Copyrighted Material
God Knows God
Where They Come From!
Knows Where They Come From!
Four Faith Stories from Hokitika Allan Davidson | Steve Lowe | Ted Schroder | Richard Waugh
Copyrighted Material Foreword This book is an appealing and special contribution to Hokitika’s 150th anniversary by four well-known members of the Hokitika diaspora. Our Churches have had an important role in our community from the founding year of 1864. The introductory chapter of this book helpfully describes the life of the early Churches in the goldfields and later nineteenth century environment. Over these 150 years the Churches contribution by way of worship, education, care for people at all stages of life, practical help, youth and community service has been invaluable. I can’t imagine Hokitika or any New Zealand community without such contribution. The four personal stories which describe such work are engaging, descriptive and informative and will be of interest well beyond our own locality. There are so many names of citizens – prominent and many long forgotten – who worked diligently, because of their faith, to promote good community wellbeing. Story-telling is part of the culture of us West Coasters. On behalf of our citizens I commend the co-authors Allan Davidson, Steve Lowe, Ted Schroder and Richard Waugh for all their efforts in writing and producing this special history. ‘God knows where they come from’ is a timely and unique contribution to Hokitika’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
Mayor Mike Havill Westland District Council
8
God Knows Where They Come From!
Copyrighted Material
1
Goldfields’ Religion:
Church Life in Hokitika in the Nineteenth Century and Beyond allan davidson
Great are the exertions of the miners, those pioneers of civilization, who struggle manfully against all the disadvantages which the nature of this coast, its climate and vegetation have placed in their way.1
Hokitika’s beginnings and growth centred around the goldfields and the needs of its miners. Officially gazetted as a port on 8 March 1865, one month later Julius von Haast, the Canterbury Provincial Geologist, described the town in this way: The principal street, half a mile long, consisted already of a large number of shops, hotels, banks and dwelling-houses, and appeared as a scene of almost indescribable bustle and activity. There were jewellers and watchmakers, physicians and barbers, hotels and billiard-rooms, eating and boarding-houses, and traders and professions of all descriptions.... Carts were unloading and loading, and sheep and cattle driven to the yards; there was shouting and bellringing, deafening to the passers-by; criers at every corner of the principal streets which were filled with people–a scene I had never before witnessed in New Zealand.2
But where were the churches and their ministers? While there were committed Christians among the early miners, the chief aspirations of those who came to Hokitika were material, not spiritual. Religious institutions often took some time to catch up with frontier settlements. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the inspiration for the New Zealand Company and planned settlement in early New Zealand, commented in 1849 critically on the Church of England’s tardiness in pioneering church extension among emigrants.
Goldfields’ Religion
9
Copyrighted Material
2
an anglican’s journey
From Hokitika to Florida: a Spiritual Odyssey ted schroder
The West Coast Times on 11 October 1873 carried the following announcement: MARRIED. DOWELL-JOHNSON – On the 8th of October, At All Saints’ Church, by the Ven. Archdeacon Harper, Bartholomew Dowell, of Durham, England, to Amelia, seventh daughter of Mr Robert Johnson, Hobart Town, Tasmania.
Bart and Amelia Dowell were my great-grandparents. Bart Dowell was born on 8 July 1836 in County Durham, England, and began to work in the coal mines at the age of eight years. In 1857 he went to Victoria, Australia, in the ship Sir William Eyre, landed in Melbourne, and proceeded to Ballarat. He followed the diggings for six years in different parts of Victoria, and then came to New Zealand in 1863 at the time of the Hartley and Riley rush in Otago. Bart Dowell was one of the lucky diggers on the Shotover, where he made £900 in the first three months. He afterwards travelled to Hokitika on the steamer Wallaby from Nelson, in November 1865. He bought the Butcher’s Arms Hotel in Revell Street, which he ran for thirteen years before acquiring a livery and bait stable (a place which both hired out and stabled travellers’ own horses) on Revell Street, containing seven stalls, four loose boxes, and standing room for a large number of vehicles. In 1903 Bart purchased the Salvation Army barracks adjoining his stables, and converted them into a residence. Eleven vehicles of various kinds and fourteen horses were employed in connection with the business. The stables
44
God Knows Where They Come From!
Copyrighted Material eventually became a motor garage, with coaches and taxis. He invested in the Maori Reserve Gold-mining Company in Kaniere and died in 1908.
