Government facilities, Mountains, Lakes & ponds, Beaches, Churches, Cities & towns and Harbour. Timaru, New Zealand, circa 1910, Timaru, by William Ferrier, F.W. Hutton & Co. Gift of Lord Kitchener, 1960. Te Papa (AL.000566) Te Papa 

I grew up waiting for the light. That will sound familiar to anyone who had a photographer in the family. We would pile into the Ford Falcon, six of us crammed in, and head off on day trips to explore and capture the light in photographs. Often we found ourselves in some random roadside spot while Dad (Geoff Cloake) stood there with his Olympus film camera, waiting for the perfect light to shine. My mum was a patient woman, often keeping four restless kids entertained while the sun dipped or the clouds shifted to where the light was just right.

Dad used slide film. It was expensive, and so unlike me and my click-happy phone, he had to be careful, deliberate, making sure each frame counted. There was no instant gratification either. Every shot had to be processed by Langwoods Studios before he could see what he had captured. I think that patience rubbed off on us. It taught me the value of looking, hunting, and of waiting, of noticing.

I wonder if waiting for the light links me to William Ferrier's kids. While my dad stood with slide film loaded carefully into his camera, William was probably out with heavy wooden cameras, lugging fragile glass plates coated in gelatin emulsion. Each one was expensive and delicate, each exposure a commitment. Like Dad, he could not afford to be careless. Both of them had to look first, to really see, and then decide if the moment was worthy of a frame. That thread of patience and restraint connects their generations to mine, even if my click-happy phone feels a world apart.

I also wonder if William Ferrier’s family had the same experience...

Francis John Wilson is a local legend, yet for some reason not many people know his name or his contribution he made to Timaru’s built heritage. I have been on a deep dive lately and found it fascinating to uncover the history, the impact, and the influence he had on our town in the 1870s. What makes the story even more interesting is how his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have carried that legacy forward. Today the Wilson family still make the news for their architectural achievements. This is what I discovered...

I have grown up bicultural, half Dutch and half Kiwi, with six generations of family roots in Timaru. When my sister took a DNA ancestry test we discovered something new. While half Dutch, we are also a quarter Scottish. That surprised us. We had never identified with Scotland, but suddenly I wanted to know more. Where in our city could I see that part of my past reflected?

So I started a history hunt. I made a list of Scottish people, places, and monuments in Timaru, and one name kept coming up. Alice Shand, one of the four sisters who founded Craighead School for Girls in 1911....

Trinity Church on Barnard Street, Timaru New Zealand by Muir and Moodie Te Papa C014369. The first Presbyterian church in Timaru, built of bluestone, opened on 7 July 1867. It stood in Barnard Street and was replaced, on an adjacent site. The first Trinity church (bluestone, 1867) was built on land gifted by the Rhodes Brothers (Robert Heaton Rhodes and George Rhodes).

Imagine walking down Barnard Street in the late 1800s. Ahead of you rises a neoclassical temple. Tall white columns, a triangular pediment, heavy masonry that looked more like Athens or Rome than a colonial port town. This was Trinity Presbyterian Church, one of Timaru’s most ambitious landmarks, and the mother church of Presbyterianism in South Canterbury.

Today, nothing remains of the building, but Scottish Hall with links to its founders, a car park and a used furniture store. The building that once echoed with congregations, baptisms, weddings, funerals, and generations of Sunday worship has vanished. My hunt for its story has become a side quest into its memory. Who were the people who built it, what faith did they carry with them from Scotland, and what choices led to its demolition?

By Roselyn Fauth

Grave of William and Mary Ann Fitzgerald. - Timaru Cemetery - Right Grosvenor Hotel. - Photos Roselyn Fauth

When you stand at the corner of Cains Terrace and Beswick Street today, the Grosvenor Hotel still looks every inch the grand old lady of Timaru. Her curved corner peers out to the port, oriel windows lean forward like watchful eyes, and almost forty metres of brick and plaster frontage anchors the block. She has been a landmark here for more than a century, hosting premiers and princes, rugby men and housie nights, art openings and union raffles. The façade has had its coats of paint, and the interiors their refurbishments, but the bones of James Turnbull’s Edwardian Baroque design remain much as they were in 1915.

I went digging into her story, expecting to find architects and publicans, queens and rugby clubs. I found all of that, but I also found a woman called Mary...

By Roselyn Fauth

The Grosvenor Hotel standing today, you’re looking at a building that has been a Timaru landmark for 110 years (and a site of hospitality for nearly 150). This is a view of the exterior in 1916, photographed by Frederick George Radcliffe. Timaru. F.G.R. 5553 - National Library 1/2-006876-G & hocken.recollect.co.nz/52786 No known copyright. 

People still say the Queen stayed at the Grosvenor Hotel. It is sort of ish true... what actually happened in 1954 I think tells us a lot about the people of Timaru District, the care, the pride, and the work of many people who pulled their resources together to make Elizabeth's visit to the Grosvenor one fit for a Queen. 

When you stand at the corner of Cains Terrace and Beswick Street today and look up, you too might think she's a beauty. The Grosvenor Hotel still lifts her rounded chin to the sea, oriel windows leaning out looking to the port. There's an impressive almost forty metres of frontage on each street. The Grosvenor is grand and familiar to everyone. Over a century the walls have hosted premiers and princes, rugby men and housie nights, union raffles and art openings. While the facade and interior bones have been remodelled, repainted, the building is very close to the original design that was intended. 

Learning about the Grosvenor has taught me about our people of the past... here is a blog about what I have learned so far...

By Roselyn Fauth

It is hard to imagine Timaru without the Landing Service Building. Today it stands as a familiar landmark, the last of its kind in Australasia, yet forty years ago its future was anything but certain. What we now treasure as part of our identity almost became a carpark.

Reading the 1984 article about the Landing Service Building feels like eavesdropping on the very moment Timaru began to shift its attitude to heritage. It was published a year after I was born, and I remember hearing my family and parents friends discussing the plight of the building as a child. I don't remember it being anything else than what it is today, and am grateful to the work that was done by many volunteers to save it and repurpose for us all to enjoy today. The Libraries online archive has a fantastic newspaper record online, and reading through one in particular explained the tension.

On one side was the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, giving the building a B classification for its architectural and historical value. On the other was the Timaru City Council, which owned the site, eyeing development and even demolition... To save our heritage or build new... a debate that seems to always be relevant... so here is my blog, sparked by that article from 40 odd years ago, and how what was written still relevant to us today...

Here you can see the passenger landing service sheds with signal station on the cliff above at Timaru - Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1691-114

Looking at our coastline today, it is easy to forget that Timaru did not begin with a breakwater, silos and cranes... and to remember  that it began on a shingle beach where every barrel, bale and bundle had to be dragged across the waves from Ship to shore through the surf on small surf boats. Before the harbour was tamed, people risked their lives in these small open boats to connect this place to the rest of the country and the world. Māori from Arowhenua were the first boatmen, followed by Deal boatmen from England, working alongside European settlers like the Rhodes brothers, Captain Henry Cain and Henry Le Cren. Out of danger and determination grew Timaru’s first landing service... at the time it was a fragile lifeline but it helped turn a scattered village into a town.

Read on to uncover how this early surf-beaten service shaped Timaru’s identity, what it cost, and what it still teaches us today....

By Roselyn Fauth

The first St Mary's School Room on Bank Street (about where the red cross hall is), was completed in MArch 1879, wooden and plaster building was designed by architect Francis Wilson, From Post Office Tower looking south Timaru circa 1904 Dunedin by Muir and Moodie Te Papa C014394. Its replacement was built beside the church and opened 7 September 1929.

Some many not realise that St Mary’s Parish Hall on Church Street has a story all its own... Opened in 1929, it carries a foundation stone proudly dated 25 November 1928 — something interestingly that the neighbouring church can't be found. With its Gothic battlements, oriel window, and carved cross, the hall is a beauty in its own right, even if it can be overshadowed by its big sister, St Mary’s Church.

I was surprised to come across a newspaper article explaining that St Mary's Hall as we know it, wasn’t actually the first hall. Half a century earlier, a vast wooden building on Bank Street could seat 470 people, serving as both temporary church and Sunday School. This “forgotten sister” once held the heart of parish life for nearly a century... Again, another wonderful example of community legacy, where the the people of St Mary’s parish themselves paid for the hall. Although not everyone takes part in the religious side of the Church, countless children and adults have benefited from the hall as a community venue for almost a hundred years.

So, here's my blog to help you learn its story and the history of the hall we know of today...

By Roselyn Fauth

The Timaru District Councils Hall of Fame recognised 80 people as of September 2025. Established in 1986 to honour people of national or international significance with strong ties to South Canterbury. Today it recognises 80 inspiring individuals, with their stories displayed at the Timaru District Council chambers, online, and on the Bay Hill sign maintained by the Lions Club. timaru.govt.nz/hall-of-fame  - Graphic Design by Roselyn Fauth

Whose stories matter? Does our Hall of Fame help us connect to inspiring people from our district’s past? Do we need to add more names to the list, people who meet the nomination criteria but have not yet been recognised? And for those who do not fit the rules, do we need another way of honouring them?

These questions have been sitting with me ever since I looked closely at the Timaru District Council’s Hall of Fame. As of September 2025, there are eighty people recognised. Only seven of them are women.

The list is impressive. Leaders, politicians, scientists, inventors, athletes, artists, volunteers, advocates, war service... They deserve their place. Reading through the profiles has been fascinating. Each person achieved something remarkable in their field, whether in public service, professional life, sport, voluntary service, or the arts. Every one of them is deserving of their place. But the imbalance made me pause. Is it because women did not achieve? Or is it because their stories were not recorded, valued, or remembered?

A cemetery wander turned into a hunt for hidden voices has changed my view... I never expected a walk through the cemetery in lockdown to change the way I see myself, my community, and even the history of Timaru. But that is exactly what happened...

By Roselyn Fauth

The grave of Janet Meikle (Wright) (1865 - 1906), Timaru Cemetery - Photo By Roselyn Fauth 2025

Did you know New Zealand’s very first car fatality happened right here in Timaru? A farmer’s wife, a brand-new motorcar, a steep farm track... and a tragedy that marked the beginning of our country’s road safety story.

If you’ve been following my blogs, you’ll know I’ve been on a deep dive into Timaru’s whaling history. What started with the early 1830s whalers has led me through many unexpected pathways. Long story short, this journey introduced me to Ann and Sam Williams. Sam was a whaler in Timaru in the late 1830s and returned around 1856, where he and Ann lived in the Rhodes 1851 cottage at the foot of George Street.

When Ann died in 1860, Sam remarried Mary Ann Gardner. And it was while I was on the trail of Mary Ann’s father’s grave at the Timaru Cemetery that I stumbled across an unexpected cemetery neighbour: Janet Meikle. Her name rang a bell, and then I realised how I had heard about her. While I hadn't set out to learn Janet’s story. Her grave happened to be near the one I was looking for, and curiosity (as often happens) and my love for history hunting side quests, led me to learn that Janet was the first person in New Zealand known to have died in a motor accident caused directly by a car. Now I found myself transported from the stories of the 1830s whalers, to the early 1900s world of motorcars, when a new and dangerous technology was just arriving in South Canterbury...

Guest Blog by By Julie James, Senior Heritage Librarian ​​​​

LEFT: Ivy Preston's 21st Novel of Romance (24 Aug 1973). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 09/09/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/3759 RIGHT: One of Ivy's books at the Timaru District Library. Ivy Preston authored more than forty romance novels published internationally from the 1960s through the 1990s, she is one of very few South Canterbury authors who have enjoyed such consistent international success.

From a Timaru farmhouse to the bookshelves of the world… Ivy Preston wrote more than forty romance novels that swept readers from Stewart Island to South Canterbury’s high-country stations — and on to nine different languages. She turned Dashing Rocks into a place for proposals, Caroline Bay Carnival into a stage for first kisses, and Timaru Hospital into the setting for nurse romances. Gentle, heartfelt, and proudly “moonlight and roses,” Ivy’s stories made her an international literary heroine... and one of Timaru’s own. Thank you to our guest writer Julie James for preparing the following blog to help you learn about the life and legacy of Ivy Preston... read on to learn about Ivy's legacy and pop to the Timaru Library to borrow a few of her books...

1907-10-17 The first motor wedding in New Zealand: the cars and gathering outside the church at Timaru, August 30 (actually 28), 1907. 1907-10-17. No known copyright restrictions

When I typed “Timaru” into the Auckland Libraries collection, I wasn’t expecting to uncover a national first. Yet up popped two photographs from 1907, proudly labelled as “the first motor wedding in New Zealand.” Both are captioned: “First motor wedding in New Zealand: the cars and gathering outside the church at Timaru, August 30, 1907.” Can you help hunt for history and uncover the mystery: who was the bride?

Original promotion poster for Bob's fight - courtesy of Dave Jack. Photograph Roselyn Fauth. This poster inspired the WuHoo Timaru Colourful Facts sheet.

In the heart of Timaru, on the very corner where he once lived and worked, a bronze boxer stands with fists raised. The statue honours Robert ‘Bob’ Fitzsimmons — the red-haired blacksmith’s apprentice who immigrated with his family to Timaru, grew up here and went on to become the first man in history to win three world boxing titles. Most of us know his sport legacy, but I think his story is more than victories in the ring... Find out how a shipwreck changed the course of his life forever, how the forges of Stafford Street gave him his fighting edge, and why Bob Fitzsimmons remains a lasting symbol of grit, ambition, and local pride.

Timaru's famous fighting blacksmith who won three world champtionships. Download: Bob Fitzsimmons Colourful Fact sheet and History Hunt.pdf

Follow Bob Fitzsimmons’ Story in Timaru

1. Grey Road & Church Street – Family Home (Tin Town). Look for the plaque where Bob grew up, the youngest of eleven children. His mother wanted him to be a minister, but he had other plans.

2. Timaru Main School (near Heaton Street. Bob went here briefly before leaving at age 12. He was bullied, broke his nose, and preferred playing football, wrestling, and boxing.

3. Strathallan Street – Isabella Ridley Shipwreck (1877). Bob planned to run away to sea, but the Isabella Ridley wrecked here. Ten men were saved by the rocket brigade as a thousand townsfolk watched. The wreck kept Bob in Timaru — a turning point in his life.

4. Stafford Street – The Blacksmith Forges (No. 295 and 257). Bob worked with his father and brother Jarrett, hammering iron and shoeing horses. This tough work built his strength and power for boxing.

5. Beswick Street (opposite the Grosvenor Hotel). Here Bob trained with his first mentor, Dan Lea, a respected local champion. Lea taught him how to fight with skill as well as strength.

6. Theatre Royal, Timaru. In 1880, at just 18, Bob won four fights in two nights here. He became New Zealand’s amateur champion — his first big title.

7. Corner of Stafford & Strathallan Streets – Bob’s Statue. Bronze statue by Margriet Windhausen (1987). Stands close to where he lived and worked, a reminder of Timaru’s world champion.

8. South Canterbury Museum See Bob’s anvil, letters, photos and memorabilia. The anvil he worked on helped forge his famous punching power.

9. Timaru Cemetery Bob is buried in Chicago, but his parents James and Jane are here. A place to reflect on where the family’s story began.

Beyond Timaru

10. Carson City, Nevada (USA) Where Bob beat Gentleman Jim Corbett in 1897 to win the heavyweight title. The entire contest was filmed and shown in cinemas around the world — making it the first feature-length sports movie and proving that boxing could help launch cinema as a global entertainment industry. For the first time, people from all walks of life — including women who were barred from live matches — could watch boxing on the silver screen.

11. Helston, Cornwall (England) Bob’s birthplace before his family emigrated to Timaru. Home to the Cornish roots of Tin Town. 

From Tin Town to Timaru’s streets — how a restless boy grew up in a shared Māori and settler place

Go to the corner of Gray Road and Church Street and see if you can spot a plaque commemorating the site where Bob grew up. He was born in Helston, Cornwall, in 1863 and arrived in Timaru aged ten, the youngest of eleven children. His family settled in what locals called Tin Town, around Church Street and Grey Road, where a small cluster of Cornish families put down roots.

His mother hoped he would become a minister. The restless boy had other ideas. He went to Timaru Main School, but left at twelve after rough treatment from other pupils, a smack on the nose to be precise. He preferred being outside, playing football, wrestling and sparring. Those early scraps gave him confidence. They also gave him a crooked nose and a taste for self defense and competition...

Sue Rine stands with the headstone of her great, great, great grandfathers grave at the Timaru Cemetery. Samuel Williams was born in 1818  and laid to rest in 1883. With Ann, they were the parents of William Williams the first recorded birth of a European baby born in Timaru.

In Search of Ann Williams (1823–1860)

It began with whales. I thought I was simply following Timaru’s short whaling era, two brief seasons in the late 1830s. But the deeper I went, the more rabbit holes I uncovered. And then I noticed something missing: not a single woman’s name appeared in the record. That void of information then sent me searching... and that’s how I eneded up on a journey to find the grave of Ann Williams (nee Mahoney). 

After hunting for whales, then hunting for gold, Sam eventually found Ann. Now I am trying to find her grave.

Samuel “Yankie Sam” Williams first came to Timaru as a whaler, working for the Weller Brothers. When their whaling business collapsed, Sam moved to Akaroa to work for the Rhodes brothers, and later crossed the Tasman to try his luck at Ballarat’s goldfields. I think that this is where he met Ann. Her maiden name was Mahoney (although was recorded as Manry at times). She was born 1823 in Cork, Ireland. 

Ann's father was Patrick Mahoney was born in 1801 to Ellen Casey and Danl Mahony.
Ann's mother was Catherine Rourke, her parents at this stage are unknown.

Ann ad two children with a guy nicknamed Yankie Sam. Samuel Williams was born on 21 June 1818 in Taunton, Massachusetts, USA, to Lucy Stowell, age 26, and Thomas Williams, age 27. The family research suggests he may have come off an American Whaling ship in 1840 aged 17. But I think it might have been in New Zealand a bit earlier becuase of other information showing when he was in Timaru. His daughter Rebecca was born in 1854 in Ballarat, Victoria to Ann. His son William was born on 22 September 1856 in Timaru, Canterbury to Ann.

With their daughter Rebecca, they left Ballarat, and moved to Timaru, New Zealand. By then the Rhodes family had moved inland to huge sheep station 'The Levels' the original house still stands close to Pleasant Point. The Rhodes left the basic 1851 beachside cottage at the foot of George Street, Timaru. It was built to as accomodation to link to the supply ships mooring just off shore. Where whales were onced pulled in, wool was later exported and this was the early trade that got Timaru and the region's colonial chapter started. Sam and Ann moved in, and in that simple home Ann gave birth to William Williams – the first recorded European baby born in Timaru.

