Elizabethe Marriott Oral History

This interview was recorded at 61 Ottawa Road which was later converted from a house into a café. Note that the subject's first name was formally spelt Elizabethe but she was known to friends and family as 'Betty'.

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00’ 35” Introductions from Elizabethe Marriott who has lived in the Ngaio area all her life. Born in 1914 she attended the original Ngaio School (on a different site to where it is today). Her husband Harold was in the same class as her in Standard 6 (Year 8).

03’ 10” Left school at the age of 14 and became a seamstress and was able to work at home. Attended the Methodist Church regularly (now the site of the Ngaio Union Church) where she was married in 1938.

06’ 00” Remembers attending the movies in the Town Hall during the silent film era. After her marriage Elizabethe and Harold flew to Portage Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds for a honeymoon. She moves in with Harold into his parents’ house. After only about 18 months, World War II starts and Harold is ‘called up’. He elects to join the Air Force. While he is away, two children are born, Patricia & Raymond.

10’ 40” Elizabethe is helped by an aunt living in Khandallah when her husband was at war. He is posted to the Pacific after his war service so it was a long time before he returned and it took a while for normal life to settle down after such a long absence

11’ 42” A beach house / bach for holidays is purchased at Pukerua Bay and another son, “Warren” is born in 1949.

13’00” Harold’s job in concrete manufacture was not ‘held’ for him during the war so after a year working out in the Hutt Valley he decides to establish a business so that he can work closer to home. Harold’s brother 'Fred' was a lighthouse keeper on ‘The Brothers’ islands near the entrance to the Marlborough Sounds. He ended up being trapped out there during the war. Years of lighthouse keeping had left Fred very quiet and insular so their mother encouraged Harold to take Fred into the business (‘Marriott Bros’, a building company) which they ran from their garage at the back of the property.

16’ 20” All the children attended Ngaio School and some of their children also attended the school so they feel strongly connected to the suburb. Elizabethe and Harold were very active in supporting the school through fund raising & building projects and Harold served on the school board for many years (the only member who was also an ‘old boy’). They also supported the Ngaio Kindergarten and the Plunket service and did a lot of work for the Ngaio School 50^th Jubilee celebrations in 1958 which was a huge success.

23’ 20” Harold was impacted by the war and didn’t feel comfortable going to the local Methodist church on his return apart from special occasions.  The war really changed Harold and his relationship with his family. Harold was always volunteering to do repairs in the school and kindergarten which he did at no cost. He also coached at the local Football Club and raised funds to build the Nairnville Recreation Centre. Harold’s father 'Frank’ (“Father Marriott”) had raised funds to build the Ngaio Town Hall in the 1920s.

30’ 30” Father Marriott helped people during the war; he was a coal merchant who understood when some were unable to pay. The Marriotts arrived in Ngaio around 1912.

32’ 42” Elizabethe’s earliest memories of Ngaio including sliding down hills before they were developed for housing. Childhood memories of making mud pies and looking after “Grandmother Eagles” who lived in a former farmhouse in Kenya Street. Elizabethe would cook meals for her when she was older and continued to ‘house keep’ part-time for her aunt for which she received a small amount of money which she saved. The family didn’t own a vehicle so she walked everywhere. Memories of storing apples from the orchard of Grandmother Eagles until her death when Elizabeth was aged 17 after which the house was rented out. Sports opportunities were limited during her childhood.

41’ 30” Bread and dripping was a favourite; Sunday lunch was always a roast. After the Second World War, veterans didn’t come together in the same way that they did after the First World War. Memories of having tonsils out at the age of 10 which is also her first memory of riding in a taxi. Recalls a ‘Queen’s Carnival’ at the age of 14 ; (a popular way of fund raising via a modified variation of a beauty pageant).

47’ 25” People used to walk up the gorge regularly as the last steam train left Wellington at 10pm. Recollections of the flu epidemic of 1918 which struck her extended family and others in the district.    

51’ 20” Memories of collecting mushrooms and blackberries. Blackberries were not controlled so were a big problem. The Great Depression meant Elizabethe worked one week on / one week off as there wasn’t enough work available; they were hard years. Her mother in law was an early owner of a vacuum cleaner which she used to hire out to earn a few shillings. A grocery shop on the corner of Kenya Street and Perth Street (now a motor repair garage) acted as a soup kitchen. She once got into trouble by buying dried apricots (which were a favourite) and putting it on the family account. Groceries, milk, bread, fruit & vegetables etc were all delivered to the house. 

57’ 33” Memories of a family called ‘Webb’ who she describes as ‘Gypsies’ who temporarily live in the area in a caravan. They lived in Ngaio before moving on. Ngaio School was formerly part of the Aplin’s farm. Elizabeth had a strict upbringing as wasn’t allowed to associate with them.

 59’ 38” The introduction of the Bell Bus service greatly improved transport to and from the city and made people less reliant on trains which didn’t run as often as people would have wished. They owned a car for a while but sold it as it wasn’t being used. When she worked on town as a seamstress she would always catch the train. Shortly after getting married, she reduced her hours so that she could be home to cook dinner for Harold. Had difficulty in getting tenants to leave their house which was being rented out so a visit was made to a local MP asking them to provide a State House to the family so that they could move back in. Elizabeth’s happiest memories are of her garden and local people (she regrets her loss of sight due to age.)