The Dowells After his marriage to my great-grandmother, Amelia, for whom we named our younger daughter, the Dowells had thirteen children, of whom five sons and five daughters survived. They were Avery, Bart, Ethel Freebury, Nellie (married Sid Brooks, parents of Nancy Havill, whose son Durham is a leading citizen and former Mayor of Westland District Council), Amelia (married William Diedrichs of Kokatahi), Eddie, Annie, Durham (of the Albion Hotel, Greymouth), Pearl and my grandfather, Amos, who was born in 1892, whose first name is my middle name. Amos married Ethel Read in All Saints’ Church in 1912 and my mother, Phyllis, was born in 1913. When war was declared in 1914 Amos, a twenty-twoyear-old, signed up for the Canterbury Regiment and served in Gallipoli for one year and then in France for three years. He was wounded several times but returned to serve in the trenches for the duration of the war. Like his father, Amos must have possessed great courage and perseverance to survive. These qualities and tenacity are family traits that were passed on to his descendants. When he returned they had three more children: Eddie (married Mary), Lloyd (married Paula Fleming) and Jill (married Alister Manson and were very active members of All Saints’). As a result of Amos’ war service, I have made a study of the history of World War One, and in particular the battles in which my grandfather was engaged. My grandfather purchased the Central Hotel in 1922, which stood on the opposite corner to All Saints’ Vicarage. On his final illness and subsequent death at age forty six, my mother, Phyllis, took over running the hotel in 1935, and simultaneously married Carl Schroder in All Saints’ Church.
The Schroders My father was the grandson of Carl Frederick Schroder who was born in 1833 in Stettin, Prussia, and came to New Zealand in 1871 with my greatgrandmother Henrietta and their six children. My grandfather, Carl August, was born on 4 August 1870, in Gossentin, Pomerania, Prussia, married Martha Fane in Hokitika and died in 1944. They had seven children: Lydia, Frederick (married Elsie), Florence (married Jim Hall), Nellie (married Bob Cowan), Martha (married Theo Lynch), May (married Lou Schroder), Harold (married Edna) and my father, Carl, who was born in 1911. My sister, Carol, was born on 21 March 1938 (married Jim Havill), and they have three children, Julie-Ann, Belinda, and Michael. I was born 11 June 1941 and baptised in All Saints’ Church on 12 August 1941 by the Revd H.A. Childs.
An Anglican’s Journey
45
Copyrighted Material A very distant relative of mine, Arthur Benjamin, a proprietor of the newspaper, was a Jew, but he was the only one left in town – there had been a synagogue early in the town’s history. He used to bicycle around town with a parrot perched on his handlebars – quite a unique sight that a child would remember. When he died I went to his funeral. A rabbi came from Christchurch to bury him in a plain pine casket. It was hard for me to envisage people like Arthur Benjamin being treated so cruelly by Hitler and his henchmen. It all seemed so outrageous. My sense of the injustice of it all welled up when Corrie ten Boom came and spoke about her efforts to help the Jews, and what happened to her as a result. Corrie’s sister and her father died in the concentration camps. Corrie was spared through being released due to a clerical error. When the war was over she felt God calling her to share with people all over the world, the story of God’s love and forgiveness. That is how she came to be in my home-town on the opposite side of the world from her native country. After the meeting was over, I felt drawn to talk with this remarkable woman. I wanted to know more about the Jews, and the newly founded nation of Israel. I don’t remember exactly what I asked her, but I can still see her in my mind’s eye standing outside the entrance to All Saints’ Church talking to me. She asked me, ‘Have you received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?’ I stammered in reply, ‘Well, I have just been confirmed?’ I had approached confirmation with as much seriousness as could be mustered. Confirmation, to my precocious mind, was going to be God’s last chance to prove to me that this Christianity business was real, and not for the birds. I said to God, ‘Confirmation is your last chance to change me into the person you want me to be! If you don’t, I am going to throw in the towel!’ Needless to say I was an extremely opinionated fourteen-yearold. Confirmation had not changed me much, despite my efforts and those of a faithful pastor who instructed me. Corrie did not seem much impressed by my answer, and I went away with her question burning in my ears. Had I asked Jesus Christ into my heart, my inner life, and had I pledged my will to follow him as my Master?
Decision and Commitment to Christ The following Saturday night, I heard William Dunlap speak to a meeting of all the youth about Jesus’ gift of eternal life to all who believed in him and followed him. He quoted Revelation 3:20, ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me.’ Years later, I would be ordained in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London where Holman Hunt’s famous painting, entitled The Light of the World, portraying Jesus knocking on the door of the human heart, hung on the wall. The
52
God Knows Where They Come From!