I wonder if they were madly in love. Or if it was a partnership that gave them both opportunity..

Rebecca Hobbs (nee Williams) geni.com/Rebecca-Hobbs  Rebecca Williams Hobbs, Born 1854. Died 12 Feb 1896 (aged 42) Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand. Burial Linwood Cemetery, Linwood, Christchurch. Plot, Block 27. Plot 115

Rebecca Williams was only six years old when her mother, Ann, collapsed and died in the doorway of the Timaru Hotel. Left with her little brother William and their restless whaler-turned-publican father, she grew up in the rough beginnings of a coastal town still finding its place between Māori history and European settlement. Hers was a life shaped by loss, movement, and resilience — from a childhood in a cottage by the sea, to marriage with a blacksmith, to raising eight children across the South Island and Wairarapa. She lived long enough to see New Zealand women win the right to vote, but like her mother before her, she was buried in an unmarked grave...

When I trace my family line back, the path runs through my grandmother Doreen Stocker, to my great-grandmother Ellen Jane Clarke, and further still to my great-great-grandmother Ellen Gardner — the woman who sailed from Ireland to New Zealand in 1864. Because of her leap of faith, I stand today as the fifth generation born in New Zealand and the 6th generation countring dow from Ellen.

She boarded a sailing ship alone in 1864, leaving her small Irish village behind. Her name was Ellen Gardner — my great-great-grandmother, and the beginning of my fifth-generation connection to New Zealand.

Ellen was born in 1838 in Ballyeaston, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, the daughter of James Gardner, a farmer at Ballyalbanagh, and Mary Jackson. She grew up in a Presbyterian farming family at a time when life in rural Ulster was tough and opportunities were few. Like many young women of her time, she faced a choice: stay, or risk everything for a chance at something new.

At twenty-six, she chose the latter...

What would you do if ten years of your life’s work disappeared overnight?

That’s what happened to my friend Lucy. Her Facebook page.... years of memories, gone. Just like that. And it made me worry, what if the WuHoo Timaru Facebook page disappeared too. Ten years of discoveries, fun facts, and free fun ideas for families... all gone.

So, I decided I’d better save it somewhere else. I started copying, pasting, and rewriting our posts into blogs on our website wuhootimaru.co.nz/blogs. I got about 50 blogs deep, when I realised something. Very few included stories of women.

Join me while I reflect on why that was, and what I have learned so far. Over these past months I have discovered that many women’s stories risk being lost, because they were never written down or passed on. Some were pioneers, inventors and trail blazers. Others lived more quietier lives and focused on their families and communities. South Canterbury itself was once one of the wealthiest regions in the country, known as the nation’s food bowl, with a port that linked us to global markets. In many ways our region has always punched above its weight.

What I now understand is that it is not only the exceptional who make ripples. It is all of us — even through ordinary, everyday tasks — shaping the world around us...

Back when the Theatre Royal and Museum were being planned as a combined hub, I had the privilege of helping the South Canterbury Museum gather stories about the history of the site... its built heritage, its social fabric, its place in Timaru’s story. I absolutely loved it. The work built on research I’d already been doing into the Turnbull family, and it opened up so many windows into how Timaru’s colonial chapter began and evolved.

Sadly, at the eleventh hour, the project was shelved, and with it my involvement. At the time, it felt like those stories had been tucked away in boxes, waiting. But a few years on, I’ve found myself returning to them — the things I learned, the surprises I uncovered, and the reflections they stirred in me.

So here it is: a blog about the neighbourhood around the Stafford Street block, the place where the Theatre Royal still stands, and what its layers of history have taught me... not only about Timaru, but about myself...

By Roselyn Fauth

The CriterionHotel was built in 1872-73, utilising Timaru bluestone, the local volcanic rock. And Right a map showing the neigbourhood in 1874. The Criterion was designed by local architect Francis Wilson, who held the lease for the hotel until 1877. There followed several ownership changes and the addition of a brick extension at the rear. It was one of the first blue stone buildings to be registered in Timaru. A contemporary of the Timaru Landing Services Building with tails of the days linking to sailors, whalers and traders.

A fire almost wiped three quarters of Timaru's wooden shops, offices, and homes off the map in 1868. Out of the ashes rose the Criterion Hotel, which quietly turned 150 last year. The Criterion was designed by local architect Francis Wilson, who held the lease for the hotel until 1877. There followed several ownership changes and the addition of a brick extension at the rear. Following a 1906 renovation by new owner Ralph Porter, it was renamed the Excelsior Tavern, which it remained through nearly all of the 20th century, ending its days as The Factory nightclub and bar and closing in 2021. In its hay day, it was at the center of the towns commercial area, pretty much on the edge of the harbour and a stones throw from the sailors reaching the shore. It had a very colourful reputation, known as a crack den, and the site of a double shooting. The hospitality trade is a different scene these days, impacted by legislation to curb binge drinking and drink driving. Today this Victorian aged buildings future now hangs in the balance...

Whenever I go past the Theatre Royal, I feel sad, looking at the closed doors with the signwritten promise, the show will go on... They’ve been shut since 2019, and while you'd think safety was the official reason, the story is a little more complicated. The government’s “shovel-ready” funding programme during COVID handed out money for projects that could spark jobs and renewal. The Theatre Royal was a lucky recipient. Yet, frustratingly for many, the doors have stayed closed as the property owner, the Timaru District Council, has spent years working out what to do next.

It makes me think about how heritage is never simple. Money might be available, but deciding how to balance history, community needs, and future vision can take longer than anyone hopes. And so, the building waits...

The story of this properties site begins with disaster. In 1868 the “Great Fire” destroyed 39 wooden buildings, wiping out three quarters of Timaru’s CBD. Locals were forced to start again, this time stronger, with stone and brick. 

A year later, in 1869, Richard Turnbull built a bluestone warehouse for his merchant grain and wool business and for others to rent space in his store. The foundation were built on the ruins of the Byrne family home that had been lost to the flames. What was a warehouse became known as Turnbull’s Hall after it was used for a civic meeting in 1873 to host around six hundred locals who crowded in to discuss harbour works and a proposed breakwater. That meeting led directly to the appointment of Timaru’s first Harbour Board. A very significant milestone in our Timaru timeline...

By Roselyn Fauth 

Timaru Yacht and Power Club at the end of Marine Parade, Timaru. Its run by volunteers, non-profit club, with the aim to support and inspire people to get onto and into the water by providing coaching and slipway access. Season October-May each year. - Photography By Roselyn Fauth

If you stand on Marine Parade in Timaru today and look across Caroline Bay, you’ll see a sweep of sand stretching further out than our grandparents ever saw. The shoreline has been on the move for more than a century... rapidly changing, steadily, carried forward by the impacts of the harbour sticking out of the coastline and interrupting the way the sediment moves up the coast. What was a stony shore in 1860s has pushed out into a shallow sandy bay that still inches out, year by year.

Back in the 1990s, coastal scientists explained that the beach was filling out ahead at six metres a year. They predicted it would reach its farthest point by the year 2000, only a stone’s throw from the Timaru Yacht and Power Boat Club’s clubhouse at the North Mole. They were right in one sense — the sand kept coming. And it hasn’t stopped. Today the beach has reshaping the way people use the bay, our Port Resort reminds us that civic works and nature, play a hand in our communities stories...

The bay has been my back yard playground growing up in Timaru. I know pretty much every inch of it, from the smell of our huts in the macrocarpa hedges, the taste of the sea after a paddle with my siblings and friends, the sound of swing chains, and I can still remember the fear and pride when I first managed the scale and descend on what was at the time and enormous playground slide. Some of my early dates with my husband Chris included souvlakis on the marine parade rocks, and a late night dip unknowingly shared with some very small penguins. Over a decade ago, Chris and I hired the Yacht Club for our engagement party. From the window you can just make out the tip of a 2023 lighthouse slide tower that  is part of the playground that Chris, and I, with a small committee, contractors and 100s of supporters worked together to create. Today we bring our children, two of many generations to play at the bay.

For all of us locals, I bet we have similar memories how the sand and sea is part of who we are. For example I have really enjoyed the memories that the older generation have shared, of recalling the ribs of a shipwreck below the Benvenue Cliffs. The 1883 disaster was dismantled for re-use and ripped apart by surging sea storms. The Benvenue Shipwreck, well what is left of it, now rests buried in its sandy grave below where we stroll with our dogs and paddle with our children.

While I reminicse, I remeber the beacon on the other side of the bay. A stunning white building, home to clubs and sea sailing enthusiasts. Its a wonderful venue. Over the last few months I have been helping to organise a fundraising event in October there on the ports side for the Aoraki Foundations, Womens Fund. I can't wait, its a stunning space.

While we were standing in the club rooms the other day, counting tables and devising the space set up for the event, I noticed trophies and flags accumulated over the years. It made me wonder about the history of the space and the people, past and present who have enjoyed its wooden bones. So here is a little blog (that seems to always end up being a short novel! Sorry... not sorry...) about the history and the stories that I have learned so far... I would love to learn more, if people would like to share flick me an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it....

By Roselyn Fauth

About seven years ago, I got curious about the buildings in Timaru’s CBD. I had no background in architecture, and my research and history skills were, well, pretty slim. Then a family friend, Phil Brownie, handed me his Timaru heritage reports from the 1980s. I flicked through them and that was it – I was hooked. I got pretty far through my hunt. I made a list of international, national and local events, plotted them on a timeline and popped the buildings conception dates into the list. Then I looked for stories on people from all walks of life, the business owners, residents, politicians, sporting icons, sex workers, opium den workers, chinese grocers, public servants, fire starters, constable murderers, even tales of ghosts. What I have ended up with is a dense document that if taken for a mornings wander round town might leave you feeling proud of local people and places of the past too. Or in need of a beverage and carbs to refuel the brain and body.

I then found out that the council had someone reviewing the files that Phil had given me, and so I parked the project for a bit until the work of Dr Anne McCully was published and I could check my information was correct and in line with the official Timaru District Council Heritage Reports. If I am also honest... I also procrastinated on printing the big hunt, in the worry that it might overwhelm people, but I think it is time to revisit the file, tweak it and fire it off to the printers. Because I think this information even though it's dense, I think it is really interesting and relevant. If not a bit of entertainment, it tells us more about our past, and invites us think critically about who we are because of our past, with today's lens. 

For me, the bricks and mortar in our town are more than just structures. They’re like monuments of our past, bookmarks in our history that remind us who we were and where we’ve come from.

I’ll be honest – hunting for history hasn’t been easy. There have been plenty of gremlins along the way: missing records, contradictions, photos that didn’t quite match the stories. But I’ve been lucky too. Lots of people have shown me where and how to look, and without their guidance, I’d probably still be scratching my head.

Somewhere along the way, I realised I was learning just as much about myself as I was about the buildings and the people behind them...

By Carmen Haymen

Born in 1874, Maud grew up in the small railway settlements of South Canterbury, where her father worked as a stationmaster. Her childhood was marked by both promise and tragedy: gifted with a sharp mind that quickly outpaced her peers, yet surrounded by the losses of siblings taken too soon. From Pleasant Point to Timaru High School and finally Canterbury College, Maud’s educational journey was defined by resilience and brilliance. The Timaru Herald proudly reported on her string of scholarships, exhibitions, and university prizes, culminating in her Master of Arts with Honours in Greek and French in 1897.

But behind the headlines lay a fuller story: of a determined young woman navigating personal loss, danger, and the shifting expectations of colonial society, all while refusing to let her gender limit her path. While her academic excellence is super impressive, I think her story is about courage, community, and the pursuit of knowledge in an era of change. While she had no children of her own, Maud’s legacy lives on in the students she taught, opening doors for women by proving what was possible....

Around 1856 in Timaru, Ann Williams with her husband, the American whaler turned publican Samuel “Yankie Sam” Williams, and their two kids, were the first European family to permanently settle in the area. Ann helped open the town’s first hotel, welcomed new settlers, and raised eldest child Rebecca, and William “Flash Billy” Williams, who was was the first recorded birth of a European child in Timaru.

Ann collapsed and died in doorway of the Timaru Hotel on George Street in 1860 at the age of 35, leaving behind two young children and her husband. She was the mother of Timaru's first recorded European birth, and welcomed many new immigrants and early European settlers who visted and moved to Timaru. Today, her grave is not only unmarked, it is unknown. After hunting and hunting, we don't think we will ever find our where she rests. Her story, nearly lost, I believe deserves to be remembered with a small monument by her husbands headstone and grave.

Through the journey of looking for Ann, I have also learned that over 700 people rest in Timaru's cemetery in unmarked graves assigned to row 0. When people couldn't afford a burial, the government stepped in on the condition that a headstone would not be raised. I learned that this was very difficult for some families to accept and often brought shame. Some burials were held at night, some without ceremony. So with your help I would like to also remember those who rest in unmarked graves in front of a large area of lawn where many "pauper graves" as they were known are.

The Timaru District Council has approved the plan. The Civic Trust is supporting the project by enabling us to fundraise through their registered charity account. Mason Les Jones from Aorangi and Harding Memorials has generously donated his time, so we just have to raise funds to:

• Install a memorial rock with a plaque for Ann Williams, using a rock brought from her son’s Larrikin goldmining site in Kumara to be placed with her husbands grave at the Timaru Cemetery. Ann's metal casted plaque  $900 + GST $135 Total: $1,035

• Erect a second memorial boulder and plaque to honour 700+ people buried in pauper graves + those in unmarked graves in Timaru Cemetery metal casted plaque
  Option A – Medium (300x200mm plaque) $1,300 + GST $195 Total: $1,495
  Option B – X Large (400x300mm plaque) $2,600 + GST $390 Total: $2,990
  

As of 08/08/2025 we have raised $1595 of the goal $4,025... Still to Raise: $2,430

"By learning about people from our past, we better understand where we’ve come from and who we are today. Then we can make better choices for our future. These monuments will help ensure that those who rest in unmarked graves... people who shaped our city and region, are recognised and remembered with the dignity they deserve by the community." - Roselyn Fauth

Please contact me, Roselyn Fauth This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the bank details to donate to. 

The Timaru Civic Trust is a registered New Zealand charity, so donors can file a Donation Tax Credit (Rebate) with the IRD to request 33% of their donation back. Once your donation is received, a Donation Receipt for this purpose can be provided upon request by the Trust.

Thank you so much
Roselyn Fauth

Roselyn Fauth with Les Jones from Aorangi and Harding Memorials (a long-standing member of the New Zealand Master Monumental Masons’ Association NZMMMA) planning the monuments and hunting for rocks.

Help Us Choose the Memorial Rock to Honour Those Who Rest in Unmarked Graves

Did you know more than 700 people, including stillborn babies, immigrants, and early settlers, are buried in unmarked and pauper graves at the Timaru Cemetery?

By Dianne Stewart

When Edna Mabel Grant took to the skies in 1939, she became the first woman in South Canterbury to earn a pilot’s licence. While her journey was about flying – it was ultimately about defying expectations in a world for women. From knitting socks for soldiers during the First World War, to working in a Dunedin salon to pay for flying lessons, to becoming the only female air traffic controller at her RNZAF base during WWII, Edna’s life is a story of determination, courage, and inspiration. Big thank you to our guest writer Dianne for sharing his research into this phenomenal woman... 

By Roselyn Fauth

What began as a single painted mushroom fairy house grew into a 5,000-member creative movement in just one month... connecting strangers, getting people outdoors, and breaking down barriers to public art. Along the way, I learned that creativity is more powerful when the focus is on the process, not perfection, and that even the simplest ideas can transform a community and make a difference to peoples lives...

By Roselyn Fauth

The Public Library, Timaru, circa 1909, Timaru, by William Ferrier. Te Papa (O.051443)

I first read these words when I was learning about Timaru's early public library. If you look today, you can still see the words "Public Library" on the facade that is part of the Timaru District Council's building. These words belong to Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-born steel magnate turned philanthropist, who spent much of his life giving away the fortune he had amassed in America. It would be easy to dismiss him as “just another rich man telling us what to do with money,” but the more I’ve learned about Carnegie, the more I’ve realised his words aren’t really about money at all. They’re about responsibility...

By Roselyn Fauth

I never set out to win awards for volunteering. In fact, most of the time I wasn’t sure I knew what I was doing. But what I’ve learned is that giving your time to the arts is about far more than murals, plaques, or galleries — it’s about building belonging.

I’ve often wondered: what really makes a place feel like home? It’s not just the houses or the roads... it is the people that make a home. Strip away the murals, the libraries, the galleries, the plaques, and the playgrounds, and you’d be left with roads, pipes, and buildings — but not a community.

People sometimes ask me why I give so much of my time to the arts. On the surface, it might look like a “nice-to-have” — exhibitions, concerts, murals, heritage plaques, or even playground designs that carry creative storytelling. But the truth is, the arts are not a luxury. They are essential.

I know this because I’ve seen it firsthand, again and again, as a volunteer. And being part of that story has taught me a lot about myself.

So here is a blog about what I have learned through volunteering, why I am so passionate about the arts, and how I hope the recent awards that I have recieved could inpsire others...

By Roselyn Fauth

I never expected a lockdown walk through the cemetery to change the way I see myself, my community, and even the history of Timaru. But that’s exactly what happened.

Over lockdown, our family spent quite a bit of time at the cemetery. We’d find interesting graves, and I’d go home and start digging into their stories. That was the beginning of a rather random hunt for history — largely self-guided at first, with books that smelt of decaying animal glue and had been printed more than a hundred years ago.

As time went on, I reached out and learned more from others. And when I panicked that Facebook might one day delete my old posts, I began rewriting them as blogs. That’s when I realised something: most of the stories I’d been telling were about men. So my recent side quest has been to pull the women from the margins and bring them onto the page. To give them voice, visibility, and space. And by doing that, here’s what I have learned so far...

By Roselyn Fauth

Airini Elizabeth Woodhouse (1896–1989), only child of Robert Heaton Rhodes and Jessie Bidwell of Blue Cliffs Station, was a Timaru farmer, community leader, historian, and author. Granddaughter of early settler George Rhodes, she contributed to numerous voluntary organisations and left a lasting legacy through her writings, copies of which are held in the Aoraki Heritage Collection.

Some people leave their mark in ways you only notice years later. For me, that’s how it was with Airini Woodhouse. Her name kept slipping into my research... a mention in a centennial programme, a credit in a local history book, a decision made in a committee decades ago. At first I didn’t think much of it. But after a chat with my former Art History teacher I realised there was more to Airini, and that I would enjoy learning about her.

