Personal narrative, Dawn Howard

Maker
Howard, Dawn

Object detail

Brief Description
A narrative, as told by Dawn Howard, who was aged three and a half at the time of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.

Dawn lived in a farm cottage at Matapiro Station, where her father worked for Shrimptons. She recalls that an aunt visited and was cooking, while Dawn played with her toys near the chimneys. When the earthquake struck she was standing in a doorway, and she believes that she would have been killed if she had still been playing by the chimneys.

Dawn's mother crawled outside with Dawn underneath her, and was hit by a brick, although she was not badly injured. Dawn recalls that the property owners offered their own space for the workers to put up tents and that they stayed in tents for most of February, while workers repaired the cottages. She believes that Shrimpton's place is still at Matapiro.
Production period
Production technique
Media/Materials description
Handwritten in blue ink on grey and white mottled paper.
Measurements
From a full page torn in half.: Height x Width: 210 x 150mm
Subject person
Subject period
Subject date
03 Feb 1931
Post 03 Feb 1931
Other number(s)
73498

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