Be Our Guest entry: Letter, Florence Gilchrist
Maker
Gilchrist, Florence
Object detail
Brief Description
Letter to the Be Our Guest competition from Florence Gilchrist (nee McTavish) about her memories of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.
Florence was sixteen, and worked in Clausens Keen Cut Store which sold china, silver, crystal as well as household goods. It was next to Kibbell's, a tobacconist / gent's hairdressers, which was in turn next to the Post Office. She was starting her annual holiday and was travelling on the Aard Car Service to stay with her friend in Wairoa. The driver panicked when the earthquake struck and jumped out of the car, as did some of the passengers. Cracks were opening up in the road. They started to walk towards Mohaka, with their luggage. They passed a Māori settlement where the Māori people were out in the field, kneeling and praying. They were refused food and drink from one house, because the people were too scared to enter the house. Later, they received food and a cup of tea from some Māori workers at a Road Service hut.
They arrived in Mohaka at dusk and had to walk over the Mohaka hill to Wairoa where they were met by vehicles. They could see Napier burning. They reached Wairoa at 3am and slept under tarpaulins. Florence stayed with her friend for two weeks. She received mail, dropped from a mail plane by parachute, that said her mother (a widow), sister, and brother had been evacuated to Palmerston North Showgrounds. She saw a mail plane crash after it had dropped mail, and saw the flesh sticking to the plane engine. The men's bodies had been put into a truck. Florence was transported to Napier and then by train to Palmerston North. The building where she worked in Napier was destroyed. She stayed with her family in Palmerston North for six weeks while their house was repaired. She got her old job back at Clausen's when Tin Town was built in Clive Square. There is a note to say that Florence died in March 2005, and her story was read out at her funeral by her granddaughter. It is titled: My Earthquake Story.
Florence was sixteen, and worked in Clausens Keen Cut Store which sold china, silver, crystal as well as household goods. It was next to Kibbell's, a tobacconist / gent's hairdressers, which was in turn next to the Post Office. She was starting her annual holiday and was travelling on the Aard Car Service to stay with her friend in Wairoa. The driver panicked when the earthquake struck and jumped out of the car, as did some of the passengers. Cracks were opening up in the road. They started to walk towards Mohaka, with their luggage. They passed a Māori settlement where the Māori people were out in the field, kneeling and praying. They were refused food and drink from one house, because the people were too scared to enter the house. Later, they received food and a cup of tea from some Māori workers at a Road Service hut.
They arrived in Mohaka at dusk and had to walk over the Mohaka hill to Wairoa where they were met by vehicles. They could see Napier burning. They reached Wairoa at 3am and slept under tarpaulins. Florence stayed with her friend for two weeks. She received mail, dropped from a mail plane by parachute, that said her mother (a widow), sister, and brother had been evacuated to Palmerston North Showgrounds. She saw a mail plane crash after it had dropped mail, and saw the flesh sticking to the plane engine. The men's bodies had been put into a truck. Florence was transported to Napier and then by train to Palmerston North. The building where she worked in Napier was destroyed. She stayed with her family in Palmerston North for six weeks while their house was repaired. She got her old job back at Clausen's when Tin Town was built in Clive Square. There is a note to say that Florence died in March 2005, and her story was read out at her funeral by her granddaughter. It is titled: My Earthquake Story.
Production place
Production period
Media/Materials description
A4 photocopied 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 Angela Webster
Other number(s)
m2006/27/109, 35147
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