Be Our Guest entry: Letter, Gillian Thomson
Maker
Thomson, Gillian
Object detail
Brief Description
Letter to the Be Our Guest competition written by Gillian Thomson about her memories of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.
Gillian was a toddler at the time of the earthquake. She had a younger brother David who was almost buried by the roughcast exterior of the house when it collapsed. The family lived in Cobden Road. The two storey house next door collapsed by slowly subsiding. Gillian's family had two water tanks that did not collapse, so they were the only people in the street to have water. The family camped under carpets from the house that were strung up to trees.
Her cousin Betty was married to a solicitor who survived the earthquake as he was in court that day. As they walked home they heard a child crying as they passed Dr Moore's Hospital on Marine Parade. They found a boy who had hidden in a cupboard and had not emerged until the damaged building was evacuated. The boy had been in hospital having his tonsils and adenoids removed. They took him to the emergency hospital at Greenmeadows racecourse but they never found out who he was.
Gillian was a toddler at the time of the earthquake. She had a younger brother David who was almost buried by the roughcast exterior of the house when it collapsed. The family lived in Cobden Road. The two storey house next door collapsed by slowly subsiding. Gillian's family had two water tanks that did not collapse, so they were the only people in the street to have water. The family camped under carpets from the house that were strung up to trees.
Her cousin Betty was married to a solicitor who survived the earthquake as he was in court that day. As they walked home they heard a child crying as they passed Dr Moore's Hospital on Marine Parade. They found a boy who had hidden in a cupboard and had not emerged until the damaged building was evacuated. The boy had been in hospital having his tonsils and adenoids removed. They took him to the emergency hospital at Greenmeadows racecourse but they never found out who he was.
Maker
Production period
Production technique
Media/Materials description
Handwritten on unlined paper, stapled to A4 sheet of paper.
Media/Materials
Measurements
A4 sheet: Height x Width: 297 x 210mm
Letter: Height x Width: 223 x 160mm
In the Be Our Guest Folder No 2.
Letter: Height x Width: 223 x 160mm
In the Be Our Guest Folder No 2.
Signature/Inscription
G Thomson, Signature
7.12.2005
C S & G Thomson / 80 Greenwood Rd / P O Box 8575 / Havelock North / PH (06) 877 8331, Stamp
7.12.2005
C S & G Thomson / 80 Greenwood Rd / P O Box 8575 / Havelock North / PH (06) 877 8331, Stamp
Classification terms
Subject person
Subject period
Subject date
03 Feb 1931
Credit line
gifted by Mrs Gillian Thomson
Other number(s)
m2006/27/157, 36224
Public comments
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