The more I looked, the more I realised her life has touched almost every corner of South Canterbury... from the way we protect Māori rock art to the histories we read, the wool we class, and even the names on our maps. What started out as a hunt for her history to learn more about the women from our past has ended up as something closer to a fan-girl blog. I think she was phenomenal, and I suspect that if you didn’t know about her before, you will by the time you finish reading.

 By Roselyn Fauth

Demolished 1990s of the old CFCA Canterbury Farmers Co-operative Association building fronting on Beswick St. Timaru, New Zealand, by Muir & Moodie. Te Papa (C.014369)

On the afternoon of 5 February 1908, Timaru’s largest store went up in flames. I picture myself standing on Strathallan Street as the biggest fire since 1868 tore through the Canterbury Farmers’ Co-operative Association’s flagship building. Flames roared through the drapery windows, smoke billowed down the block, and the heat was so fierce it would have singed my face from across the road. Within hours, the pride of the main street was reduced to scorched brick and twisted iron.

It was not just a fire. It was the sudden loss of a building that had been created out of collective determination. The CFCA was built by and for the farming community and stood as a physical expression of confidence in the future. Its destruction was a shock that rippled far beyond the charred remains. Looking back now, this moment offers more than a story from the past. It shows us where we have come from, speaks to who we are as a community, and asks us to consider how the choices we make about our built environment will be felt by those who walk these streets long after us...

By Roselyn Fauth A Painting That Stops You in Your Tracks.
Inspired by a Facebook post by the Aigantighe Art Gallery, you an also see her painting here: pressreader/the-timaru-herald (I haven't included her painting as I was unsure about the copyright).

Sometimes you stand in front of a painting and realise it carries more than just the scene on the canvas. It holds layers of story. Place. People. Memory. That’s what happened when I stopped in front of Mt Sefton by Esther Hope at the Aigantighe Art Gallery. It’s part of Aoraki Tangata Whenua, an exhibition of Southern Alps landscapes from the gallery’s collection, now in its final days. The brushwork is delicate, yet the mountain feels powerful. Freezing. Alive.

When I read about Esther Hope, I feel a thread of connection to my own life. She grew up with art at the heart of her home, guided by a parent who understood the world through images. Her mother held a paintbrush and her grandfather held a camera. My father holds a camera and my mother creates with her hands through cross stitch. I think both Esther and I learned early how to notice the way light falls across a landscape, or how a story or a message can be shared through art. That shared inheritance of creativity feels like a link that crosses generations.

To me, Esther’s life and art show that the landscapes we inherit are shaped by both nature and people, and that when you truly know a place, it changes how you see and represent it. Her story invites us to look beyond the paint… to see a woman shaped by the high country and her family’s place in its history. Someone who used the opportunities of wealth and education to travel, study, serve, and paint. What we’re left with is not just a mountain in watercolour, but a record of a moment in time, framed by the social and economic world that made it possible.

Read on to learn more about this painter’s story.

By Roselyn Fauth

I was invited to be a guest speaker at the Bridge Club venue on Wilson Street. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I discovered it is home to one of the oldest surviving women’s clubs in New Zealand!

Founded in 1904 by women who travelled into Timaru from their country farms, the South Canterbury Women’s Club became the group to belong to. Hats and gloves were the order of the day, and membership offered more than just tea and chatter - it was and still is a lifeline of connection, support, and community.

As they shared their history with me... a story that stretches from a George Street tearoom to more than a century of friendship, connection, and social change, I realised the importance of their group and many like them. It is part of a long tradition of women creating their own spaces for connection, support, and leadership.

Created by seven friends in a Timaru tearoom, it has adapted through wars, social change, and shifting fashions, yet its purpose remains the same. Its story is a reminder that such spaces only survive if new generations join and carry their legacy forward. What I learned is that for one woman, a club like this can be a lifeline... a place of friendship, encouragement, and belonging, where the wisdom and stories of others become part of your own journey.” My heartfelt thanks to the South Canterbury Women’s Club for inviting me to share my story and for so generously sharing theirs with me..

“This journey into the history of the South Canterbury Women’s Club has taught me that connection is timeless. The details may change, the fashions, the meeting places, the world outside, but the heart remains the same. When women come together to share, support, and inspire one another, they create something that lasts far beyond their own lifetimes.” – Roselyn Fauth

Here is there story:

By Roselyn Fauth

Illustration from the book: Mary R. S. Creese and Thomas M. Creese, Ladies in the Laboratory III: South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian Women in Science: Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Scarecrow Press, 2010), p. 113. Read on line here

Have you ever looked at harakeke flax and wondered what stories it might hold? As well as cloaks and ropes, there’s a fascinating scientific yarn of cells and salt and structure, of a young woman, notebook in hand, curiously studying a wetland. I hadn’t, not until I read about Bella Dytes MacIntosh MacCallum, the first woman in New Zealand to earn a Doctor of Science. Born in Timaru in 1886, she attended Timaru Girls’ High School, then Canterbury College, earning a BA in 1908 and an MA in 1909 with First Class Honours in botany, focusing on halophyte plant adaptations to salty soil. She went on to become a British botanist and mycologist, breaking new ground for women in science.

Harakeke (Flax) Photography By Geoff Cloake

She was awarded a National Research Scholarship and used it to continue her wetland plant studies. After teaching at high schools, she completed her doctorate from the University of New Zealand in 1917 with a thesis on Phormium (New Zealand flax), titled Phormium with Regard to Its Economic Importance — a work she began in 1909 with guidance from Dr Leonard Cockayne. Her research was one of the first major scientific studies to link the biology of flax to its economic and industrial uses, helping to bridge traditional knowledge and modern science.

Why hadn’t I heard of her? She sounds amazing... she is a reminder that when education is accessible to everyone, talent and curiosity can take someone anywhere, no matter where they start. I think she is so outstanding, that we should nominate her for Timaru's Hall of Fame!

By Roselyn Fauth

Imagine a woman riding a bicycle across Waimate’s gravel roads with a satchel full of syringes, aspirin, quinine, and opium-based cough mixtures. She must have felt exhausted. As a doctor during the 1918 influenza, also known as the Spanish Flu, she might have been the only person to visit the sick that day. You can almost picture her, Dr Margaret Cruickshank, riding on to her next house call. I think she is one of the most remarkable people in our region’s history. And her twin sister was pretty awesome too.

During the Covid pandemic, we spent a fair bit of time at the cemetery with our children. It became our way of getting out of the house so my husband Chris could have some peace to work from home and concentrate on his Zoom meetings. Our girls would dress up in costumes, and together we would wander past the headstones. I would pick out interesting ones, and go home and learn about the people who rested there.

To be honest, I hadn't spent much time in cemeteries before. I never felt quite comfortable there, never truly welcome. But now, looking back, I realise it was not that the space felt unwelcoming. It was my feelings and fear of death. My mortality, and knowing one day I will lose the people I love, and that I too will be faced with grief. Visiting the graves has made me face these internal dialogues and come to terms with the inevitable, and think of bigger concepts, like why we are here, what can be our purpose and our legacy.

Timaru’s cemetery holds many stories of people and their legacy. There are graves of people who died during the 1918 influenza pandemic, and those who survived and made it through, off the back of World War One. Reading those stories gave me hope while I was trying to make sense of our own lockdown experience. By learning about the people, their struggles and resilience from the past, I learned a lot more about myself. Today’s story is about the grave of the Cruickshank twins, who rest in Waimate.

Twin sisters Margaret and Christina Cruickshank shaped the course of education, medicine and women’s leadership in South Canterbury, North Otago and across the nation. From Margaret’s heroic role in the 1918 influenza pandemic to Christina’s groundbreaking work as a science educator and principal, their legacy is powerful. A cemetery headstone, a statue in Waimate, and a motto at Timaru Girls’ High School reveal a story of courage, sacrifice and trailblazing spirit to empower women...

By Roselyn Fauth

What if I told you that a Timaru girl, born in 1866, to Scotsman, Physician and Surgeon Dr Duncan and Ann McLean from the Channel Islands, went on to shape the future of more than 8,000 young women across New Zealand, and was later honoured by the King at Buckingham Palace? Her name was Mary McLean appointed in 1898 after the fire that split Timaru High School, was the first principal of the newly established Timaru Girls’ High School. She was 32 years old when she was hired in 1898. 

She modernised curricula, introduced science, arts, music, physical education, and pushed for equal access for less academic pupils. These reforms reflected and accelerated New Zealand’s wider secondary school transformation. Her career was capped by a personal investiture at Buckingham Palace, where King George V awarded her the CBE in 1928. This honour recognised her as one of New Zealand’s foremost educators. In retirement she founded the Women’s Social Progress Movement (1929), which campaigned on temperance, censorship, women’s representation, and relief during the Depression.

She began in Timaru, a provincial town, and rose to national prominence. Mary Jane McLean never married and did not have children. Like many women teachers of her era, marriage would have meant having to resign from her profession, so she devoted her life entirely to education and public service. Her story shows how women from regional New Zealand shaped the nation. For Timaru, she is a reminder of how local schools produced leaders who influenced far beyond South Canterbury.

When I was a student at Timaru Girls’ High School, I knew the classrooms, the uniforms, the friendships... but I didn’t know the story of the woman who had stood at the very beginning of it all. Her name was Mary Jane McLean, and she was our first principal. Born here in Timaru, she went on to become one of New Zealand’s most important education leaders. She even travelled to Buckingham Palace to be honoured by King George V himself...

By Roselyn Fauth and father Geoff Cloake

Family portrait of the Clarke sisters, including Louie Johnson (née Clarke) seated on the left. Taken in Timaru by photographer P. Cuthbert. She was a respected local whose clear eyewitness account of Pearse’s 1903 powered flight became crucial to his aviation legacy, helping lift it from hearsay to credible history.

We went for a Sunday drive with our young kids and my parents. One of the stops was the Richard Pearse monument on Main Waitohi Road. The kids tried out the brass rubbing plaque there, and as we were standing beside the memorial, Dad casually told me something I had never heard before.

He had once been interviewed by the BBC. They were working on a programme about the race to be the first to fly in the world, and were searching for credible witnesses to help find the truth. That’s when he told me his great aunty was one of those witnesses.

Pearse’s story is not a simple one. For over 100 years people have argued over the dates, distances, and whether his brief hops really counted as “flights” before the Wright brothers’ famous moment at Kitty Hawk. This is not one of those arguments. This is about a woman who lived in the community, who gave her own clear account of what she saw, and who had a life full of experiences before and after that day in 1903...

 By Roselyn Fauth

"What if one of New Zealand’s most celebrated artists owed her international success not just to her own brilliance, but to a mother whose name barely appears in the record books?".  Taken at Cranmore Lodge, on the hills above Dunedin, in February 1892. Shows Isabel Hodgkins (holding Japanese sunshade), William Mathew and Rachael Hodgkins (seated), William Field (on ground). Photograph taken by Cower.http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23052643, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29682064 Public Domain

What if one of New Zealand’s most celebrated artists owed her international success not just to her own brilliance, but to a mother whose name barely appears in the record books? While Frances Hodgkins dazzled the European art world, her mother Rachel held the family together back in Dunedin... through bankruptcy, widowhood, and raising creative, capable daughters and sons in a society that I suspect didn’t expect women to become professional artists.

In a world where so many women’s contributions are overlooked or forgotten, I found myself asking: what legacy does a mother leave behind? And how might Frances Hodgkins’s path have been different without her mother Rachel?

I love the Aigantighe. In my early 20s, I joined the Friends of Aigantighe and have been a gallery supporter and volunteer for over 20 years. The collection is seriously impressive, and there are so many artworks that I could say were my favourite. From a lens as a female artist myself, Frances Hodgkins’s modernist paintings in the copllection have always caught my eye, although I need to confess I didn’t really know that much about her until a YouTube video was shared to Facebook by a friend. The story prompted me to reflect on a recent visit to the Dunedin Art Gallery. Our girls proudly brought home a free poster of Frances’s watercolour artwork Summer c1912, which is now pride of place by daughter’s bunks. I hope that the artwork on the wall that features a woman and two children, will inspire our kids to love art and create their own legacy, just like Frances Hodgkins.

I was curious: who was she, why is she celebrated, and what environment nurtured her and inspired her to create? I was also curious if she had ties or connections to Timaru. And, perhaps most of all, I wondered about the women who raised her... the mother who often lingers in the margins of Frances’s story. This is what I have learned so far... with a few side quests...

Guest Writer 04/08/2025
By: Carmen Hayman, Great GreatGreat Grandaughter

Ann Grigson. From intensions to marry project.

Strange things happen in cemeteries. I was doing a live Facebook video to invite people to help me research and write blogs when Carmen just happened to be on the other side of the cemetery walking her dog. After getting a ping in her pocket from the live notification, she popped over to introduce herself.

She shared her story of learning to research and hunting for history, and told me about her ancestor. I asked if I could share her story, and thankfully she said yes! So here we are… WuHoo Timaru’s very first guest writer on our blog: Carmen’s story of her great-great-great-grandmother, Ann Grigson. Thank you Carmen. 

Ann and her family arrived in Lyttelton in February 1860, then travelled south through Timaru before reaching Waimate on 20 February 1860. Her father, William Grigson, is noted as a “timber carter residing at Waimate”, though he died near Saltwater Creek (north of Timaru) and was buried in Timaru Cemetery. Ann married Richard Champion in Waimate in 1861 and lived there until her death in 1878.

(A note from Roselyn Fauth - WuHoo Timaru... Please note: this blog includes some difficult content, but we both feel it is important – though challenging – to share the truth so people today can reflect on it. Her story reminds me that our town’s history isn’t just names on headstones or dates in a book. It’s real people, especially women like Ann Grigson, who helped build this place through lives that were often tough and unrecognised. Sharing her story connects us not just to the past, but to the land and community we’re part of now. It’s a reminder that Timaru’s history isn’t somewhere far away – it’s right here under our feet, in our streets, and in the stories we choose to remember and tell.)

 By Roselyn Fauth

Mary Hepzibah Turnbull (Book Richard Turnbull a Timaru Pioneer) Richard Turnbulls Chair  South Canterbury Museum-CN-6108. 

Right Clarkson and Turnbulls wooden store on the Corner of what is now Stafford Street and George Street. The Turnbulls Home was next door.

Sometimes, connecting to history begins with an object. For me it was a monument at a cemetery and then it was a chair.

While browsing the South Canterbury Museum’s online archive and searching for “Turnbull,” I came across a photograph of a chair labelled as Richard Turnbull’s. I included this in a pull up banner for D.C Turnbull & Co when they celebrated their 130 year milestone of business. The timeline absorbed a lot of time, but I really enjoyed the deep dive and side quests over the last five years.

Recently, I have been taking Harvard University’s free course Tangible Things, which encourages looking at objects not just for what they are but for what they can represent. For a unit module I decided to revisit the chair, and pull Mary into the story so we can learn about the woman behind Richard Turnbull. Today's blog is not about the chair, it is about what the chair might have meant to Mary Hepzibah Turnbull, and using the object to connect to her story in the chapters of Timaru's past.

By Roselyn Fauth

Monument to Jeanie Collier. Located in a paddock on the south side of Horseshoe Bend road, Otaio. Jeanie was the first recorded woman runholder in New Zealand. She took up land in Otaio to provide her orphaned nephews with occupations. Aoraki Heritage Collection. https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/3880

My dad sent me a link the other day and asked if I had heard of Jeanie Collier. Her name rang a bell, but I had to admit it had been a while since I had thought about her. I knew she was an early farmer, one of those names that lingers in the background of South Canterbury’s story, but gosh, what a fascinating woman she was. You can even find her monument tucked away in a reserve of gum trees. She was a pioneering runholder, recognised as New Zealand’s first recorded woman to be granted her own pastoral land. And she was born around 1791!

So this is what I have learned about Jeanie. A woman ahead of her time...

By Roselyn Fauth

IN MEMORY OF ELIZABETH, THE BELOVED WIFE OF BENJAMIN GIBSON, WHO DIED AFTER A LINGERING ILLNESS ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22ND, 1875. 

Have you ever seen a headstone that makes you want to know the story behind the name? On one of my cemetery wanders I came across one for Elizabeth Gibson, who died on 22 November 1875. Her inscription calls her an affectionate wife, a devoted Christian and an earnest Sunday School teacher. It also mentions her part in the formation of the Primitive Methodist Church on Barnard Street in Timaru. That really caught my attention because the church was formally established around 1885, so her headstone suggests she was involved from the very beginning when services were likely held in borrowed halls or private homes.

The Primitive Methodist Church became an important part of local life and later evolved into the Centenary Memorial Church before joining the wider Methodist union in 1913. Women like Elizabeth were often at the heart of these early congregations, running Sunday Schools and shaping community life. I love how her headstone remembers not just her faith but also the difference she made to those around her.

I have found a few clues about her but there is still much I would like to know. Does anyone want to give me a hand hunting for her history?

By Rosleyn Fauth

When I think of inspiring women with ties to Timaru and South Canterbury, Jessie Mackay stands out. I visited Kakahu once and saw the plaque at the old school, but at the time I had no idea who she was. Like many, I walked past her name without knowing her story. Later I discovered she had once taught there and went on to become recognised as New Zealand’s first native-born poet, a fearless journalist and a suffragist who worked alongside Kate Sheppard.

It made me wonder how many other names we see but do not stop to ask about. How many local places hold stories of women who shaped New Zealand’s history? And what did she write about?

"Arica Tsunami 1868: Wood engraving by C. T. Winter from the Illustrated Melbourne Post, courtesy of the State Library of Victoria."

Well, that Civil Defence phone alert gave me quite a jump this afternoon. As of 4.11 pm, officials have issued a National Advisory for tsunami activity following an upgraded magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the east coast of Kamchatka, Russia.

The advice is clear: stay out of the water and away from beaches, harbours, rivers, estuaries and marinas. Strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges are expected that can be dangerous. Coastal inundation is not expected, but currents and surges can injure or drown people. The first activity may reach New Zealand from around 11.59 pm tonight and could continue for several hours. Civil Defence is urging people not to go to the coast to watch the waves and to follow instructions from local authorities.

Hearing that alert reminded me that this is not the first time Timaru has been connected to a tsunami. It also brought to mind one of the most dramatic years in our local history: 1868, when Timaru endured what I can only describe as a trifecta of disasters...

By Roselyn Fauth, adapted from W. Vance’s historical account

Section 1875 Map of Timaru - Strathallan Street Timaru used to be a creek and has been filled in using clay and spoil removed from the surrounding hillside.

