Beatrice & George Newlands Oral History

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N.B. George Newlands is the son of Beatrice Newlands.

00’ 20” The family arrive in the area in early September 1946 and moved into 42 Old Porirua Road, a relatively remote location which was then in the Kaiwharawhara postal district rather than Ngaio.  The land above them was at the time being farmed by the ‘Bracken’ family but has since been left to return to scrub [n.b.  this area was since developed for housing and native bush has returned (2024)].

02’ 36” George recalls how his grandfather who was living with them at the time used to trap opossums and sell the skins to a dealer in Petone. They used to take the skins out on the bus and would get paid 1 shilling per skin which was good money at the time but eventually price fell which meant trapping was no longer financially worthwhile.

04’ 07” Beatrice recounts why the family left Messines Road in Karori to come to the Ngaio area.

05’ 38” They talk about other wildlife that used to plague the area such as goats. The NZ Navy had two 3 million gallon fuel tanks at the bottom of Ngaio Gorge (Kaiwharawhara) and kept goats within the compound to keep down grass and reduce any fire hazard but they used to escape and cause problems. A local bull in a paddock on the other side of the road (facing Wadestown) but it used to escape regulary and on one occasion got as far as the Kaiwharawhara township where it started charging cars. George’s grandfather who had a way with animals simply tied a rope around it and led it home. Ottawa Road was used as a stock route.

11’ 15” George only has few memories of the Kaiwharawhara School (then commonly called Kaiwarra School) which he attended briefly. He transferred to Ngaio School in c. 1949 when he was about eight years old after which he attended Onslow College. Ngaio School has since expanded since he attended. Memories of his teacher, Miss Gallam (sp?) and Mr Lemond.

14’ 20” Memories of visits to the school by the District Nurse for health checks. Children were never told what the visits were for or when they would occur and were looked upon with fear by pupils. Descriptions of two pupils (c. year 7 – 8 / Form 1 & 2), Dennis Craddock (who lived on Cockayne Road)  and Bob Barton and their elaborate plan to get off Sports Day (“Operation Scramble”). Word spread with dozens of pupils joining in leaving few behind to participate.

22’ 25” George was a foundation pupil at Onslow College when it opened in 1956. At the time Onslow was just eight class rooms and “acres of mud” and probably wasn’t ready to be opened when it did. The headmaster was Colin Watt and staff were recruited from surrounding colleges. Not all of them were that competent as teachers, a view shared by other pupils. Assemblies were held in a field as there was no school hall in the early years. George leaves at the end of 1959 but didn’t have particularly good memories of the school or most of its teachers. The school has grown considerably since then. He feels that the education system at the time was very poor at identifying strengths.

32’ 03” [pause between side 1 & 2 of original cassette recording]

32’ 05” George continues with the memories (and issues) he has of education in New Zealand the 1950s. Talks about career choices. Beatrice originally wanted George to attend Wellington College but most of his friends wanted to attend Onslow. Considered different career options and eventually became a museum curator.

38’ 05” Beatrice mentions how George has better memories of Ngaio than she does. George remembers an old grocery store that used to be in Kenya Street (today on the site of the motor mechanic business). Where the tennis club is were massive macrocarpa trees. Occasional visits to the Town Hall where church services used to be held as the minister Bill Lowe was so popular that the congregations couldn’t fit into the church. Mention’s Murial Barber who was a stalwart of the Anglican Church in the area.

41’ 50” Other uses of the Ngaio Town Hall are given. The family didn’t use it that much as it was a fair distance from their home in Old Porirua Road and instead they tended to go to events held in the Methodist Church in “Kaiwarra” (Kaiwharwhara). Mentions the various shops that used to be in Kaiwharawhara that meant that the community was self-contained. Most residents wouldn’t have had to visit town for anything. The old Railway Settlement in Kaiwarra was removed. The neighbours shared their telephone and life was very simple with tank water taken from the roof and ‘night soil’ was deposited into an old well shaft.

49’ 35” Beatrice’s father who lived with them for three years used to shoot magpies with a shotgun. George was a bit frightened of the noise but still recalls the smell of a freshly fired shotgun cartridge. Memories of when the house was finally connected to the water main supply which made life much easier but the position of the house below the Khandallah reservoir meant that the pressure was enormous. More houses started to build up in the area but there were both good and bad people in the neighbourhood over the years.

1hr 1’ 50” They decide to sell their house at 42 Old Porirua Road after 41 years and move to Ngaio-proper in December 1988. George found that almost every spare minute was spent either maintaining the section or maintaining the house. They have happy memories but at first didn’t really miss their old home.