Copyrighted Material Revd Dunlap asked us to invite Jesus into our hearts. That is exactly what I did in All Saints’ Hall that night. The next day was Sunday and the last day of the week of meetings. All those who had made decisions to follow Jesus were asked to come forward to the communion rail to publicly confirm their decision. I wasn’t about to do so until I saw an older boy whom I admired get up and go forward. I thought that if he could do it then so could I. Something happened to me. Jesus called it being born again of the Spirit. For the first time I discovered that Christianity was not a question of my trying to become a better person in my own strength, but a question of letting Jesus live out his life through me in the power of his Spirit. In the words of the title of one of J. Edwin Orr’s books, it was ‘Full Surrender’. Or as Corrie ten Boom said, ‘Don’t wrestle, just nestle.’ I was given the gift of faith. As St. Paul wrote, ‘For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.’ (Ephesians 2:8,9)
Change My spiritual life changed dramatically. I started reading my Bible and praying every day. I began rising early in the morning to meet with God. In the winter it was very cold and we did not have central heating. I would light the kerosene heater to take the nip out of the air in my bedroom, and try not to awaken the rest of my family. They must have thought that I was acting rather strangely. The Bible became an exciting book to me. I felt that God was speaking directly to me through it. I devoured it day after day. I became part of Crusaders, which met weekly for Bible study at school and conducted camps for high school students in the summer. I attended the tented camp at Titirangi Bay in the Marlborough Sounds all through high school, and then as a leader when I was at university. It was a rich experience of Christian fellowship and learning, in a beautiful setting on a remote sheep farm accessible only by boat. Twenty years later I was Dean of Christian Life at Gordon College in Massachusetts. The Baccalaureate speaker in 1976 was to be Corrie ten Boom. We gave her an honorary doctorate at Graduation Commencement the next day. I had the privilege of introducing her to the audience. We had not met since 1956. The fourteen-year-old boy was now thirty-four-years-old, married with a daughter. Corrie’s question outside All Saints’ Church began a sequence of events that led me from New Zealand to England for my theological studies and ordination in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, and on to the United States. It was hard for me to remain composed as I recounted to her the impact she had on my life with her witness and visit to Hokitika so many years before.
An Anglican’s Journey
53
Copyrighted Material
3
a presbyterian’s journey
Hokitika Foundations: – Family – Folk – Faith – allan davidson
I was born in March 1943 into a Presbyterian family with strong Scottish roots and links back to the early history of Hokitika. For my first nineteen years I lived in Hokitika, where St Andrew’s, also known as Scots’ Memorial Church, and its people figured prominently in my growing up; they were a formative influence on my life.
Family Roots in Scotland and Hokitika My great grandparents, George and Mary Davidson, arrived in Hokitika on 4 May 1865 on the paddle steamer, City of Dunedin. Sixteen days later, on its next voyage from Wellington to Hokitika, the vessel disappeared with the loss of all on board, a reminder of the vagaries of travel at that time. George Davidson came from Aberdeenshire and was baptised in the Church of Scotland at King Edward on 9 April 1838. A treasured book in my possession is a Concordance given to George before he left Scotland, with the inscription, ‘Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth’. It is very likely George sailed from Scotland in November 1862 on the Arima, where he met his future wife, Mary Brown. Mary came from Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway. On her voyage to New Zealand she kept a diary (published in 1978 under the now misleading title, Coming Out!) faithfully recording the sixteen ‘Sabbaths’ that she spent on board. In her third Sunday entry she refers to the minister of her home parish of Sheuchan, the Revd George Sherwood, who was a Free Church of
66
God Knows Where They Come From!