Did you know there’s a street in central Timaru that appears on maps but has no name... and no sign? It runs from the top of LeCren Terrace, beside the South Canterbury Club, down to the waterfront behind the Miles Archer and Co / D. C. Turnbull store. Although parts of the hillside have been cut away, traces of the track remain.

This forgotten road borders one of Timaru’s most significant early commercial areas. Before it was developed, Strathallan Street itself was the bed of a creek that flowed from the old showgrounds near Elizabeth Street and Grey Road. The creek ran through the centre of Theodocia Street, crossed Canon Street near Ballantynes, continued along Stafford Street, met a smaller stream at Hay’s Buildings, and emptied into the sea near the railway crossing.

In front of the South Canterbury Museum and Perth Street, diagonally across from the Timaru Council Buildings, is the beautiful Kate Sheppard Memorial Garden. There is also a lovely camelia name for her in the garden. Photography By Roselyn Fauth 2021

Next time you walk through central Timaru, step off Perth Street and explore the peaceful space beside the South Canterbury Museum. You’ll find the Kate Sheppard Memorial Garden... a living tribute planted in white and purple in 1993 to celebrate 100 years since New Zealand women won the right to vote.

The people of Timaru created and gifted this garden to mark that historic milestone. Follow the paths and you’ll see purple and white flowers blooming in tribute to the suffrage movement’s colours. Look for the Kate Sheppard camellia, planted alongside white iceberg roses and lavender. A copper beech now rises near the centre, and curved Timaru bluestone walls frame the space...

By Roselyn Fauth 

Obituary: Joyce Guthrie- Adventurous spirit put great energy into looking after others (c 2001). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 05/08/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/7563

I was lucky enough to be shown around the Timaru Girls’ High School archives with volunteer archivist Pamela. She pulled out all kinds of gems, including a photocopy of a newspaper clipping... and obituary of an ‘old girl’ of the school: Mary Joyce Guthrie (née Macdonald). I snapped a photo, and later that evening, with a glass of wine in hand, I read it properly. What an interesting article about her life! One article turned into a search to learn more and piece together the world and time she lived in. Here’s what I learned about this remarkable Timaru woman...

The Blackett Lighthouse was originally on the Terrace, No. 7. It was later relocated to the corner of Te Weka Street and Benvenue Ave, and then again to the Benvenue Cliffs. It is a Category II structure and the Historic Places Trust.  LEFT: The Lighthouse at its current site in 2021. Courtesy of Roselyn Fauth. RIGHT: Timaru's lighthouse being relocated 1980.  Courtesy of South Canterbury Museum 2014/107.73

By Roselyn Fauth

My family home stood opposite Blackett’s Lighthouse in Timaru. For me, it was never just a landmark—it was part of my landscape, part of my childhood. When we walked past as kids, we’d sometimes knock on the door, full of hope that someone might answer. We’d wait and wait, pressing our ears to the wood, imagining footsteps. But no one ever came. Because the lighthouse was never a home.

It was a structure with one job: to give instructions to those at sea. But like many built heritage symbols, the Blacket Lighthouse's role has shifted over time. Today, it no longer performs a functional duty, it stands on its third relocation overlooking the bay above the Benvenue shipwreck burried below in the sand. At times, it has been a political icon, even a source of protest, once stirring such fury that effigies were burned in its name.

It is well documented now. A Google search will pull up technical reports, heritage listings, and newspaper articles. But like some of my recent blog posts, I am interested in what has been recorded, and curious about the people in the margins, those whose stories were moved aside to make space for infrastructure, for progress, for “official” history. People who also shaped the place all the same.

So here we go..
A story about light and darkness, Politics and protest, Architecture and argument, And the stories we find in the shadows cast by the lighthouse itself...

By Roselyn Fauth

Catherine Emily Hall (née Elspie, later Cain, known as Kate or Kitty) was the daughter of Jane (née Ellis) Cain, her step father was Captain Henry Cain, half-sister of Jane Ellis (Espie) Collins, married Thomas Hall in Timaru on 26 May 1885, she was the mother of Nigel Cuthbert Hall born 1886; she would be forever linked to the story of the Timaru poisonings, with her husband convicted of one crime and suspected of another. Details from Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 24/07/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/773

Report of the Trial of Thomas Hall Charged with the Wilful Murder of Captain Cain. Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 23/07/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/43

If you Google Timaru's Thomas Hall, you’ll find plenty of blogs and articles on one of the most heinous crimes of the colonial era. But if you want to learn about Catherine (or Kate, or Kitty, as she was also known) you’ll find very little. And yet, she was the survivor at the centre of it all: a grieving daughter who lost her stepfather Captain Henry Cain in Timaru under suspicious circumstances. She was a wife nearly murdered by the man she had just married, and a mother left to raise her infant son alone while her husband went behind bars and the community talked about the sensational story around the nation. The guilty were remembered in the chapters, and the story of Catherine the survior was shifted into the margins of the page.

So here is a blog to do justice to her. A survivor. A woman I want to pull from the margins of the page and place front and centre. So here is my blog to retell her story with the information I have hunted out so far...

By Roselyn Fauth

A page from  the Jubilee History of South Canterbury, published in 1916, shows a photo of Strongwork Morrison. Right the grave where he rests at Timaru's Cemetery. - Photo Roselyn Fauth

He took his will out of the box... He cursed Ross, threw his will in the fire, and died soon after. A tangled tale of Strong Work Morrison — Timaru’s first beachmaster, his two wives, a forgotten court case, and the neighbours of Samuel Williams

I was on a history hunt, researching someone buried just a few steps from Timaru’s first hotel keeper, Samuel Williams, when I stumbled into Strong Work / Strongwork Morrison’s story. It turns out Strong Work was not just a great name (how ever it is spelt, but a great tale... one woven through Timaru’s early maritime history, Deal boatmen, a scandalous divorce, and a tangled estate that was still being fought over years after his death.

That vivid detail from a 1900 court proceeding was the spark that sent me down the research rabbit hole to learn more about Strongwork Morrison... I had no idea that Morrison had once helped build the bones of Timaru’s port, that he had been our first beachmaster, and that his tangled legacy would include drowning tragedies, divorce petitions, lifeboat rescues, corruption scandals, and a scorched will.

By Roselyn Fauth

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19140611.2.64.40

I had one of those moments recently. The kind where the Wi-Fi drops out mid-message, or the groceries feel like they cost more than they should, and I feel the frustration bubble up. Then, while doing some browsing on Papers Past, I came across an old article from the Timaru Herald, dated 11 June 1914. It was titled Roughing It.

The story was shared by an older man named George Levens, who had come to South Canterbury in 1859 with a pioneering farming family named Neal. His memories painted a vivid picture of early settler life near Temuka. He described hauling supplies, chipping sea-damaged flour out of barrels with a tomahawk, and the challenges of building a farm from nothing. This one line made me pause... “Mr and Mrs Neal and three children slept in a dray with a tilt over it.”

For three years, that was their home. A wooden cart, with a canvas covering, parked on the edge of a rough paddock. No walls. No kitchen. No insulation. Just a mother and father, doing their best to raise a young family while breaking in the land.

The article didn’t name her. Just “Mrs Neal.” But I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Who was this woman sleeping in a dray with her children night after night? What brought her here? And why didn’t we know more about her? So I went looking.

By Roselyn Fauth

Here's a screenshot from the passenger list of the Indiana, 1858, showing 13-year-old Mary Ann Gardner and her family, recently arrived from Surrey. Notice how she and her sister Sarah were recorded as "transferred to single women." It's a little detail, but it opens up larger questions about her path into domestic service. The SS Indiana was a steel barquentine of 852 tons, captained by James McKirdy, which made many trips over 30 years until 1894, when it hit uncharted rocks in the Furneaux Group of Islands off Tasmania. Look closely at the passenger list, and see what details you can spy... beautifully hand writing hey. The passenger list is where she is first named, yet already separated as a single woman instead of a child. christchurchcitylibraries.com/Indiana-1858.pdf

A few days ago, I was chatting with my friend Sarah Best about a name I’d spotted on a ship register. I’d been wondering for ages about Mary Ann Gardner—the teenager who worked as a governess for Sam Williams in Timaru around 1860. After his first wife Ann died, Mary Ann married Sam and had his third child. I’d been so focused on learning about Ann Williams, the mother of the first recorded European baby born in Timaru, that I hadn’t paid much attention to Mary Ann. But stumbling across some immigration records sparked my interest. Who was she? Did she travel here with her family or on her own? What was her life like, and how did it unfold?

After I posted a snippet of the shipping record and asked some questions, Sarah responded with some great insights. Teamed with her help, the meticulous family research of Nola Towgood, and information from the New Zealand Suffrage website, we pieced together more of Mary Ann’s story. Like many colonial women, we’re still left with questions, and I’ve learned just how easy it is to make assumptions, or get things wrong, when details are missing. In this blog, I trace her journey as a teenager navigating colonial life... governess, stepmother, mother, partner, and survivor, and reflect on what’s recorded, what’s left out, and how we listen for the voices missing in the archives.

If you love unravelling the layers of women’s history, or just a good old-fashioned history hunt, this story is for you...

What started as a hunt for whaling history has led to a hunt for Timaru's first European perminant families mother - Ann Williams grave. She had a short but significant life in Timaru, arriving around 1856. Her and Samuel Williams who was a former Timaru whaler moved from the Rhodes 1851 cottage on the George Street shore, to the Timaru Hotel behind the cottage and opposite where the Oxford building is today. Sam was the first licencesd publican in the area, and had been running his accomodation house and pub with Ann for "some time" before they were granted official permission. It was this hotel where Ann collapsed in the door way on November 16th, 1860, Timaru, aged 35, and died of apoplexy (cerebral haemorrhage or stroke). Ann Williams, (nee Mahoney, also recorded as Anne Manry) was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1823, lived in Ballarat, Australia and the Timaru, New Zealand.

I ordered a print out of Ann's death record that was noted down by Belfield Woollcombe, the towns magistrate. And interestingly I assumed Sam would have been by her side, and they might have run the hotel together, but infact Richard Smith Cole (Barman, Timaru) was noted in the record as the informant. So here is the next side quest... who was he?

Could this be his grave?

 The grave of Robert Cole 1892 died aged 52. His wife rests here too Margaret S Cole.She died Jan 22na 1921. "Not lost but gone before" - At the Timaru Cemetery.

Reserve No. 165 – the original, public cemetery where early settlers (including Ann Williams, d. 1860) were buried. Reserve No. 166 – the new “Timaru North Cemetery” created in 1879 for ongoing use. This shift formalised the separation between the old, undenominational burial ground and the newly managed cemetery, where later Anglican consecration and denominational divisions were applied. Because Ann died nineteen years before 1879, her burial would have been in Reserve 165, not the newer cemetery.

I'll start off this blog today with a fund fact I learned... graveyards are burials by churches, cemeteries are burals by government. It's a fun fact, but it also helps us unravel the history of how we laid our past people to rest in Timaru in the 1850s onward.

Originally Timaru had two cemetery reserved marked out by the town surveyors. The reserves were established in 1859, a month before the Strathallan arrived. One was the current cemetery location at the south end of town. it was originally on the town belt with the Timaru Botanic Gardens on the other side of the road. This cemetery was designated for the Anglicans. The second reserve was further North.  

While hunting for the grave of Ann, I've been on all kinds of side quests, including trying to understand the history and the evolution of the Timaru Cemetery. On the block of Wai-iti Road & Selwyn Street corner to the Beverley Estate — divided into Wesleyan, Presbyterian, and Catholic sections by the Levels Roads Board. This is where the Aigantighe Art Gallery is today. I asked the council, and they confirmed this was never used for burials. By 1881, the northern cemetery site was proposed for sale by the Timaru Cemetery Commissioners. From this point, the Southern Timaru Cemetery became undenominational.

Two cemetery reserves that were once in the towns survey. Left the reserve on the corner of Wai-iti Road and Selwyn Streets, and Right, the Cemetery reserve opposite the Timaru Botanic Gardens

Well, Ann record of death has arrived, and it confirms a few deatils, and but no grave location. (Why is the quality of the scan sooooo bad? gah) I wrote back and asked if they could explain the fields on this register image... they noted that in 1861 the place of burial was not asked for. So the government does not hold that information, unfortunately.

10 May 2025

Ann Williams, (nee Mahoney, also recorded as Anne Manry) was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1823, lived in Australia, and collapsed and died in the doorway of the Timaru Hotel, after only 4 or 6 years raising her young family in Timaru, New Zealand 1860.

She was an Irish immigrant living in Ballarat, Australia when she met Samuel Williams. (I haven't found any marrage records, so I am careful not to assume they were married). They moved to Timaru around 1856 with their daughter Rebecca, and had their second child Williams Williams in Timaru 1856. He was the first recorded birth of a European child in the area. The Rhodes had a child a year earlier at the Levels Station Home near Pleasant Point, and the Hoornbrooks had a child in 1854 at Arowhenua Station.

Ann and Sam raised their family in the Rhodes cottage which was built by the shore on what is now George Street in 1851. With the help of the Rhodes, they built the Timaru Hotel in 1860, where Ann collapsed and died in the hotels doorway in November 1860, leaving Sam to raise his 3 and 6 year old children before he remarried and had a third child.

I found Sam's grave easily enough at the Timaru cemetery, but so far... it is a complete mystery where Ann was buried. With the help of the Timaru District Council and the South Canterbury Musuem, we have found her death records, but no information on her plot, let alone her burial.

I wonder if we will ever find her, and if we should errect a memorial to her and her family, maybe to all the mothers who so oftern get missed in the history books, who had the key task of raising their families.

By Roselyn Fauth

I have walked past this place more times than I can count. It sits on George Street, just across from Barnard Street. The property came up at a Timaru Civic Trust meeting the other night, and I realised I did not know anything about it. I did not know it had been a community centre, or that this building was Timaru’s official Centennial Memorial, opened in 1940 to mark one hundred years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. It was built specifically for women. I found a newspaper article, and that has inspired today’s blog.

On 2 April 1940, the Mayor of Timaru stood outside this very building and said he was dedicating it to the memory of the women pioneers of New Zealand. He acknowledged the women who had endured hardship, stood alongside their husbands, raised families in rough conditions, and helped shape the region from the ground up. He said they had gone wherever their men went, and more often than not, with even less recognition. The words he used were solemn: “Whither thou goest, I will go.”

By Roselyn Fauth

Digitised publications from Christchurch Art Gallery. South Canterbury Artists: a retrospective view on South Canterbury Artists, published by the Aigantighe Art Gallery in association with the South Canterbury Arts Society in 1990. https://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/media/uploads/2017_12/SouthCanterburyArtists.pdf The catalogue was published to accompany an exhibition of the same name in 1990, showcasing works held in the Aigantighe Art Gallery’s collection by artists from or connected to South Canterbury. It was a way to look back at the legacy of the South Canterbury Arts Society, celebrate local creativity, and reflect on what had been built so far, both through the artworks and the community that supported them.

Sometimes when I’m on the hunt for something, I stumble into something else entirely, like this catalogue from an exhibition called South Canterbury Artists: A Retrospective View, held at the Aigantighe Art Gallery with the South Canterbury Arts Society. This is one of those side quests that gets my creative juices flowing...

At first glance, it looked like a record of artworks and biographies. But the more I read, I realised this also a carefully gathered story of our region. A civic memory. A group of people who saw beauty here, who tried to make sense of what they saw, had views, ideas, who wanted to share those with others through their art.

It made me reflect on how important it is to have a civic art collection. Something held in common. Something that reflects back who we are and how we’ve seen the world over time...

By Roselyn Fauth

Aerial view of Timaru Mill (Late 1960s). Hocken Digital Collections, accessed 17/04/2025, https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/23577 

This is a tangible archive of built heritage, made of brick, stone, concrete and plaster.

In just three hours, driven by a hot nor’wester in 1868, fire destroyed three quarters of Timaru’s timber CBD. We rebuilt stronger, using materials that would last, drawing on architectural ideas from across centuries. Classical influence sits alongside Victorian confidence, Edwardian elegance and post-war modern function.

Some buildings were made to impress. Some were built to say you can trust us with your hard-earned coin. Others were simply made to do the job. All reflect the needs, values, aspirations and constraints of their makers, owners and users.

By Roselyn Fauth, nee Cloake

Roof tile from the Aigantighe Art Gallery. Photography By Roselyn Fauth. The Aigantighe Historic House that is part of the Aigantighe Art Gallery was designed by James S. Turnbull, a well-known Timaru architect. Built of brick and plaster it is crowned with Marseille tile roofing, which were likely imported from Guichard Carvin et Cie, Marseille St. Andre, known for the bee mark. Pressed tiles like this one were exported all over the world and were introduced to New Zealand in about 1901.

It’s weathered and some would say now useless. But when I held the roof tile from the Aigantighe Art Gallery in my hands, I felt more than clay. I felt the legacy of makers, builders, home owners, givers and art lovers. I feel a piece of someone's home, and what has felt like my home for art all my life.

If you look closely you can spy a bee stamped into the surface. This is a makers mark, and tells us the tile was made by Guichard Frères in Marseille, France. Someone made this tile shipped it all the way from France to Timaru where it was placed high on the roof to shelter a grand home in Timaru. That home was called Aigantighe and means "home of welcome” in Scottish Gaelic. Today it’s our region’s public art gallery that has national and international significance, but it used to be the Grant's family home.

The tile came down during the heritage house’s recent seismic strengthening and restoration, part of a major project following concerns raised in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes. Unfortunately, the roof tiles could not go back up. They had been damaged by a significant hailstorm, rendering many of them cracked and brittle. Instead, they were replaced with replica tiles to preserve the roof’s historical aesthetic.

The original tiles now stacked in storage are waiting for a new use. Some, like the one in my hands, were set aside and were donated to the Friends of the Aigantighe for fundraising. Objects too broken for a rooftop can now find a new use and connect to that memory...

Honey Tins on display at Oamaru visitor center including Cloakes Honey. Below: Painting by Roselyn Cloake inspired by the Cloakes Honey Tin. I've really enjoyed rediscovering our family roots. If Annabelle was a boy we were going to call him Bertie. Above is a painting of the honey tin label. Cloakes Honey Limited (Fairview Road, Timaru) was incorporated on 12 December 1963, with Mervyn David Cloake serving as a long-time director

I can remember looking up to a shelf in our hallway as a child. My parents Marthy and Geoff, had all their special things up high, I guess out of reach from us kids, and in a dark spot to protect it from New Zealands damaging UV rays. On this shelf was a Cloake's Honey tin. I used to look at this like it was a badge of family honour. I loved Cloakes honey, I remember we would visit my aunty and uncle and come home with a plastic tub of creamed clover honey to spread on toast. Over time I have become more appreciative of what this tin represents: innovation, resilience, respect, and a deep connection to the land and our community...

