1925: Burke Street Harbour Project
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Today in history, 21 November, Thames Borough had an historic election which unseated Sidney Ensor from the Mayoralty he had held for an unprecedented 28 years. Not gone though, Sid was still serving as deputy mayor at the time of the goldfields centenary in 1967. An interesting thing about the slogan of this losing campaign […]
Read more..November 20, 2024
1979: International Year of the Child
By AHNZ
After many months of warning the Secretary General of the United Nations proclaimed on 1 January, 1979, that the 12 months ahead would be known as the International Year of the Child. New Zealand’s Government and voluntary organisations willingly played along in a great show of raising awareness and thinking a bit more deeply about […]
Read more..January 5, 2024
1951: The Rise of Whina Cooper
By AHNZ
Josephine ‘Whina’ Gilbert (Later Whina Cooper) had been a big shot in the Hokianga. For example, in roles unusual for a woman, she was president both of her local Federated Farmers branch and of the North Hokianga Rugby Union. The Maori journal The New World said of Whina that she had “an “afraid of no one” […]
Read more..November 19, 2024
1902: Ashes of Accountability in Tauranga
By AHNZ
Today in New Zealand history, 16 November, 1902, the Government Buildings in Tauranga burned to the ground leaving only 7 smoldering chimneys (image, left.) This first purpose-built government building in Tauranga was also the second largest timber building in the entire Colony of New Zealand when constructed in 1875. It was full of government things: […]
Read more..November 16, 2024
1847: Howick Fencibles Land
By AHNZ
On this day, 15 November, 1847, the first Fencible families from the immigrant ship Minerva disembarked from the Government brig Victoria at Howick Beach. This being a government project, things did not proceed in an orderly fashion. Howick was the largest of the Fencible settlements, all made up of ex-soldiers still on call should trouble […]
Read more..November 15, 2024
1941: Blackout
By AHNZ
Until 1941 the first year or so of WW2 didn’t need to be a problem for a New Zealander. Up until mid-1940 there had even been a huge Centennial Exhibition to attend in Wellington for 6 months during which 2.6 million visitors ate fancy food and played games. Before that the German Ambassador himself was […]
Read more..November 8, 2024
1863: The Waka Buster
By AHNZ
Today in New Zealand history, 1 November, 1863 the Government’s streamer Lady Barkly set out from Onehunga on a capture/destroy mission on Manukau Harbour. The target was any and all uncontrolled transport craft, particularly Maori canoes: “Waka.” The crew returned on 6 November with 11 canoes in tow as well as a big stern post […]
Read more..November 1, 2024
1994: Attack on One Tree Hill
By AHNZ
One Tree Hill (aka Maungakiekie) is the most Anarchist of Auckland’s volcanic cones as you can tell from the name. By the time The State came along to claim its third capital (Sydney, Old Russell, Auckland, Wellington) it was too late to re-name it after William Hobson or anyone in his sovereignty start-up enterprise. But […]
Read more..October 28, 2024
1998: Bill Maher Hall
By AHNZ
Visitors to the West Coast passing down State Highway 6 a little south of Greymouth might rightly wonder why there is a Bill Maher Hall here. Of course you would resist the thought of it being named for the famous American commentator-commentator named Bill Maher. Except…there’s a huge cartoon on the building facing the road […]
Read more..October 14, 2024
1979: Operation Midford
By AHNZ
In 1979 New Zealand contributed 74 soldiers to a monitoring force in Rhodesia and 2 observing Members of Parliament. It was called Operation Milford. The country had been one of our colonial cousins and its Prime Minister (1953-8) Garfield Todd was a New Zealander himself. Under international sanctions, Rhodesia opted for self-deletion and became Robert […]
Read more..October 1, 2024
1963: Auckland Flying School
By AHNZ
Today in history, 28 September 1963, Jim Bergman established New Zealand’s first flying school since the old pioneering days of Wigrim and Walsh in the 1920s. Those schools had been promptly taken over by The State which left aviation innovation and participation to atrophy. Bergman rested his case on the everything which is not forbidden […]
Read more..September 28, 2024