Copyrighted Material
Mary and George Davidson (on the right) arrived in Hokitika in May 1865. Three of their four children are shown here: Mary, Duncan and George (the author’s grandfather). ALLAN DAVIDSON COLLECTION
Scotland minister. Among her belongings was a volume of sermons inscribed by ‘her affectionate Aunt Mary Wilson’. For George and Mary, like so many nineteenth-century migrants, the voyage to New Zealand was a one-way journey leaving family behind who they would never see again. They arrived in Port Chalmers in March 1863. A ‘Mary Brown’ is listed as a communicant member of First Church, Dunedin, in 1863 and a ‘George Davidson’ in 1864; it is very likely they were my great grandparents. George and Mary were married on 11 November 1864 in the First Church Manse by the founding Dunedin minister, the Revd Dr Thomas Burns. The Hokitika at which George and Mary arrived in May 1865 (it was only gazetted as a port on 8 March 1865) was a bustling gold-mining community, described by Philip Ross May in Hokitika: Goldfields Capital and colourfully in Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries. My great grandfather tried his hand at mining but within a year he established a foundry. Two of his sons, George, my
A Presbyterian’s Journey
67
Copyrighted Material
Celebrating the 21st birthday for the 4th Westland Boys’ Brigade Company in the RSA Supper Room, 1961. Mrs Elva Reynolds is standing and her husband, Winston, is on her right. The Company’s Captain, Stanley (Stan) Doyle, is seated near the open door, with the Company Chaplain, the Revd Albert Grundy, on his right. Allan Davidson (with glasses) is sitting in front of Stanley Doyle. ALLAN DAVIDSON COLLECTION
Westland-Buller Presbyterian Bible Class Easter Camp, held at the old hospital, Ross, c.1956/57. Allan Davidson is seated on the front left. ALLAN DAVIDSON COLLECTION
82
God Knows Where They Come From!
Copyrighted Material year old putting on glasses for the first time, I discovered a whole world I had been missing. My eye problems and my slow maturation (I was the smallest boy in the third form) contributed to my below-average academic achievement. I failed School Certificate on the first attempt but was successful the second time, although with a low mark in English my future study prospects were not great. In 1960 I left school and was employed as a public servant in the office at Seaview Psychiatric Hospital. My own narrow church world was suddenly exposed, through contact with some six hundred staff and patients. My immediate boss, Peter Tinetti, was a Catholic, a St Mary’s rugby player, a West Coast representative, whose friendship and good humour challenged many of my prejudices. The sudden death of the hospital storeman and his funeral at St Mary’s was the first time I entered a Catholic Church. The hospital was ‘up the hill’, a euphemism for the ‘lunatic asylum’ or the ‘looney bin’, as we children called it, without any understanding or sensitivity. Some of the patients had been in the hospital since the early years of the century. Seaview was like a village, with its farm, bakery, butchery, store, fire station and workshops. Attendant care was giving way to the professionalisation of nursing training and, with new drugs, a much more open-door philosophy. I was encouraged to begin the exams for the Chartered Institute of Secretaries in preparation for what I thought would be a lifelong career in the public service.
Offering and Training for Ministry Life changed for me, however, when I visited Thor Pedersen one evening. He asked if I had ever considered entering the Presbyterian ministry. While teaching Bible Class, acting as an officer in the Boys’ Brigade and undertaking lay preaching, I had given this some thought. He accompanied me to Christchurch to meet with three of the ‘fathers’ of the national church: the Very Revd Dr J.D. Salmond, the Revd Ralph Byers and the Revd J.M. Bates. They recommended me for training, provided I passed University Entrance. In 1962, with assistance from the Correspondence School, I successfully achieved this goal. Part-time study early in the morning and in the evening, alongside full-time work made for a very busy life, but I learnt study skills that have served me well. I was following in the footsteps of Arthur Mitchell, the only other person from Hokitika to train for the Presbyterian ministry. Arthur left school at the end of the fourth form. After working for three years he returned aged nineteen to Hokitika District High School and passed School Certificate and was accredited University Entrance before going to University. The Presbyterian Church required students to undertake degree study before embarking on their theological education. Because Knox College in Dunedin
A Presbyterian’s Journey
83
Copyrighted Material Simon Ladd and their children, Kaia and Sam, Conor and Cormac, they are an important part of our lives. Margaret has been my companion on my journey and shared so many experiences with me. She continues to be my rock. My original calling was to serve as a parish minister. The move to become an academic, training people for ministry and teaching for thirty-five years about the history of Christianity was not planned. The sense of call to ministry I experienced as a young man in Hokitika grew out of the Christian nurture and challenges I received. My becoming a church historian was an evolving process, but always an ongoing expression of my vocation as a minister. It has been my privilege to explore and share with students how the Christian faith and the church as an institution developed over centuries in different contexts. All of this started in Hokitika where my roots go deep. Over the years, my mother kept me in contact with what was going on in the church and community through her weekly letters. While they were alive and when I was in New Zealand, I would return two or three times a year to visit my parents, relatives and church friends. My father died in 1993 and my mother in 2001. Their funerals, held at St Andrew’s, were celebrations of lives lived well. For my father, his request that his coffin be taken to the cemetery on the old fire engine honoured his service to the Fire Brigade. The bagpipes playing as his body left the church and as it was lowered into the grave honoured his strong Scottish associations. With my mother’s death, my closest connections with Hokitika were severed. Unlike Māori who know wherever they are in the world they have a marae to call home, the nearest place I have to a tūrangawaewae is the Hokitika Cemetery. There my parents rest among close family, relatives and friends. The Christian faith in which I was nurtured, the influences of people and place have contributed to who I am and what I have done. I am proud to be a fourth-generation Coaster, even though, like so many, I have moved away. But the Coast and its people are still a part of me and who I have become.