By Roselyn Fauth

Elizabeth McCombs declared first woman MP, 1933 Returning Officer J.J. McGahey formally announces Elizabeth Reid McCombs as the winner of the 1933 Lyttelton by-election, making her New Zealand’s first woman elected to Parliament.

After writing about Muriel Hilton, Timaru’s own trailblazing mayor and the first woman to lead a city in Aotearoa, I found myself wondering. Who else? Who else put themselves forward for public service when most doors were still closed to women? Who stood up, not just as the first, but as someone who helped others believe they could belong there too?

That wondering led me to Elizabeth McCombs. While she never lived in Timaru, what she did rippled across the whole country, including our region. In 1933, she became the first woman elected to the New Zealand Parliament, representing Lyttelton for the Labour Party. She crossed a threshold that had never been opened to women before. And then she got to work.

The Member of Parliament representing the Timaru electorate during 1933 was Clyde Carr, a member of the Labour Party. He was first elected in 1928, when he defeated the previous MP Frank Rolleston, and served continuously until 1962. His long tenure meant that while Elizabeth McCombs was making national history for Lyttelton in 1933, Timaru had its own Labour representation under a long-serving Labour MP.

There is a photo of Elizabeth taken around the time she entered politics. She looks composed, focused and capable. Not defiant. Not radical. Just ready and smiling, head slightly bowed revealing her long braided hair. By then, she already had a record of community service and political advocacy behind her. She had spent years campaigning for women’s rights, public health, education and workers’ protections. Often in partnership with her husband, James McCombs.

James had been MP for Lyttelton from 1913 and was a founding member of the Labour Party. Their marriage was one of shared purpose. She helped write speeches, organised campaigns and kept up with the political debates of the day. He addressed her in letters as “my dear girl”, not as a dismissal, but with warmth and deep respect for her intellect and convictions. When he died suddenly in 1933, the Labour Party nominated Elizabeth to stand in the by-election. Some saw it as a sentimental gesture. She proved it was not...

Mrs M. E. Hilton, Mayor of Timaru 1952–1962
A formal portrait of Mrs M. E. Hilton, who served as mayor of the Timaru Borough Council from 1952 to 1962. Photographed by Langwood Studios, Timaru, this original print is mounted, glazed, and framed.
South Canterbury Museum collection, 2016/011.041

Looking Back as We Look Ahead
As our community gets ready to vote in a new council, I think it is an important time to reflect on the legacy of politics in our district.

Many of us remember Janie Annear, who was our mayor from 2001 to 2013. I always admired her for her steady presence, her genuine care for people, and the way she helped shape Timaru in the modern era. But did you know that Janie was not Timaru’s first female mayor? That title actually belongs to Muriel Hilton, and even more impressively, she was the first woman elected mayor of any city in New Zealand.

Muriel Ernesta Hilton (née Venn) was born in Dunedin in 1904 to Ernest and Ann Venn. She later moved to Timaru, the place that would become her lifelong home and the community she would go on to serve with dedication. In 1922 she married Frederick Alfred Hilton, and together they settled in Timaru. She was educated locally at South School and Timaru Technical College. Though there is no record of tertiary study, her lifelong commitment to adult education speaks volumes about her values. Her belief in learning, service and civic responsibility became the foundation of her leadership.

In 1950 she became the first woman elected to the Timaru City Council, serving through to 1962 and again from 1965 to 1968. She was Deputy Mayor from 1956 to 1959, and then in 1959 she was elected Mayor of Timaru, becoming the first woman to lead a New Zealand city...

By Roselyn Fauth

I think this building is a symbol of hope, courage, and the belief that every young person in Timaru, especially girls, deserves the chance to learn, grow, and lead. And knowing that someone lost their life helping to build it makes that symbol even more important.

I have been learning more about the history of my old high school, Timaru Girls’ High School. Probably like many of my classmates at the time, I didn’t think much about how it started or what it meant to have a secondary school for girls back in the 1990s, let alone a century earlier. I now realise how significant it was. Timaru High School opened in the early 1880s, just a few years after Otago Girls’ High School, which was the first state secondary school for girls in the southern hemisphere. So Timaru’s was one of the earliest too. It was a bold move to say that girls deserved the same chance to learn as boys, and the school took a few years of debate and politics to make it happen. I didn't realise that a school would've been so controversal to establish, and I also didn't realise someone lost their life helping to build it.

Looking at old photos of students and teachers posed in front of the original building, I was struck by how beautiful the façade was. The symmetry, the cornices, and the entablature all echoed the architectural language of ancient Greece and Rome, reinterpreted thousands of years later on the other side of the world for a school in Timaru. Timaru High School offered education to both young women and men, though they were taught in separate classes. Later, the boys moved up the road to North Street and formed Timaru Boys’ High School.

This building was designed to impress. It was something the community could be proud of. It was a statement that whoever taught and learned here would experience an education designed to set them up for life. On reflection today, we can see how quality education has empowered individuals, uplifted communities, and laid the foundation for a more informed, equitable, and adaptable society.

Yesterday I was walking through the Timaru Cemetery helping a friend look for a grave when I came across a well maintained headstone that caught my eye. It read: “Erected by friends in memory of Peter M. Pezet, who met his death through accident at the High School, 17 August 1879, aged 40 years.” I had never heard of him. But he died in connection with the school I went to, so I decided to find out more. Thanks to Papers Past, I found his story...

By Roselyn Fauth

Caroline Bay Tea Rooms with Phoenix Canariensis trees (Phoenix palms) on the right. Timaru. 2022. Source: Roselyn Fauth.

When I walk into the Caroline Bay Tea Rooms, I do not just see a building, I feel all the memories of all the fun I have had there over the years. We are so lucky to have this wonderful venue in Timaru. I don't know if you like to do the same, by I like to stand by the door and imagine all the people who have stood there too. Dressed up for weddings, ready for a guest speaker, waiting for a friend, holding a child’s hand, or simply popping in for a brew or cuppa. Built in 1905, back when the beach came almost right up to the lawn, the tea rooms were part of Timaru’s big vision to turn Caroline Bay into something special. You could hear the waves from the steps and wander straight from the sand inside.

As a woman and a mother, I often think about places like this. What they offered the women who came before us. Why they still matter now. In the early 1900s, there were not many public spaces where women could simply spend time. You could go to church or the shops, but cafes were not always considered appropriate and pubs were completely off limits. Respectable women were expected to have a purpose in public, to be going somewhere, not lingering. Tearooms like this gave women something rare. A place to sit, talk, share news, and feel part of civic life. Often, they were managed by women too. That is part of what makes this place special...

By Roselyn Fauth

Mrs E.M. Studholme and her family outside ‘The Cuddy’, Te Waimate, c.1890 built from a single totara tree, with a snowgrass thatch roof. Pictured in front of her first home in the district, this thatched-roof cottage (known as The Cuddy) was built in 1854 and is believed to be the earliest European house in Waimate. (I think E.M. Studholme, is Eleanor Caroline Studholme, not Effie (Effegenia)). Courtesy of South Canterbury Museum, 2974. The Cuddy is used by schools and heritage groups for learning, though it is on private land. I hope to one day visit and learn more firsthand) to show it remains a living educational object.

When I first saw The Cuddy it was in a sepia-toned photograph from the South Canterbury Museum. I had searched for the keyword "Mrs" to find images of women, hoping something might spark an idea for a blog. That’s how I came across Mrs E. M. Studholme standing with her family in front of the Cuddy at Te Waimate, taken around 1890. This modest thatched-roof cottage stood in contrast to their fine Victorian clothing. Cinched waists, tailored suits, and likely corsets beneath, the formality of their dress created a striking juxtaposition to the rustic earth and timber building behind them. My first question was: did these women ever live in this house?

By Roselyn Fauth

Information sign at the Timaru Landing Services Building. - Photo Roselyn Fauth

I was on a side quest learning about Ann Williams when I found a photo of Mr John Wilds and his family. It was mounted on a sign at the Timaru Landing Service Building, the very place where Ann once lived. The photo is sepia-toned, showing a weathered man, a seated woman, and three young children standing out front of a modest timber cottage. There seemed to be an age disparity between the adults, so I tried to work out who was who. The woman seated was his daughter, Mary Annie Davidson. The children were her own. But something struck me as strange: someone was missing.

By Roselyn Fauth

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about monuments. Maybe it’s the free online course I’ve been doing through Harvard called Tangible Things, which invites us to look closely at everyday objects and ask deeper questions. What do they tell us? What do they leave out? Whose stories are preserved, and whose are forgotten?

This thinking has made me look differently at some of our most visible public objects here in Timaru. Our statues, plaques, headstones, memorials. Especially the Captain Cain statue outside the Landing Services Building, which has been the focus of my latest historical rabbit hole. But now, something else has captured my focus. Not a monument that already exists, but one that doesn’t yet. One I want to help bring to life.

At the Timaru Cemetery lie unmarked and pauper graves. Dozens of them. People whose names may never have made the paper. People who built our town, raised families, died far from home, or slipped through the cracks. People who mattered, but whose final resting place is now just grass and silence. These are the lives that are so often missing from monuments. And that’s exactly why I believe they deserve one.

The Tangible Things course reminds us that history is not just what happened... it’s what we choose to remember. Objects can spark memory, but they can also reflect absence. The lack of a headstone, a plaque, a name, that too is a story. These unmarked graves invite us to ask, what does our community value? Who do we honour?

Creating a new monument in the cemetery is not just about righting a historical wrong. It’s about expanding our circle of care. I think it helps us telling a broader truth that every life holds value, whether it came with wealth and status or not. It’s about naming the unnamed, honouring the invisible, and restoring dignity to those long overlooked. 

I know there may be questions. Who will be listed? What will it look like? Will it be welcomed by the wider community? These are important things to consider. But more than that, I believe this is a chance to reshape how we do public memory, from something top-down and polished to something collective, inclusive, and real.

Because this isn’t just a monument. It is a tangible object that holds stories. Some remembered. Some forgotten. Some yet to be uncovered. And by choosing to build it, we are choosing to listen, to care, and to remember.

If Tangible Things has taught me anything, it is that looking again, truly looking, can change everything. It has changed how I see the statue of Captain Cain, the grave of Ann's husband Samuel Williams. And it has deepened my commitment to this project: to mark the graves of those who lie forgotten, and to ensure their stories, however small or quiet, are not lost.

This is the monument we choose to build. One of compassion, of community, of shared memory. One that invites others to join the hunt for our history and and to recognise and honour it.

By Roselyn Fauth

This statue commemorates Captain Henry Cain, who bought the landing service in 1870. Captain Cain to keep watch over city (17 Aug 1999). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 10/07/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/414. Right Photo of Captain Cain by Roselyn Fauth. Captain Henry Cain (1816 -1886) is now immortalised in as a life-like bronze statue by Christchurch's Donald Paterson, sits outside Timaru's Information Centre. A plaque reads: "Henry Cain was born in 1816 and went to sea at the age of 13. After 30yrs of seafaring, he settled in Timaru in March 1857, and opened a general store. The town grew and before long he was operating the first landing service at the foot of Strathallen St. Captain Cain became a prominent businessman and significant public figure, serving as mayor from 1870-1873. He died in 1886, having been poisoned by his son-in-law. For many, Henry Cain represents the pioneering spirit that made Timaru." In 1857, he was asked by Le Cren to relocate to Timaru to open up a landing service, which he did. This was mainly to service the Rhodes’ huge sheep station, the ‘Levels’, South Canterbury’s first farm. 

I’ve been doing a free online course from Harvard called Tangible Things, and it has been fascinating. It teaches you to really look at the everyday things we pass by without much thought, and then step back to ask deeper questions. Who made this? Why is it here? What stories are being remembered... and what is being forgotten?

So today I want to look again at something many of us walk past often here in Timaru... the statue of Captain Henry Cain outside the Timaru Landing Services Building. I have always admired it, but I see it differently now.

This bronze sculpture by Christchurch artist Donald Paterson was installed as part of the 1999 city centre upgrade. It shows Henry Cain, sitting in life-size form, confident and commanding. According to the plaque, Cain was born in 1816, went to sea at thirteen, and after 30 years as a mariner, settled in Timaru in 1857. He opened a store, developed the landing service at Strathallan Street, and served as mayor from 1870 to 1873. He died in 1886, poisoned by his son-in-law. The plaque ends with the idea that Cain represents the pioneering spirit that made Timaru.

But the course has made me ask, what else does this statue represent, and what does it leave out?

By Roselyn Fauth

I joined the Civic Trust’s Blue Plaque sub-committee in 2024 because I believe in the power of local storytelling. Each plaque is more than a label on a wall. It is a conversation starter. It says, “Pause here. Something happened.” And if we do pause, just for a moment, we might start to feel the echoes of footsteps, and imagine the lives lived behind those doors.

The volunteers behind this project have put in hours of care, research, discussion, and quiet persistence. I am especially grateful to people like Nigel Gilkinson and the Civic Trust team for their commitment to helping South Canterbury shine as part of a growing Blue Plaque trail across Aotearoa.

We began with the Landing Service Building in 2020. Since then, plaques have been added across Timaru and beyond to places like Waimate, Woodbury, Pleasant Point, Temuka, Geraldine and Cave. Churches, libraries, courthouses, railway stations and vicarages. Each one anchors us to place. Each one reminds us that history is not just something we learn in school. It is here, in the buildings we walk past, the names we say out loud, and the stories we choose to tell.

By Roselyn Fauth

If you have walked around Timaru recently, you might have noticed a few striking blue circles appearing on the front of some of our most historic buildings. These are Blue Heritage Plaques, and they are part of a nationwide initiative to celebrate Aotearoa’s built heritage. Each plaque tells a short story about a person, place, or event that shaped our local history. The first rounds have been carefully considered, researched, well made, and placed on buildings where history happened. I love how they help to raise the profile of these stories beyond our region, linking Timaru and South Canterbury into a wider national blue plaque trail of heritage recognition.

By Roselyn Fauth

Fourteen years after the Church of Englands, St Mary's Church opened in Timaru, the Roman Catholics opened a small wooden church on Cragie Ave on 25 October 1874. It was dsigned by first parish priest, Fr Chataigner, in a Gothic style cruciform plan, and built by Mr J Derby. It was enlarged in 1876 to the design of Benjamin W Mountfort, and reopened by Bishop Redwoodon 24 June 1877. The enlarged building had a rose window placed in the sanctuary. The ceiling was painted sky blue and spangled with bright gilt stars. 

By 1910, blue gum trees had grown tall by the girls school next door and were leaning over the little wooden church. In the early hours of 7 September 1908, a man walked past and flicked his butt into the church grounds. This sparked a flame, igniting a blue gum tree branch which engulfed the church. Unlike eight years earlier when the Great Fire of Timaru roared through the CBD in 3 hours and razed three quarters of the shops, offices and homes to the ground, the fire service were better equipped and ready. Thanks to their quick turnout the building was saved. However all the ceremonial garments used in church services (known as vestments) were destroyed. The church organ also sustained some damage, mainly due to water. 

High School Friends. Briget and I went to Timaru Girls High School together, and I have wonderful memories of painting together in Mr Jones art room. It was so lovely to reconnect and introduce our children to each other, who hit it off and had a great time playing hide and seek in the galleries sculpture garden. Bridget is now back in Timaru teaching art at TGHS.

by Roselyn Fauth

It was wonderful to spend a couple of hours with our friends and family on Sunday afternoon drawing in the former dining room. We talked about the Grant family who lived there over a century ago and imagined what they might think if they could see us now, enjoying their home in this new way. What a legacy their family gave to our community: a home for art.

The house, designed in the Queen Anne style by Timaru architect James S. Turnbull and built in 1905, became the Aigantighe Art Gallery when it opened to the public in 1956. While the family were living here, the South Canterbury Art Society were already laying the groundwork for a civic art collection. Their voluntary efforts provided the nucleus of what became the gallery’s permanent collection.

Over the past nearly seventy years, that collection has grown into one of the most treasured in the country, especially rich in works by local artists who offer us their lens on the world, like signposts across time. We are so grateful for the recent renovation of the historic house. It was a sad day when the impacts of the Christchurch earthquakes forced it to close, but now it has reopened, beautifully strengthened and restored. It feels wonderful to be inside again.

Art and a building may create a gallery, but it is the people who make it feel like our home for art in South Canterbury. For generations, artists, directors, staff, volunteers, donors and visitors have shaped this special place, a space where creativity, curiosity and community continue to come together. That is the true legacy.

Looking for some free fun? It probably doesn’t get more epic than a play at the award-winning CPlay playground at Caroline Bay in Timaru. Opened in December 2023, the playground was championed by a small group of dedicated volunteers and supported by the Timaru District Council, with hundreds of community members giving their time, thoughts, ideas, feedback and donations along the way. Together, they raised over $3 million to create a space that is fun, accessible, challenging and meaningful, designed for people of all ages, sizes and abilities to play together.

When Chris and I first joined the committee, to be really honest, I thought we were buying equipment from a catalogue with a bit of safety surfacing and we'd be done. But after taking time to listen to peoples experience of the old playground and generally the challenges of even being able to play at any public playground, we realised we were going to have to work harder to make sure everyone could play together. At 6ft by the time I was 13, we also wanted to make sure even adults could physically fit and be able to join family and friends in the fun. 

We also learned that one of the most powerful forms of play is imaginative play, when children lead the storytelling and adults join in. That is why CPlay’s design draws inspiration from the stories of our local people, history and landscape. Play elements reflect Timaru’s coastal environment, Ngāi Tahu traditions, shipwrecks, sea creatures and other rich layers of local identity. These stories help tamariki understand where they come from, encouraging confidence, resilience and a deeper connection to place.

To help families explore the stories woven into the playground’s design, WuHoo Timaru has created a free A3 guided tour handout. It highlights playful features to look for, local legends that inspired the equipment, and creative prompts to spark storytelling as you play. Download a free hand out and see how many story details you could find.

It is a significant moment when communities, especially young people, begin to examine our shared past with care and curiosity.

Recently, students learning about Parihaka reflected on William Rolleston’s role in the colonial government during that period. It is encouraging to see this kind of critical engagement, where in the hunt for history we don't just take it as read, but also question and explore the past through our own fresh eyes... I think this is what education can inspire. This post was prompted by a recent article on PressReader: https://www.pressreader.com/

Scenta Potestas Est - Knwledge is Power - Timaru Girls High School

So here’s the thing. I used to think high school education for girls had always been around. I assumed it was obvious, normal, even automatic. But the more I’ve learned, the more I’ve realised how recent and hard-won this right actually is.

