Be Our Guest entry: Letter, Bill Wright
Maker
Wright, William L
Production date
01 Dec 2005
Object detail
Brief Description
Letter to the Be Our Guest competition from Bill Wright about his memories of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.
Bill was at St Luke's School in Havelock North when the earthquake struck. He and his sister were not allowed to go home until their mother arrived to pick them up. Bill's father was manager of Borthwick's Freezing Works at Pakipaki where four people died. A wall and roof collapsed but Bill's father survived. He accounted for the men, extricated the injured and performed first aid. His last jobs were to pick up the money bags and the works revolver and then report the fatalities to the Police.
Bill's family slept in the car on an empty section that first night. Bill's father put the bag of money under his head with the gun beside him. Later the family were given an ex-Army Bell tent to sleep in as their house was badly damaged. Bill, his mother and sister were on the evacuation train to Palmerston North and later went to stay with relatives in Auckland. Bill remembers many stories associated with the earthquake, including ones involving a Havelock North identity Major Oldham. Major Oldham was an ex-permanent British Army who had served in the Boer War in 1899.
Included with Bill's account are colour photocopies of eight panorama type photos of the wreckage of the Pakipaki Freezing Works, Thos. Borthwick and Sons Limited. There is a note with his recollections about a framed photo of the Pakipaki works before the earthquake. Bill notes that a reporter from The Daily Telegraph took a photo of it some years ago.
Bill was at St Luke's School in Havelock North when the earthquake struck. He and his sister were not allowed to go home until their mother arrived to pick them up. Bill's father was manager of Borthwick's Freezing Works at Pakipaki where four people died. A wall and roof collapsed but Bill's father survived. He accounted for the men, extricated the injured and performed first aid. His last jobs were to pick up the money bags and the works revolver and then report the fatalities to the Police.
Bill's family slept in the car on an empty section that first night. Bill's father put the bag of money under his head with the gun beside him. Later the family were given an ex-Army Bell tent to sleep in as their house was badly damaged. Bill, his mother and sister were on the evacuation train to Palmerston North and later went to stay with relatives in Auckland. Bill remembers many stories associated with the earthquake, including ones involving a Havelock North identity Major Oldham. Major Oldham was an ex-permanent British Army who had served in the Boer War in 1899.
Included with Bill's account are colour photocopies of eight panorama type photos of the wreckage of the Pakipaki Freezing Works, Thos. Borthwick and Sons Limited. There is a note with his recollections about a framed photo of the Pakipaki works before the earthquake. Bill notes that a reporter from The Daily Telegraph took a photo of it some years ago.
Maker
Production date
01 Dec 2005
Production place
Production period
Production technique
Media/Materials description
A4 printed sheets, typed.
Media/Materials
Measurements
In the Be Our Guest Folder No 2.: Height x Width: 298 x 210mm
Classification terms
Subject person
Subject period
Subject date
03 Feb 1931
Credit line
gifted by Bill Wright
Other number(s)
m2006/27/95, 35021
Public comments
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