Help Hunt History

By Credit Joe Adams, (Kaiapoi) Editor, NZ Family History Magazine.

26 Sept. 2012.

WATTS - The Watts family, comprising Thomas Watts and his wife Emma Jane (nee Chesson) with their daughter Elizabeth Jane on her parents knee.
Thomas was born in Kent, England on May 22, 1854 and Emma Jane, born Kent in 1857.
They arrived in Timaru aboard the ship Staadt Haarlem in 1880 and landed by surfboat on what is now the Caroline Bay area. Not much is now known of them except they produced a family of six. Thomas seems to have been a keen bandsman.

They lived in Browne Street, Timaru, somewhere close to the site of the present Warehouse. Around 1898-99 an outbreak of typhoid occurred which was later believed to have been caused by contaminated water supplies from domestic wells.

Contamination possibly came from seepage from long-drop privys, which would make sense in Browne Street which is situated in a gully because a well was usually situated close to a house while a privy was situated well back from houses and sometimes up a rise. At any rate Thomas succumbed and soon died on May 22, 1899 aged 35. He is buried in the Timaru cemetery in a marked grave but without a headstone.

With the family in dire straits Emma Jane also succumbed and died just a year later on June 2, 1890 and is buried in an unmarked pauper's grave.

Watts, Emily
Age at Death 33
Date of Interment5 Jun 1890
Timaru Cemetery
Section General Row 88 Plot 219

Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth Jane, after almost a decade of hardship met and eventually married Forrester, Alexander Adams's eldest son, at Hunter, near Waimate on January 22, 1902 and together they continued in the bakery business until 1928 when they obtained a cookhouse contract on the Waitaki Hydro construction years, eventually retiring to 14 Butler street, Timaru. They are both buried in the Timaru cemetery. The house at 14 Butler Street, now the site of Mico Wakefield plumbing showroom.

 https://www.timaru.govt.nz/community/community-and-culture/cemeteries/cemetery-search?BurialId=30819

Elmsdale School was a private boarding school for special needs children situated on Selwyn Street, Timaru, in the former home of Frederic Le Cren. The school was established in 1917 by George Benstead.

Harbour Board Quarry, Timaru, circa 1904, Dunedin, by Muir & Moodie. Te Papa (C.014398)

A group of children posed outside a house, identified as "Thought to be first home of I J Bradley in Bank St Timaru", circa 1900. Shows four children (three are girls) standing at the gate of a wooden cottage.

Timaru Foreshore. NZ Heritage Maps Platform, accessed 20/09/2025, https://maps.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/404

1875 Map of Timaru - section shows Patiti Point, Cemetery, Rail, and the Timaru Botanic Gardens

Cloack towner when it used to be on the post office  MA_I416022_TePapa_Timaru-New-Zealand_section of the photo - https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/320469

In a zoomed in Te Papa collection photo, you can spy the signwriting for the Royal arcade tenants. The largest name, at the top reads Priest and Holdgate, Ironmongers. Timaru New Zealand by Muir and Moodie Te Papa C014369. What more can we learn about this building and his propieters, staff and customers?

By Roselyn Fauth

Scroll through the South Canterbury Hall of Fame online and you’ll see the names of people who shaped our district and made their mark on the world. But look closer and you’ll notice something striking: almost every name belongs to a man. Out of 77 people recognised, only 7 are women!

The Hall of Fame was the initiative of Mr C Russell Hervey when he was Mayor of Timaru City between 1971 and 1977. It was officially opened on 26 September 1986 by Mayor Mrs DHL McIver, created to recognise the significant achievements of citizens of the Timaru district.

The Hall recognises persons of prominent international standing, international sportspersons or administrators, and nationally recognised notable New Zealanders. To qualify, a person must have been born in South Canterbury, or lived here for a significant portion of their life. An advisory committee researches candidates, and a Council selection committee makes the final decisions. Today, the Hall of Fame can be viewed on the Timaru District Council website, making it accessible to anyone who wants to learn about the people who helped shape our region.

When young women see role models from their own community, they start to believe that they, too, can change the world, so how to we lift inpsiring women from the margins to the page...

There is a fantastic book that was published in the 90s on Notable South Canterbury Women

Thank you Liz Shae for indexiung the book... maybe there are some names that will ring a bell for you? Or who you might like to help write a guest blog about?

Portrait of Mrs Little, photographed outdoors at Clayton Station in the Mackenzie District, circa 1900. Leaning on a chair in what appears to be a garden setting, Mrs Little represents the resilience and strength of settler women in South Canterbury’s rural high country. Life on isolated stations demanded resourcefulness, hospitality, and fortitude—qualities that shaped both family life and community bonds. Photograph by James Dundas Hamilton. Courtesy of South Canterbury Museum. Catalogue No. 2011/028.101

This honour board from Timaru Girls’ High School commemorates former pupils who served during the Second World War. It records more than forty women who volunteered across a wide range of organisations, including the New Zealand Army Nursing Service, the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, the Voluntary Aid Detachments, the Women’s War Service Auxiliary, and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Together, their names reflect the many roles women undertook in wartime—nursing the wounded, supporting military operations, providing voluntary aid, and contributing to post-war relief overseas. Displayed within the school, the board stands as both a record of service and a tribute to the courage, commitment, and community spirit of these women.