When I walked through the gates of Timaru Girls’ High School, I didn’t know that just a few generations earlier, most girls didn’t get past primary school. I didn’t know that educating women was once controversial, even seen as a waste of public money. And I definitely didn’t realise that New Zealand was leading the world in changing that.

The motto of Timaru Girls’ High School is Scientia Potestas Est, or Knowledge is Power. At the time, I thought it was just a phrase. Now I realise it was a commitment to equality, opportunity and change.

When North London Collegiate School opened in 1850, it marked a bold shift in the United Kingdom. Founded by Frances Mary Buss, the school was the first to offer girls a serious academic curriculum, with subjects like mathematics and Latin, the same education boys were receiving in elite public schools. This model sparked further reforms in Britain, including the creation of the Girls’ Public Day School Company in 1872.

By global standards, New Zealand moved early. In 1871, Otago Girls’ High School opened in Dunedin, the first state girls’ high school in the Southern Hemisphere. Just eight years earlier, Otago Boys’ High had opened. This was not without controversy. A Daily Times editorial in 1869 described the lack of education for girls as a "social evil" and called for change.

Group portrait of the first 69 nurses and 11 staff to leave for World War I. Taken on the steps of the General Assembly Library, Wellington, by an unidentified photographer for The Press newspaper of Christchurch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Army_Nursing_Service

I spied this photo on Facebook. Just an orphan image floating in the ether of a post... no caption, no credit, no story. But it caught my eye. A quick Google image search later, and I found it tucked away in a digital archive. That one small clue opened a new side quest story. My search for Ann, (the mother of Timaru's first recorded European baby birth), has taken me all over the place, learning how the place of women in the home, that is a centuries-old, if not thousands of years old, concept, has shifted into something much broader. A place where women can be and do what they choose.

But that freedom... that idea of choice... didn’t just happen. I’m realising now how much it has taken generations of women and men, pushing to shift attitudes, challenge the rules, break glass ceilings, and create space for the rest of us and our children. Nothing about where we are today was accidental; it came down to bravery, perseverance, and hard work.

What I didn’t know, until I started chasing the source of this photo, was that when the First World War broke out in 1914, women weren’t even allowed to serve alongside the men overseas. That was the rule. Even trained nurses were blocked until the law changed...

By Roselyn Fauth

Books on maritime history often reflect the man’s world... one of sailors, captains, shipwrecks, and rescue crews. I often wonder as a mother who were the women in these stories? Who were the wives waiting at windows. The mourners in black. Where they were advocates, fundraisers, and workers in the waves, maybe survivors? What were the stories of women on Timaru’s coast?

In May 1882, the port town of Timaru was gripped by grief and outrage. On Sunday 14 May, two ships the Benvenue and the City of Perth were wrecked near the Timaru harbour. The disaster became one of the most infamous maritime tragedies in the region’s history. Both vessels had attempted to anchor off the port, but heavy seas drove them ashore. In the chaos, a lifeboat was launched to rush to the rescue.

This image from the collections at Te Papa and Illustrated Australian News - Melbourne Vic -1876-1889 Saturday 10 June 1882, shows the wreck of the Benvenue Ship and the City of Perth which was later refloated.

By Roselyn Fauth

Before the breakwater. Before the port cranes. Before Timaru’s skyline included anything but masts and smoke, there were men who waited for cannon fire.

Not the kind fired in war, but the signal gun that told them someone was in trouble at sea. They were bakers and blacksmiths, farmers and clerks. But when the Harbourmaster’s signal sounded, they became something more. They were the Rocket Brigade.

Timaru in the 1870s and 1880s was not the safe harbour we know today. The coastline was treacherous. With no protective wall, ships had to anchor in open water, exposed to unpredictable swells. These huge waves often came without warning, sent from storms far out at sea. In calmer weather, they could arrive silently. In a gale, they were unstoppable.

By Roselyn Fauth

Invitation, 1901, New Zealand, by Benoni William Lytton White, A.D. Willis Ltd. Purchased 2001. Te Papa (GH009568)

Did you know we have a square named in honour of a queen? In Timaru’s Alexandra Square, it is easy to overlook the impact of the empire back in the early European settler days, they do feel like a long time ago... but in the center of some  gnarly wych elm trees used to be a band rotunda which was replaced by a fountain monument to a grain mill. The square was a beautifying project for the town, named after Queen Alexandra of Denmark.

The Main School, Timaru, circa 1909, Timaru, by William Ferrier. Te Papa (O.051442)

On 8 October 2024, it will be exactly 150 years since Timaru Main School first opened its doors. This year marks the school’s 150th jubilee. The story of the school came to life for me recently when I was invited to speak at an event and I got to meet some truly remarkable people and hear their stories.

One woman shared a memory from her childhood, living on Cliff Street. She remembered practising for air raids at Timaru Main School. Each child wore a string around their neck, holding a small linen pouch. Inside the pouch was a piece of chewing gum and a cork. When the alarm went, the children went into trenches dug in the school grounds. They were told to chew the gum and place it in their ears, and to put the cork in their mouth. I asked her if she had been frightened. She said not really. They did not know why they were doing it, and in those days children were seen and not heard. You did what you were told.

Later, walking at Patiti Point, I noticed the old bluestone barbeque and remembered hearing it was built from the stone blocks of the old school. Between her story and those weathered blocks, I felt drawn to learn more about Timaru Main. So here is today’s blog...

Harekeke Flax at Patiti Point  - Roselyn Fauth 2025

It started with a footnote. A flax thesis, a girl from Timaru, and a doctorate in science. I had been writing about Bella MacCallum, the first woman in New Zealand to earn a DSc, when I paused at the title of her research. Phormium with Regard to Its Economic Importance.

Bella studied New Zealand flax not just as a botanist, but as an economic investigator. She explored its cellular structure, its chemistry, and its commercial potential. It made me wonder what else I had overlooked. I thought I knew harakeke. But following the thread of Bella’s story, I looked again.

The cabinet maker's workshop highlighed with the arrow is where the 1868 fire originated, now hosts Hallensteins on the corner of Church St and Great Southern Rd, now Stafford St.

Picture this… It is a scorching afternoon in December 1868. The district had been rattled by snow storms and a severe flood the same year. And before they could make it to Chirstmas celebrations, they saw the year out in the worst fire in Timaru History. On the corner of Church and Stafford Streets, where Hallenstein Brothers Clothing Store stands today, a young boy is melting glue over a fire in the back of a cabinetmaker’s workshop. For what ever reason, he steps away, just for a moment and before he knows it the wood shavings on the floor catch fire. The boy runs for help. They rushe to a neaby water tank, only to find the tap handle is missing. It had been removed because people were stealing water for their horses. No water. No fire brigade. Only a hot nor'wester fanning the growing blaze. The fire takes hold....

By Roselyn Fauth

Survey Photography - 1956 Timaru Hospital. PA Group 00080 Whites Aviation Ltd Photographs. nlnzimage 

In this house lived a pretty special woman... This was the home of Catherine Agnes McGuire. She was known to many as Kit. She grew up here, went to South School, trained as a nurse in Dunedin, and returned to Timaru to live in the family home and care for the community and especially children who were sick, neglected or disabled. This has been quite the history hunt. Exploring the early years of nursing in Timaru, the social challenges Kit witnessed, and the aftermath of war and pandemics has opened a window into the untold story of one of many special women who served and advocated through it all...

By Roselyn Fauth

When I read through stories about the past, they seem to have a common thread… booze. Here in Timaru, pubs used to be as common as corner dairies. By the late 1800s, drunkenness was not just part of life. It was normal. For a lot of women, alcohol was not simply a nuisance. It meant empty cupboards, black eyes, and worn-out hope. Hard-earned wages slipped from the family table to the bottom of a pint glass. They tried to fix it. In 1917, the law said pubs had to close by six o’clock. The idea was to cut down drinking. But instead, it created the six o’clock swirl. Men would knock off work and head straight to the pub. Between five and six, the bars packed in. No time to talk. Just drink fast and head home unsteady...

By Roselyn Fauth

https://www.massey.ac.nz/about/news/first-woman-to-get-a-massey-degree-dies/

Have you ever imagined being the only woman in a university lecture theatre? I think about that sometimes. What would it feel like to sit down in a room full of men, knowing everyone was watching to see if you belonged there? In 1941, Paddy Bassett did exactly that. She was a Timaru schoolgirl who had with big ambitions, and became the first woman to graduate from Massey Agricultural College, and her story started not in a bustling city, but in the quiet coastal valley of Menzies Bay, Banks Peninsula.

Paddy’s early years were spent on the family farm, where her father, a farmer who later became an Anglican clergyman, and her mother raised her with the rhythms of rural life. Like many children in remote places, her first lessons came from a governess before she went to Okains Bay Primary School. Later, she boarded at Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru. I can picture her there, sitting in classrooms that are still in use today. She was bright and gifted in languages, especially Latin and French, but science wasn’t taught at all...

Photography by Geoff Cloake, 2018

I grew up by Caroline Bay, and I do not remember penguins being there when I was a kid.  One scorching summer evening, my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I went for a late swim. Suddenly, something zipped past us in the water. I remember Chris shrieked in surprise. We had no idea we were sharing the ocean with a group of tiny swimmers and realised they were little blue penguins. At the time, no one knew they had quietly started nesting along our shoreline.

Since then, thanks to dedicated volunteers, community support and thoughtful council action, the area has been fenced and protected to give these birds a safe space. It has become one of Timaru’s best known secrets and a conservation success story. We often take our kids down to Marine Parade to stand quietly and watch the penguins waddle ashore. They are pretty cute. There is usually a respectful crowd gathered. Apart from a few volunteers in high-visibility vests, there is no commercial tourism. The penguins are simply allowed to live their lives while we observe quietly from a distance. For me this is what makes the experience special... to see penguins in the wild, close to home, and for free. Timaru is one of the few places in the world where you can see kororā, (the Māori name for little blue penguins), like this. All you need is warm clothing, patience and a respectful approach.

If you are looking for free, family-friendly fun in Timaru, pop down at dusk from September to March, little blue penguins return from the sea to nest in the rocks at Marine Parade, Caroline Bay...

By Roselyn Fauth

I’ve always been in awe of our Southern Alps. Growing up in Timaru, they were my ever-present backdrop—the jagged white teeth on the horizon. “Where else can you look out past palm trees over the Pacific to snow-covered mountains?” It really is an incredible view, and I think Timaru is beautiful.

My parents, Marthy and Geoff Cloake, were keen trampers in the 1970 and 80s. So passionate, in fact, that they wrote a book together called The Secret South Island: The Hidden New Zealand Off the Beaten Track and dedicated it to me, their bun in the oven, while they tapped away at the typewriter. It was born of their love for walking, discovery and remote places. Some of these places were not on known trails, and may have never had a human set foot there. My mum has walked all over this landscape, and I now realise that on some of those tracks, she was following in the footsteps of only a few pioneering women before her, women who helped reshape the history of mountaineering in Aotearoa New Zealand. The book captures the same spirit I now find in their stories: a reverence for the land, a quiet determination, and a desire to make the way visible for others. (You can read it here: archive.org/secretsouthisland)

As we trace those paths today, I try to remember that to many of Ngāi Tahu descent, the iwi who hold manawhenua over this land, Aoraki is an ancestor. Rather than looking at Aoraki as a shape to be conquered, we acknowledge them with deep respect. The stories that follow unfold in the shadow of this maunga... shared with those who have walked humbly and bravely upon its slopes...

By Roselyn Fauth

If you’re a regular visitor to the South Canterbury Museum on Perth Street like I am, you may have noticed the beautiful old oak tree between the museum and St Mary’s Church. It’s a peaceful spot, but if you look closely, you’ll see a plaque tucked beneath the tree. It marks the place where Catherine Burnett and her husband Andrew once camped overnight with their bullock wagon, on their way inland to establish what would become Mount Cook Station. It’s hard to imagine now. What is just a few hours by car today was a much bigger undertaking back then. No roads, no bridges, no backup. That simple plaque gives us a window into the world Catherine entered, and the journey that lay ahead.

She went from the relative comfort of the coast into the stark and unforgiving Mackenzie Basin, helping to set up one of the earliest pastoral stations in the region. It was a tough place to exist, especially for a woman. There’s an account from one of her sons that has always stuck with me... describing a snowstorm so severe that sheep began eating each other’s ears just to survive. That image says a lot about how extreme life could be. Maybe it was that experience that turned him off farming altogether. Instead, he went into politics and ended up representing the area in Parliament. He used that platform to champion better infrastructure for rural communities, including the water race at Cave, which still helps farmers navigate dry seasons today.

So next time you’re passing through Perth Street, take a moment. Stop at the rock. Read the plaque. Imagine Catherine Burnett wrapped up warm beneath the stars, the vast unknown ahead of her. Her story is one of resilience... and one of the reasons Timaru and the Mackenzie are what they are today. Put the kettle on, have a read, and raise your mug to the bullock dray days and the amazing women like Catherine Burnett and her family...

Cemetery - 1953 - Map of Timaru - Electronic reproduction of Land Information New Zealand original University of Auckland 2013

“Every gravestone tells a story... just take some time to look.”

The views from Timaru's cemetery are stunning. A vista out to the pacific ocean. We like to wander through, find interesting graves and learn about or local people and place. There are stories of pioneers, sea rescue tragedies, wars, whalers, mothers, politicans, a few naughty people, and generations of South Canterbury families.

There are a few ways to find the information, and a great place to start is with the Timaru Trails Cemetery App. If you are hunting for your ancestry, searching local legends, or just taking a peaceful stroll, this is a easy way to find your way around the grounds. https://timarutrails.stqry.app/1/list/1050

Many records have photographs of the headstones (it took a guy 9 months to take some 30,000 photos!). You can also look up row and plot numbers and location map. There are many intresting headstones out there with a history to be remembered. A wee tip as not all plots are marked with headstones, you could look up their neighbour to confirm that you are looking at the right row and plot. 

South Canterbury Geneologiests have a great list of where else you can look to see birth and death records: sites.rootsweb.com/lookups

Timaru's first cemeteries were surveyed in 1859. There were two. One at the current site was to be managed by the Anglican Church, St Mary's, and another area was allocated on the corner of Wai-iti Road and Selwyn Streets, where the Aigantighe Art Gallery is now for Wesleyan, Presbyterian, and Catholic communities. Before the colony got organised, burials were overseen by churches. It wasn't until the cemeteries act was passed that the logistics were handed over to  the councils. The current cemetery plot on Domain Avenue was fenced, cleared, and developed by 1863. Timaru District Council now oversees the site alongside others in Temuka, Geraldine, Pleasant Point, and Pareora West. Children's and stillborns sections are quite recent when compared with the old section. There large green section with lots of humps and hollows was used for burying stillborns up until the early 1980s and include many government burials that are unmarked.

By Roselyn Fauth

Next time you are at Caroline Bay, wander over to the waterfall fountain and pause for a moment. Around its base, you will spot a striking plant with broad, jagged leaves. It is called acanthus. At first glance it might just look like another ornamental garden choice, but this plant has a story that stretches across continents and thousands of years, reaching all the way back to the beginnings of classical architecture... and to the grave of a young girl in ancient Corinth...

By Roselyn Fauth

Lorna Grant, born Marion Lorna Guthrie in 1887, was the only daughter of Dr John Guthrie (b.1859, d.1930) and Marion Hay Guthrie of Christchurch.

Dr. John Guthrie (1848–1922) was a Scottish-born physician who played a notable role in early New Zealand medical practice, particularly in Christchurch and Akaroa. Born in Kendal, England, he was the eldest son of Rev. Dr. John Guthrie, D.D., who had seceded from his church over the doctrine of predestination. Initially working in commerce with Patrick Henderson & Co., John Guthrie later pursued medicine at the University of Glasgow, where he earned his M.D. in 1872, writing a thesis on yellow fever based on personal experience aboard an emigrant ship to South America—an event that included future writer Cunningham Graham among the passengers. After serving as a resident house surgeon and physician at the Royal Glasgow Infirmary, he emigrated to New Zealand in 1874 with his sister Hannah aboard the leaking Crusader. Once in Christchurch, Hannah married Tom Hay, and John soon married her sister Marion Taylor Hay in 1876. Guthrie initially served as Resident Surgeon at Christchurch Hospital before entering private practice. He lived in Armagh Street and later moved to Akaroa, where he worked for five strenuous years in an isolated and demanding district, eventually contracting rheumatic fever. Following his recovery, he returned to Christchurch and entered medical partnerships—first with Dr. W. F. Moore, then with Dr. Walter Thomas, and later Dr. A. H. Devenish-Meares—practicing from homes on Colombo and Cashel Streets. Health concerns forced another break in 1894, prompting travel to England and, by 1897, permanent relocation with his family, though he briefly returned to New Zealand. A skilled caricaturist, Guthrie was also active in sports, serving as a founding member and president of the Christchurch Golf Club. His children included John, who also studied medicine, and Robert Neil. His brother, James Guthrie, became President of the Royal Scottish Academy. Dr. John Guthrie died on 7 August 1922, aged 74, leaving a legacy of medical service and cultural contribution in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

So, as you can see, Lorna grew up in a family rooted in both medicine and the arts. Her father had emigrated from Glasgow in 1874, and her uncle was the celebrated portrait artist Sir James Guthrie, known internationally for his paintings of prominent figures including Winston Churchill. Lorna’s upbringing, with two older brothers and strong family ties to Scotland and the arts, helped shape a life devoted to care, beauty, and the value of public good.

Sir James Guthrie. Portrait Sir Winston Churchill (Oil on Canvas). Marion Lorna Guthrie 1895. christchurchartgallery.org.nz/sir-james-guthrie/marion-lorna-guthrie. "James Guthrie made his mark in the early 1880s as a member of the ground-breaking Glasgow Boys, who were influenced by French painters, particularly Jules Bastien-Lepage. This later work, with its restricted range of colour and tones, also shows the influence of Guthrie’s friend and mentor, American-born, London-based artist, James McNeill Whistler."

By Roselyn Fauth

If you are anything like me, you probably never visited The Croft until someone you love moved in. I had always assumed it was run by a church, and like most rest homes, that it probably made enough money through aged care services to sustain itself. But this was totally wrong, and what I learned was a remarkable story of women volunteering together in their hundreds who saw a need and got on with meeting it.

In 1918, while New Zealand was still reeling from the losses of the First World War and the ravages of the flu pandemic, a group of women formed the Women’s Auxiliary to support orphaned and vulnerable children in South Canterbury. Fathers were lost, incomes disappeared, mental illness was not well understood, and many children were sent away. The women responded by sewing, baking, mending, and fundraising. They did not wait for government help. They did not ask for permission. They simply got stuck in...

By Roselyn Fauth

In the early days of European settlement, South Canterbury was a place alive with birdsong. The forests, swamps, lagoons and open plains thrummed with the calls of native birds, many of which were completely new to the arriving settlers. Early writings from those settlers paint a picture of incredible abundance—birdlife that was prolific, varied, and deeply woven into the natural balance of the land.

As new people arrived, so did new birds... deliberately carried across oceans, tucked into cages, crated in straw, and placed on the decks of ships bound for the colonies. These were the feathered companions of memory: blackbirds, thrushes, pheasants, partridges, sparrows, familiar voices from English hedgerows and game estates. Their journey sounds like it was pretty brutal.

Waimataitai was my childhood stomping ground for me and my three siblings. I loved this school and used to imagine all the students who had come before us. Fortunately, I don’t remember the strap room, which ended just a few years before my time, but I do remember the smell of the books and many of my favourite teachers purfurme.

By Roselyn Fauth

By Roselyn Fauth

I was born in 1983 in the Jean Todd Ward at Timaru Hospital. So were my three siblings. Later, my two daughters arrived there as well. Babies take their first breath there. People come and go. You walk in focused on the moment and walk out without really thinking about the name on the door. Jean Todd.

I always thought it was just a name. Probably someone official, or the first to work there, or a donor. On one of my pregnancies I was admitted to the ward for weeks with severe cholestasis. Thanks to a naughty liver I was crazy itchy, but the obvious concern was stillbirth, and so I was happy to be in the care of professionals and monitored closely.

Over those weeks (I saw and heard) so many women come and go. I had time to think about things while my six foot frame let my feet dangle over the end of the short bed. I had the most amazing care, particularly from my midwife’s student who followed our journey through her placement. Kendra was amazing, and went on to care for many of my friends, including my younger sister.

Midwives are in a special role. They see it all — and sadly, not just the highs. I think the profession is incredible and certainly, in my experience, our South Canterbury mothers and babies were very well cared for.

It was then that I started to wonder. Who was Jean Todd and why was the ward named after her? This is what I learned, and my reflection on the nurse they accused and then tried to honour... Jean Todd who died Masterton 18 Aug 1929, Trained at Wellington Hospital from 1897. Sister, Wellington Hospital 1901 – 1906, and Matron, Timaru Hospital 1906 – 1916. Assistant Matron, Wellington Hospital 1916 – 1918. Secretary, Wellington Branch New Zealand Trained Nurses’ Association

By Roselyn Fauth

Inside the historic Landing Service Building owned by the Timaru Civic Trust on George Street is Te Ana Māori Rock Art Centre. A stunning and special centre for indigenous rock art. This is the perfect place to begin exploring the region’s earliest artists, their stories and histories. Te Ana brings to life the rock drawings created by Māori ancestors from as early as the 1300s. Found in limestone shelters across South Canterbury, these artworks are among the oldest in Aotearoa. At Te Ana, you can see them up close, hear the stories behind them, and learn how Ngāi Tahu with the community are protecting this heritage today. You can take a look around the space by yourself and study their exhibits, or join a personalised tour with a guide around the centre for an hour. Visiting a rock art site remains a quiet and moving experience. Sitting in the shelter, surrounded by silence, many visitors reflect on the journeys of the original Māori artists and the meanings behind their marks. The sense of presence and connection is strong. teana.co.nz/our-tours

By Roselyn Fauth

At the top of the Timaru Cemetery, with a view to the pacific ocean lies the grave of Captain Alexander Mills (1833-1882). While he witnessed is story is bound to the lifeboat Alexandra and to one of Timaru’s darkest days — the wrecks of the Benvenue and the City of Perth in May 1882.

Mills was the Harbour Master at the time. He’d stepped into the role after Captain Woollcombe, who before him had been beach master. Woollcombe had seen enough wrecks to read the sea like a sentence. That morning, looking out over the bay, he turned to his daughter and said something was wrong. “If the ships don’t get moving, they’re going to be in real trouble.” He wasn't wrong... 

Timaru’s city centre is full of hidden gems if you take the time to look. That is why we created the Look Up, Look Down CBD Heritage Hunt. It is a simple double-sided A4 self-guided treasure hunt that helps you slow down, look closely, and discover stories tucked into the footpaths and rooftops of our town. See if you can spot ships on manhole covers, tiny lions perched on buildings. These details tell the story of Timaru’s past, hidden in plain sight. This free activity is an easy free adventure for families, curious children, visitors or locals keen to explore the CBD. Pop into the Timaru Information Center, the South Canterbury Museum for a free copy, and print one yourself. If you don't have a printer, you can ask a librarian to print one off for you for a small fee. Bring a pen, wear comfortable shoes and keep your eyes peeled. Whether you are new to town or have lived here all your life, you are sure to spot something you have never noticed before. Download your clue sheet here: www.wuhootimaru.co.nz/cbd-heritage-hunt

We had a big problem. By the end of World War I, New Zealand had alarming levels of child malnutrition and poor health. National focus had been directed overseas for the war effort, and many services at home were stretched thin. The war left many families in economic hardship, especially those already living in rural or low-income communities.

Children were arriving at school undernourished, pale, and underweight. Their diets were often lacking in fresh produce and protein—some didn’t even know what vegetables were. Many lacked adequate clothing, sunlight, and exercise, and often slept poorly in overcrowded homes.

At the time, New Zealand had no comprehensive school health service. Although school inspectors might note signs of poor health, there was no established system to refer children for preventive or non-urgent care. Hospitals were not equipped to manage children who simply needed better nutrition and rest.

In response, a shift in public and professional attitudes emerged. Increasingly, it was recognised that the state had a responsibility to support child welfare, not just individual families. New research was linking nutrition, environment, and education to long-term wellbeing, and there was growing awareness that child health care needed to be proactive, not reactive.

In 1919, this momentum was given form by Dr Elizabeth Gunn, a school doctor with military experience, a booming voice, and a deep concern for children’s wellbeing. Shocked by what she saw in schools, she made a bold wager with a member of the Wanganui Hospital Board: that she could improve the health of frail children using only tents, basic equipment, nourishing food, fresh air, and daily routine.

With support from the Defence Department and community volunteers, she ran a three-week experimental camp for 55 children in Turakina Valley. Almost all gained weight and showed signs of recovery.

It worked, and it sparked a movement of civic duty to children, a health reset: Children’s Health Camp movement.. ‘Sunshine Camps’

By Roselyn Fauth

Timaru's first hospital emerged not from a grand governmental plan, but from the persistent advocacy of civic leaders like Belfield Woollcombe, responding to urgent health needs. Though modest in size and imperfect in location, the 1862 hospital marked the start of organized medical care in the region... a foundation that would grow into the Timaru Hospital we know today. I just assumed that nursing was a centuries old perfession, in today's deep dive, I have learned it is far more recent and through the work of the community we have saved many lives and improved the standard of care for those who became unwell, and in prevention too.

By Roselyn Fauth

The Point has had all kinds of history. It's located on the South Canterbury coastline at Timaru. According to a creation story, Pātītī was a passenger on the Ārai-te-uru waka, which capsized off Matakaea on the North Otago Coastline. After the capsize, many of the passengers went ashore to explore the land. However, they needed to be back at the waka before daylight. Most did not make it, including Pātītī, and instead were transformed into many of the well-known landmarks of Te Waipounamu.

The area at Pātītī Point has been a place for shelter for many hundreds of years. Moa bones and a moa hunter’s necklace found in the area are thought to be more than 800 years old..

In in 1839-1840s the point was home to whalers working for the Weller Brothers. Samuel Williams who was the boat steerer returned with his family to Timaru around 1856 and became the first perminant European family to live in Timaru. For a couple of years they lived in the only house in the area as a coastal station for the Levels connecting the Ships anchored near the shore to the arriving pioneers and settlers to the area. Belfeild Woollcombe and Captain Cain were the next to build basic huts on the beach, and welcomes the immigrants who sailed direct from the UK to Timaru in 1859 boosting the population from five houses and a few families to 110 new residents. A whale pot (for rendering blubber) at the current-day carpark is a reminder of this part of the area’s history.

Incredible story on how the combined efforts of medical professionals, community spirit and volunteer support came together in 1935, right here in Timaru, to take on polio. Thankfully, polio is now a past illness for most of the world. Thanks to a determined and far-reaching eradication programme, the only corner of the globe still grappling with this disease is Afghanistan, where ongoing conflict has made vaccination campaigns incredibly difficult.

It is hard to believe now, but at one point, polio ruined lives all around the world and even in small communities like ours in South Canterbury. The disease especially targeted children, often leaving them suddenly and permanently crippled.

In 2025, we mark the 90 years since the founding of the New Zealand Crippled Children Society, established in Timaru on 1 March 1935. At a time when polio was crippling children and there was no universal healthcare, this small South Canterbury town became the starting point for a national movement that brought together doctors, volunteers and local communities to support disabled children. The anniversary offers a chance to reflect on Timaru’s proud legacy of compassion, leadership and action—a legacy that helped shape New Zealand’s disability support system and contributed to the global effort to end polio.

Before vaccines, polio was a dreaded epidemic. In New Zealand, major outbreaks in 1916 and again in 1924 to 25 caused panic and heartbreak, leaving thousands of children with lifelong disabilities. These devastating outbreaks helped galvanise the country into action. Out of that need for care and rehabilitation came the founding of the Crippled Children Society in 1935.

By Roselyn Fauth

Next time you are at Ashbury Park, see if you can find the Matson Tree. At the base is a plaque: Dedicated to the memory of the late W. M. Matson by the N.E. IMP. Assoc. Oct. 1922 This inscription refers to William Matson, a respected member of the Timaru community, whose passing in 1922 prompted the planting of this tree as a tribute to his character and service. It was placed there by the North End Improvement Association, of which he had been an active member.

By Roselyn Fauth

If you’ve spent any time wandering through Timaru, chances are you’ve already passed the work of Margriet Windhausen—maybe without even knowing it. Her bronze sculptures are part of the backdrop of our town, quietly holding stories of people who shaped New Zealand and our region. Margriet Windhausen trained as a sculptor in the Netherlands and emigrated to New Zealand in the 1970s. She’s a fourth-generation artist and brought with her a skill set built on classical training and a respect for materials, story, and place.

On the afternoon of 20 November 2019, Timaru was struck by a weather event so sudden and severe it was later dubbed “the costliest hailstorm in New Zealand history.” What began as a warm spring day quickly turned into a scene of chaos and destruction — one etched into the memory of every South Cantabrian who experienced it.

Do you get a little storm anxiety after the 2019 hailstorm too? Remember that afternoon of 20 November 2019, when Timaru was struck by a weather event so sudden and severe it was later dubbed “the costliest hailstorm in New Zealand history.” at the time? What began as a warm spring day quickly turned into a scene of chaos and destruction... one that many South Cantabrians who experienced it, will still remember well.

A quiet lockdown walk through Timaru Cemetery led to the discovery of a striking monument and the story of a remarkable man — Richard Turnbull. From his arrival in a fledgling settlement to shaping Timaru’s business, politics and port, his legacy spans over 160 years and still echoes in the buildings we stand in today. Discover how one family helped build a community.

When I began hunting out the story of Ann Williams, Timaru’s first recorded European mother, I went on many side quests of curiousity about the world her son was born into. William Williams, born in 1856, holds the honour of being the first recorded European baby born in Timaru. Recorded and local are the key words here, because there were a few earlier bubs in the District, so here is side quest number 14... who else was born in Timaru around this time? Who were these early families building lives from scratch on our windy coast?

By Roselyn Fauth

Graham Murray Thompson, Elizabeth Jane Whittet (2024). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 20/07/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/8115

There is no known photograph of her face. No surviving letters. No signature I can point to and say, “That’s hers.” But there is a house. A photograph. A family plot. A few records in the library online.... that is enough to begin.

In the hunt for the grave of Ann Williams I found her death notice in the Lyttleton Times. I was asked by WuHoo Timaru Facebook followers why the local papers did report her death as well. So here's a blog to explain. In the 1860s Timaru's news was reported by newspapers outside of the region. Papers like Lyttleton were acused of slanting the story to support their harbourworks. It was time that Timaru took the propoganda into their own hands, and so on 11 June 1864 the first editions was printed. The Herald was founded by Alfred George Horton and Ingram Shrimpton. The first issue was printed on 11 June 1864. The original publication was weekly.

The first edition was printed in the Williams Kitchen! "First edition of the Timaru Herald. It was printed in a small room, a detached kitchen in the George Street cottage on a hand press. You can see early editions here: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/timaru-herald

Back in 2021 our daughter Medinella Fauth found a medal on the beach by the carpark at Patiti Point. I bumped into Lee Johns - Raine and Horne Real Estate the other day, which sparked a reminder to keep hunting. We still have the medal and thought by sharing this again... maybe we could find some new leads to find the owner of the medal and be able to return it to them?

In researching the early whaling era, I’ve been particularly interested in understanding what a cob or daub cottage actually was. While learning about Ann, Timaru’s first permanent European mother, I’ve often tried to visualise what her home might have looked like in 1857. To help form a clearer picture, I’ve been exploring buildings around the district that date from a similar period. This cottage is a remarkable example. The best place to begin is at the Levels. This was my first visit to the Keane Cottage, and I was genuinely excited to experience it in person and to imagine what life might have been like for Elizabeth Rhodes at that time.

Our girls were excited in their double denim to see a "Blues Brothers" car at Kyle Park today. Our youngest said they were dressed like Americans haha. My grandfather was in the police, I enjoyed seeing the police station photo where he used to work and items from the cop days.

Next time you're in town... see if you can spy a plaque, for the 1851 hut that was built for the Rhodes, and transformed for a home for the Williams family - Timaru's first European permanent residents...

20 April 2025

From Whales to Gold: Timaru's Flash Billy was one of the three Larrikins who discovered one of the West Coast’s richest gold-bearing leads.

You might have seen some of our recent Facebook posts and blogs on a deep dive into early Timaru's whaling history. That curiosity has now led us down an unexpected road... Larrikins Road, near Kumara on the West Coast. It’s here we learned about the special link between the whale hunters of Timaru and the gold hunters of Kumara. From Caroline Bay shore to Taramakau glacial gravels... I think we've got a pretty cool story for you.

While visiting Greymouth, we paid our respects at the graves of Sarah (1862-1939 77 yrs) and William Williams (1856-1936 80 yrs) and shared their story with our girls Medinella and Annabelle. Our family loves to go history hunting for free fun, and so the girls have learned to be patient and curious. Learning about people from the past, and visiting special locations has been a lovely way to connect to history and stories. And by doing so, we've learned a bit more about ourselves. It makes our free time meaningful and I think if our kids know where they have come from, they can better know themselves and make better choices for their future. WuHoo Timaru is a result of our free fun and history hunting - with the aim to help you find free fun too.

So... buckle in... here is what we learned so far... it started as a short story, and I've accidentally written a novel - but I think it's worth the read!

47 Milton Street Greymouth where Doreen and Harry Cloake raised their young family for 6 years

We're heading to the coast soon... did you know this fun fact about Chris and I? Chris grew up in Greymouth. When I went over to meet his family, we went to the Marist rugby club rooms. I was walking around the room, looking at all the men in the photos on the walls who had played rugby over the decades. There was one photo I looked at, and I was like... "woah that guy has big ears, they look so much like mine! I looked down and couldn't believe my eyes, it was my grandad, Beekper Harry Cloake, who had lived in Greymouth for a short time as a policeman with my nana Doreen. My father's oldest siblings, Mervyn and Marilyn, were born there. I had a short panic that Chris and I could be related like some tragic movie twist, but fortunately, that was not the case. It turned out, though that our grandfathers were really close friends.

12 May 2025

1 May 2023

Street Art by Aroha Novak at Community House called Wall Flowers "After much googling and research at the library about the history of Timaru, Aroha decided to keep this particular composition simple but nostalgic “as a little girl, I loved the Mount Cook lily logo, and always wanted to travel on one of their planes”. It references the former Mount Cook Airlines logo of the Mount Cook lily, creating a wallpaper pattern on the side of the building. Novak said it was a nostalgic reference to the Mt Cook Airlines logo, which featured the Mt Cook lily." - Aroha Novak

Most people know Mount Cook Airline for its little white “lily” painted on the side of planes and trucks, but few realise that flower was not a lily at all, and even fewer know it was designed by a Timaru woman. In 1913, Jessie Wigley turned the alpine buttercup into a logo that would carry her family’s transport company from dusty roads to glacier ski-planes and international publicity. Her story is not just about tourism or branding. It is about a woman whose creativity gave New Zealand one of its most recognisable and iconic symbols.

I absolutely love the mural that the Timaru Civic Trust championed with Vibrant Timaru, that Aroha painted across the Community House wall. I have been helping the Trust to share the stories and meanings of their street art, and this is what I learned from a deep dive into the buttercup’s history hunt trail and the journey leading me to Jessie Wigley...

There are so many ways to play! See if you can run, swing, climb, and roll through the Play43 challenge by visiting all 43 Timaru District Council Playgrounds?

Did you know...
Timaru District has about 650 ha of parks
43 playgrounds in Timaru, Pleasant Point, Temuka, Geraldine, Rangitata Huts & Cave
55 km of off-road walking and biking tracks
4 skate parks
11 parks have netball and tennis courts
3 parks have outdoor fitness equipment
Nature parks provide a habitat for plants, insects, birds, penguins and possibly bats! Many historic events are commemorated in parks as well as art history signs, sculptures and a murals!

By Roselyn Fauth

Good news for your Thursday! We have a new Guide and Hunt ready for your school holidays... this one shows you around the art history trail at Caroline Bay and Pātītī Point. It includes tips on how to read a painting with your kids, some info about Timaru and the project... and then as you spy the signs you can connect to the artists, and their work to learn about our past people and place. See if you can find all of the signs! wuhootimaru.co.nz/signs

WuHoo And Aigantighe Art History Sign at the Port Loop Rd - Mollie Stevens

I’m so excited to announce the newest addition to the Timaru Art History Trail — a beautiful new sign featuring Ports and Journeys No.1 (1967) by Astrid Mary Davies, later known as Mollie Steven (1906–1999). This striking view of Timaru’s Port adds another layer to our growing outdoor gallery and brings a fresh female perspective to the waterfront story.