This coloured lithographic chart from 1900, titled “New Zealand lighthouse chart of general coast and principal harbour lights,” depicts the positions of lighthouses around the New Zealand coastline. Published by the New Zealand Department of Lands and Survey, the 66 x 50 cm map includes an inset—9 x 14 cm—showing an enlarged plan of the southern entrance through Cook Strait. The map was drafted by A. Koch in collaboration with the New Zealand Marine Department and reflects maritime navigation priorities at the turn of the 20th century.

“Washdyke Women United: Circa 1931” Members of the Washdyke Country Women’s Institute pose proudly outside a timber building in this undated photograph, likely taken around 1931. Formed to support rural women through education, companionship, and community service, the Institute played a vital role in early 20th-century life. The group gathers in formal dress, with a car just visible at the image’s edge—a hint of changing times. Among those identified on the reverse are Alison Aitken, Mrs A. B. Ramsay, Miss L. Stockes, and Miss J. Bell. Some names remain unknown, reminding us of the many women whose grassroots leadership helped shape their communities quietly but powerfully. South Canterbury Museum Collection | 2012/009.08

Who would like to help me go on a History Hunt... I would love to learn more about the Womens Institutes. Feel free to share your research, or submit your blog as a guest writer.

PLEASE NOTE This site is a personal blog, this information is given for informational purposes only and is updated as often as possible. Do not hesitate to contact me for any corrections or contributions. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Portrait of Mrs. Mary Smith with her family who arrived in the Strathallan in 1859, an early settler of Timaru, circa 1898. Mrs. Smith was known for her contributions to the local community, including her involvement in establishing the first women's reading circle in the district. Pictured are (from left to right): Elizabeth Jane (Cissy -later Mrs George Hatt), Rose Millecent, Jane (mother, nee Main), Margaret, Robert, and Robert (junior). Courtesy of South Canterbury Museum. Catalogue No. 1985/123.456

Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru has a pretty interesting physical narrative, shaped by the people, values, needs and aspirations of its community. Since opening in 1911, Craighead has grown and adapted, with buildings that reflect both the challenges and achievements over generations. At the centre of this architectural journey stands Shand House, a remarkable structure whose story spans more than 140 years. After an extensive strengthening and rennovation, it will reopen in 2025, and the Civic Trust has arranged a blue plaque to recognie its built heritage significance.

Although Craighead opened in 1911 as a girls’ school, it was not the first institution in Timaru to provide education to young women. Timaru High School, which began in 1880, was co-educational in structure but offered single-sex classes for girls, ensuring that young women in the town could receive formal academic instruction. However, purpose-built schooling environments specifically for girls remained limited. Keep in mind that this was just a few years off Otago's Girls High School, which was the first high school for young women to open in the Southern Hemisphere. So by the time Craighead was ready to convert the bricks and mortar of a house to a school, education for young women was still in its infancy.

Craighead offered formal teaching in a Christian environment, to offer academic, social and spiritual life on a single campus, setting a new precedent for girls’ schooling in the region.

But I want to take you back to the distinguished residence before it was a school. Because I have been on many side quests learning about Henry Le Cren, and I think he and his family are super interesting. So here we go...

Before he became a world champion in three weight divisions and a pioneer of modern boxing, Robert Fitzsimmons was a knock-kneed, red-haired blacksmith’s apprentice in Timaru. Raised in the South Canterbury town after emigrating from Cornwall, Fitzsimmons forged both his strength and his fighting spirit in the local forges and sparring rings. His remarkable journey from Timaru to the pinnacle of international boxing made him not just a sporting legend, but a lasting symbol of grit, ambition, and local pride.

The fairlie flyer was the name the 6 locals ’ gave to a simple branch-line railway link¬ ing a series of country towns with the coastal city of Timaru. Within this book you will read the history, legends and local stories of this railway. The people who worked and travel¬ led on it, and the part it played in the lives of the numerous rural communities it served so well.

THE TRIALS, tribulations and success of flourmilling in South Canterbury are synonymous with the history of the province itself. In the early days mills were scattered around the district. Now the industry is concentrated to five old-established, but highly mechanised units. Water and windmills have long been replaced by electricallydriven machinery and equipment—among the most moadern in New Zealand.

THE CANTERBURY FARMER’S CO-OPERATIVE, 1899 Heaton Street Grain and Wool Stores. This is the Canterbury Farmers’ Co-operative Association’s grain and wool store in Heaton Street, Timaru, in 1899. The building was next to the main trunk railway line from Christchurch to Bluff – a vital link between wool and grain stores and the ports. Using this item PGG Wrightson  Reference: Eulla Williamson, Farmers in business, 1880-1980: one hundred years of trading by the Canterbury Farmers’ Co-operative Association Limited, Timaru and branches. Timaru

The great glaciers of the Mount Cook region and the lakes Tekapo, Pukaki and Ohau are the remnants of a great ice river flowing from the Southern Alps. Warm nor’-west winds and centuries of erosion carried on a reclamation work to build the South Canterbury plains, leaving evidence in the cliffs of loess or decayed ‘shingle overlooking Caroline Bay at Timaru. Let's identify a list of sites to visit that teach us about our local Geology...

Oct 4, 1926 Phar lap was born in Timaru, New Zealand. The name Phar Lap also stands for Lightning.

Lets make a trail of sundails to visit and include the history of them

1966 Concept drawing of M L C Building, Timaru, by Mitchell and Mitchell and Partners Registered Architects. Winder, Duncan, 1919-1970: Architectural photographs. Ref: DW-2119-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23130633

It is next to St Mary's on Perth St.