Big thanks to the Friends of the Aigantighe Art Gallery, Aigantighe Art Gallery, and the amazing team at South Canterbury Museum for helping bring this project to life. Mollie was part of a wave of New Zealand artists working at the edge of tradition and modernism. She studied art in Ōtautahi Christchurch and exhibited alongside some of my favourite Canterbury legends — Rita Angus and Colin McCahon. She made Timaru her home in the 1960s, living on Beverley Road until 1972, painting at the same time as local art heroes like Clifford Brunsden and Vivna Lynn. Her work blends strong design with movement and mood — and Ports and Journeys No.1 is a perfect example. I love how it offers a modern, abstract take on the port, in contrast to some of the other artworks featured on the trail.

This sign has been crafted to last. Thompson Engineering made the galvanised steel frame, and the sign itself is a high-quality reproduction of Mollie’s painting from the Aigantighe’s permanent collection. It’s printed on ACM board with a protective anti-graffiti coating so it will stay vibrant in the elements. You can find the sign at the carpark on Loop Road, off Marine Parade. It’s a great spot to start or end a walk along the bay toward Patiti Point, following the rest of the art history trail. Art, place, and local stories... all together on the coast. Come check it out, and let us know what you think.

? For more on Mollie Steven’s life and art, check out this article from the Timaru Herald (2019).

Would you like to go on an architecture hunt in our CBD? Here's a free guide we have made for you to help you find your way... Spy 50+ illustrations of our beautiful CBD. Timaru heritage buildings. Wander around town, look up, and see if you can find architectural features designed by our early architects. Free download on our website... Print off a copy, or pop into the Timaru Information Centre to pick one up. https://www.wuhootimaru.co.nz/timaru-cbd-architecture-hunt

31 March 2025

If you’re after a bit of free fun with a side of Olympic history and tree-hugging heritage, We’ve got just the thing. On a recent mission, we set out to find a very specific oak tree. Not just any tree, but one that’s listed in Timaru’s new District Plan as notable. Clue: it’s tucked away at Timaru Boys' High School. Ten points if you can guess how it got there. Even more if you can find it.

1 December 2024

Great day at Timaru Festival of Roses ! We launched our new fact sheet with activities to help people learn about the amazing people involved in our internationally significant rose gardens here in Timaru. We turned the rose garden into a maze, had colouring in activities and the organisers had a heap of free to play games. The sun turned out and we had a ball. The garden was designed by Sir Miles Warren and planted with love by the Griffiths family and dedicated volunteers, this garden features over 1,200 roses arranged in stunning geometric beds. From rare species roses to vibrant English varieties, it offers a sensory journey through colors, fragrances, and history. It is recognized as one of the largest rose collections in the Southern Hemisphere, this award-winning garden is a must-visit destination. Step into a world of beauty and heritage, and explore how a community’s vision blossomed into a cherished landmark. You can see them all year round at various life cycles, and flowering from November until July.

The tradition began in the mid-1970s, spearheaded by Tony Sleigh, then the City Electrical Engineer for the Timaru District Council. During a 1975 sabbatical in the UK, Sleigh was inspired by London's Regent Street Christmas lights. Upon returning, he proposed that Timaru develop its own high-quality street decorations—a novel idea in New Zealand at the time. Despite initial debates over costs and logistics, the Municipal Electricity Department (MED) supported the initiative by purchasing and gifting the lights to the city. Sleigh, alongside lighting expert Allan Shaw, oversaw the design and installation of the original star-themed displays, with moulds crafted in a Dunedin factory

Throwback to Timaru’s coastline before the Port was built! This old map shows just how different the coastline looked – can you spot where Ashbury Park and Caroline Bay are today?

Building a harbor in Timaru was a hot topic 1860 and 70s. Many thought it wasn’t needed because the railway was about to connect Timaru with Christchurch’s Lyttelton Port. But others could see the opportunity that would come from improving safety and efficiency and so locals pushed forward, believing a port was key to the town’s future. The port was only one of two independently owned ports in the country, a critical asset for the ratepayers of Timaru.
Construction started in 1878 with the 700m southern breakwater, designed by John Goodall. As the breakwaters were built, sand began to accumulate, transforming the Stoney shoreline into what we now know as Caroline Bay. The harbor continued to expand and change, with work continuing even to the present day.
Timaru Harbour, Province of Canterbury : general chart of Timaru and adjoining coast by Sir John Coode showing works recommended by Sir John Coode, August 1875. (from Patiti Point to Washdyke Lagoon). The proposed works are shown by red colour. Timaru Foreshore. NZ Heritage Maps Platform, accessed 10/09/2024, https://maps.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/404

I’ve just finished reading my neighbour (and high school friend) Pauline’s thesis — and wow, it’s opened my eyes. She’s was awarded a Master of Indigenous Studies (MIndS) for COVID-19 Talanoa: The Voices of Tongan Kāinga in South Canterbury.

Her research gives voice to Tongan families in Timaru, capturing how they faced the early days of COVID-19 with strength, faith, and family at the centre. Every story she gathered is more than “research” — it’s real life. What stood out most to me is how every decision — moving here, sending money home, getting through a global pandemic — always came back to family.

Resilience, as Pauline shows so beautifully, isn’t just individual. It’s cultural, communal, and deeply rooted in stories. Read it here: otago.ac.nz/COVID-19-Talanoa-The-Voices-of-Tongan and then if you like, read on for my reflection on her thesis and what Pauline has taught me... 

In this map you can see the waimataitai lagoon before it was drained and turned into a park. The stream was piped underground and can be seen at the golf course. Miscellaneous plans - borough of timaru, south canterbury, 1911 - t.N. Brodrick, chief surveyor canterbury. ndhadeliver.Natlib.Govt.Nz/ie31423732

Have you wandered through Ashbury Park, noticed the old trees and winding stream, and wondered—what used to be here? Before sports fields and supermarkets, this was Waimātaitai, a vast coastal lagoon alive with birdsong, whitebait, and the shimmering shapes of tuna (freshwater eels). Beneath your feet lies a forgotten wetland, rich in Māori history and ecological wonder, where eels once thrived and journeys began that stretched all the way to the heart of the Pacific Ocean. This is the story of a lost lagoon, an ancient traveller, and the community working to bring both back into the light.

Today we hunted for graves connected to Timaru's shipwreck history. Captains, Boatmen, people whose livelihoods needed successful way to export and import, mayor's, harbour board members, grain merchants, sheep station owners, meat exporters, first to export flour in Timaru, and the wives arriving to a new colony...

I imagine the day when 5000 sacks of locally produced grain were on board the City of Perth, in danger of smashing into the Benvenue wreck, and what it must have felt like to be on the cliff above, watching your communities hard work to break in the farms and produce the grain... and to see it under threat... fortunately the grain was salvaged and able to be sold.
How many more wrecks would the insurers pay out on before the Timaru Harbour was too high risk to insure vessels and cargo.

The first person to be buried at the Timaru Cemetery was a boatman from Deal on his way to save a ship in trouble. So many lost their lives so close to our shore.

I often wonder what Timaru would be like if it didn't have a Port. And how the efforts if those back in the day to make it happen and be a success helped make our region a feasible place to live, and thrive.

Check out the Timaru Trails Cemetery Trail to learn about Timaru-vians who rest here.

There's an area that looks like there could be graves, but no markings, I wonder if these are the "pauper graves"?

Photo by Roselyn Fauth

By Roselyn Fauth

We are often reminded that the best decisions are made not just for today, but with the future in mind. When it comes to our art collection, this means caring for it in ways that reflect the kind of community we want to be remembered as. If we decide with the next fifty years in mind, we show that South Canterbury is a place that honours its heritage, treasures creativity, and gives generously to those who will come after us...

Wow we had a special day out exploring the Waitarakao Washdyke Lagoon with a heap of passionate people. This was a free event as part of #Seaweek Our girls loved spying on the birds, noticing how they were behaving, took their curiosity down to the rocky shore looking for Crabs, Limpids and Chitons... Then had a free sausage and enjoyed the displays. So cool. What a special place. Thank you to the organizers. Did you go today?

The Scenic Drive was renamed Centennial Park. The arch features bluestone, volcanic rock from 2million year old lava that flowed from Mt Horrible through here to the sea. The rock was quarried for the harbor construction and to manage coastal erosion.
The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Te Tiriti o Waitangi) was first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and Māori chiefs (rangatira) from the North Island of New Zealand.
George Bowker donated 16 acres of land to connect the former quarry to Otipua Rd.

Have you been on an adventure out to Pioneer Park? It’s one of those magic places you can visit for free (or camp very affordably), packed with native bush, birdsong, towering trees, and layered with stories from the early settler days. Just 32 km from Geraldine, this 390-hectare conservation area is tucked away off SH79 and makes for a perfect day trip or overnight camp. It’s a spot for walkers, history buffs, families, tree lovers, and anyone chasing a bit of nature-based reset. Dogs are allowed too—just keep them under control.

Take a look around St Davids Church. Built from river stone found nearby, and glacial granite from Mt Cook, not a single nail is used inside. It was designed in 1930 by Herbert W. Hall. The building was awarded the New Zealand Institute of Architects gold medal in 1934.

It was built for Thomas Burnett in memory of his father Andrew Burnett (1838–1927) and his mother Catherine (1837–1914), as well as to commemorate other pioneering run-holders who took up runs in the Mackenzie country. Andrew and Catherine Burnett arrived in Timaru in 1861.

"Her late Majesty famously declared that on her 21st Birthday, her whole life would be dedicated to serving the Nation and Commonwealth. Rarely has such a promise been so well kept." Thank you for your service, and Rest in Peace your Majesty. I took this photo at a guest speaker night at the Aigantighe last week. it was about the importance of Friends organizations. As we all know, volunteering and serving our community is a huge part of our kiwi culture. We can connect communities, support each other and enrich lives.  So on today's public holiday, while i think of someone who gave her life to serve others, i raise a glass to acknowledge everyone who cares, and does their bit, to make all of our lives better.

Timaru's famous Blackett Lighthouse doesn't often have its doors open, but while filming for Frank Films we had a council staff member open it up for us for filming. Photos by Roselyn Fauth 2022

Free fun, giving a salute to our Queen for her Jubilee ... Happy Birthday Queen Elizabeth, and congratulations on your 70 years of service to the commonwealth.

Oh we had the best free family fun day, showing friends around the Waitaki region. Key highlights are the Elephant Rocks in Duntroon, the whale fossil just 1 min up the road, and then some peaceful scraping of ancient limestone to reveal the remnants of creatures from millions of years ago... The Vanished World Centre is a really cool experience, its worth the small fee to help teach your kids about the geology in the are The geology here, connects to Timaru's story... next time, when you look at a block of Oamaru limestone on our Council Building, imagine all the tiny fossil remains of ancient creatures, and the Diatom. 

We had a pavlova picnic at Mt Nimrod Scenic Reserve today with friends and family... such a special wee spot out the back of Maungati at Cannington. Initially we thought we'd go to Pareora River, Evans Crossing but the water was still a bit fast for paddling with our young kids so we ventured a little further... love exploring!

Near the edge of Ashbury Park, the stormwater drain reveals its tunnel to the sea. Above, the old Blacket lighthouse watches from the Benvenue cliffs. The area used to be a huge wetland and coastal lagoon, and was drained in the 1930s to mitigate the highway flooding issues and coastline change. We love it here, it’s a place to wander, to notice small things, and to breathe with the rythum of the seas waves. sometimes I forget that this is the edge of the ocean that goes on for miles and miles. 

Ashbury Park is a green space with a rich and layered history. Originally, this area was the Waimātaitai Lagoon—a 50-acre coastal wetland fed by Waimataitai Creek. For generations, it served as a vital mahinga kai site for Ngāi Tahu, providing tuna (eels) and inaka (whitebait) . In 1857, Captain Belfield Woollcombe, often reffered to himself as the "father of Timaru," settled here. He built one of the town's earliest European homes, naming it "Ashbury" after his family's estate in Devon, England. The English trees he planted still grace the southern end of the park .

The construction of the Port of Timaru in the late 19th century disrupted natural sediment flows, leading to the erosion of the lagoon's protective barrier. By 1933, the lagoon had drained away. The reclaimed land was transformed into Ashbury Park, now featuring open lawns, sports facilities, and playgrounds. Today, Ashbury Park stands as a testament to Timaru's evolving relationship with its natural environment, blending historical significance with community recreation.

Some FREE fun at Dashing Rocks today at low tide. On the 5th December there's a really low tide and would be a great time to explore the rock pools, find carvings in the 2 million year old basalt, see remains of a contraption that harnessed the waves energy... lots to explore and find here

On a clear South Canterbury afternoon, we set off on a little historical wander to one of the lesser-known but fascinating heritage sites near Pleasant Point, the Taiko Monument. The reserve, quietly nestled in rolling rural landscape, marks a legendary event in New Zealand’s colonial history involving sheep theft, Māori shepherds, and the man whose name was later given to the Mackenzie Country.

Did you know caretakers of the Bay actually lived there? Mr Gibson was one of the early caretakers (1904 -1939) and the steps behind the tea rooms (currently Sopheze) were built by him. His caretaker cottage used to be next door. The stairs used to have rustic wooden (Kauri) railings along the side and an archway at the top. A fence in the same style ran along to terrace edge.

Have you been to Patersons Cottage? The land was owned 1872-1883 by Henry Le Cren (built the Beverley Estate and lived at Craighead house before it was a school). Then James Patterson and his wife, three boys, daughter and step son lived here. There's some debate about who built the house but it could be as old as 140! (Built 1880s). You'll find this on the Strawberry Heritage Trail between Waimate and Kurow. "It is a classification 1 by Heritage NZ, it is historically significant nationally and worthy of preservation"

Crazy weather huh... did you know there was an epic flood in 1945? When your next on Domain Ave by the railway line (near the Temuka Domain), check out the ECan depo fence... there's a plaque showing the flood depth from that event. About 2 feet of water went through the main street of Temuka, with widespread flooding across South Canterbury. Here are photographs of Temuka town centre during 21 Feb 1945. There was another huge flood 13 March 1986. Note that most of the flooding (except for right at the south end of town which was the Temuka River) was from the Waihi and Orari Rivers flooding into the town from the North not from the Temuka River.

16 March 2020

Just to change the subject from worrying viruses... Who knows who lived here on Keane Road, Pleasant Point? I would love to find the home of George and Elizabeth Rhodes at The Levels, but Im not sure if this is it? Cob buildings were once a significant part of New Zealand's early history and census figures from 1845 recorded more than 40 per cent of building stock in the South Island was of earth construction. As times progressed and more building materials became available this percentage declined to the point where there are fewer than 200 earth dwellings in the South Island today.

16 March 2020

Relaxing wander around the river bed under Brasells Bridge today. Lots of interesting rocks to discover. Saw an awesome swimming hole, hopefully we can test it out in warmer weather. Have you ever stopped to look at the monument to the first of the Brasell family members arrival to Timaru in 1863? Brasells Bridge is a bridge in Waimate District, Canterbury. Brasells Bridge is situated nearby to the village Pareora, as well as near the hamlet Fairview.

14 March 2020

 

Our WuHoo find free fun Friday... Have you been to the Parrs Water Wheel on Mill Rd, Pleasant Point? We went for a wee drive to investigate with my father Geoff. It's a Category 2 listed Heritage Site and was first constructed in 1865 by the Parr Brothers, operating until 1905. It powered the gear to grind local grains in a three-story building. A water race channelled water from the Opihi River to the overshot water wheel. There was a deadly flood in 1868. The Parr Brothers also established a five sailed windmill in Timaru in 1871 and demolished it in 1888. The wind wasn't favorable, and the windmill was later powered by steam. See if you can find the plaque on the dry cleaners wall on what used to be the corner of Elizabeth and Theodosia Street, Timaru.

15 January 2020

Have you been to Claremont Bush? We hadn't until yesterday... It's 10 km southwest of Timaru, up the side of Mt Horrible with a view at the top. Drive down the Fairview Zig Zag and it's the 2nd intersection before the Pareora Bridge. There has been a wonderful community effort to trap pests and weed the track too. There are lots of native birds, excellent regeneration of totara, matai, mahoe, hen and chicken ferns, coprosma, cabbage trees, matipo and kowhai. keep an eye out for native flora like kahikatea, kowhai, totara, matai, mahoe, and the rare climbing daisy with its bright yellow flowers. The area is alive with birdlife, including bellbirds (korimako), fantails (piwakawaka), riflemen (titipounamu), grey warblers, brown creepers, and occasionally native pigeons (kereru). The track features a steep ascent and descent, which can be slippery when wet, so sturdy footwear is recommended. There are no facilities on-site, so plan accordingly, and note that dogs are not permitted to protect the native wildlife.

17 January 2020

15 January 2020

12 January 2020

10 January 2020

The Rata at the Timaru Botanic Gardens is flowering. This beautiful tree used to be in the hospital car park, it was moved when they made alterations. Even though it was only shifted meters from the car park to the botanic gardens boundary, it was bundled up on a truck and driven through the gates, down the drive to the other side of the fence.
I've seen a photo of the tree in it's original position, but I can't find it on Google to share with you.

8 January 2020

Gleniti Park is so picturesque... and has some beautiful memorials on their original school building. You could pack a lunch and then bike down to Centennial Park through the trees - it has a dog friendly space too

7 January 2020

Have You been to this cute little Trees of the World rest stop in Temuka.. There's quite a collection... see if you can find the army man. So next time you're passing through Temuka, take a moment to explore this cute little rest stop. It's a small detour that offers a refreshing pause and a touch of global greenery.

5 January 2020

Centennial Park Pond, feed the ducks, go for a wander... Centennial Park, Timaru is a former basalt quarry just minutes from the town centre. Known locally as "The Scenic," it was renamed for the centennial of the Treaty of Waitangi. There has been a huge community effort to revive the area supported by Timaru District Council. It features serene walking trails, native bush, a small lake (great for ducks, but not suitable for swimming), and plenty of spots for picnics and birdwatching. There’s a few playgrounds for kids, open spaces for dog walking, and even mountain biking tracks. Perfect for a peaceful stroll, a family outing, or just soaking up nature in the heart of South Canterbury. https://wuhootimaru.co.nz/.../123-centennial-park-pond

27 June 2019

Photo sourced from here:

https://files.interpret.co.nz/.../Crown_803.../High.jpg...

 

Here's a photo of our favorite cabbage tree at the Timaru Botanic Gardens... Its so old it was here before the whalers arrived in 1838... pre the arrival of Europeans to Timaru! This tree has a hollow trunk. Apparently cabbage tree's like this made excellent chimneys in the first European immigrants homes...