✠
94
God Knows Where They Come From!
Copyrighted Material
4
a methodist’s journey
Nurtured by faith to make a difference richard waugh
Growing up at St Paul’s Methodist Church in Hokitika I learnt to love God, love the church and value community service. The congregation was small, yet the people’s commitment was strong, family fellowship was warm, children and young people were nurtured well. Those years shaped my early life and faith, and later influenced my choice of ministry vocation.
Faith and Family To reflect on my faith journey I need to go back before I was born. Both my parents had Christian upbringings. My mother, Jean Mary Lowe, was born an only child in Manchester, England, in March 1927. Her father, James Lowe, had been a World War One soldier and his side of the family was Methodist for generations. His eighteenth-century forebears welcomed the Revd John Wesley’s preachers to their village and helped establish a new congregation. James was musical; he loved playing the piano and singing. Mum used to say her father probably knew his Methodist Hymn Book better than his Bible. Sadly, I never met him but his Christian name is my middle name. Mum’s mother, Louisa Mary Lowe (Woolgar), grew up in India and served in World War One as a nurse. During my mother’s childhood, the effects of the economic depression were keenly felt by her family and Louisa was often ill. At the age of ten, Mum felt God’s presence to be very real and this was reinforced some years later when, as a teenage evacuee from wartime bombing raids, she experienced Jesus being especially close to
A Methodist’s Journey
95
Copyrighted Material Nelson. One summer I also worked for the Hotel Workers’ Union in Nelson, which helped keep me earthed to a broad spectrum of people and issues. Maybe because of my lack of tertiary qualifications, I worked especially hard and achieved my Licentiate in Theology (L.Th.) in 1983 and the following year my Scholar in Theology (S.Th.), both from the Joint Board of Theological Studies. My thesis for the S.Th. was ‘Expressions of Ecclesiology’ in which I surveyed and examined the theologies of five different churches in the Auckland area, including Pentecostal and Catholic. This study helped me further appreciate the rich diversity in the wider church. I met my wife, Jane St George, at St John’s College while her parents, Doug and Ruth, were training for Anglican ministry. The St George family were the The Revd Richard and Jane Waugh at Richard’s ordination in New Plymouth, November 1985. first Volunteer Service Abroad WAUGH COLLECTION (VSA) family sent overseas from New Zealand, to Tonga, in the early 1970s. They were, like my own family, committed to the church and service to others. Jane and I were married in August 1983 at St Paul’s Methodist Church in Remuera after she completed her architectural draughting qualification. She has been a loving and highly competent partner in ministry with me over the years. We have three children; Simon, Theresa and Kristie. Our first probationary appointment was to the Ashhurst-BunnythorpePohangina Methodist Parish in the Manawatu from 1984 to 1988, along with a supply ministry at the Marton church. The small town and rural nature of the area reminded me of the West Coast. My pastoral work included visiting many homes and periphery families, some community work, and helping to organise
118
God Knows Where They Come From!
Copyrighted Material the refurbishment of the church properties. They were busy years. During this time, I was ordained in 1985 at the annual Methodist Church Conference held at New Plymouth. The same year, I began extra-mural B.A. studies in New Zealand History and Religious Studies from Massey University. I cherished and much enjoyed this learning experience beyond theological college. In 1988 the Methodist stationing committee moved us to Henderson, in West Auckland where I took responsibility for the Henderson and Massey congregations. This appointment meant Jane could undertake fulltime degree studies at the University of Auckland’s School of Architecture. She graduated with honours in 1991, and her architectural skills have been well used in the wider church since. Having completed my B.A. degree, we decided I needed further equipping for the demands of ministry in the future. With the church’s support, I did an Executive Masters’ Degree in Business Administration (M.B.A.) at the University of Auckland in 1992 and 1993. The programme was intense and demanding and was in addition to my usual fulltime church duties. I was one of the few students from the not-for-profit sector, and had to translate many of the insights and teaching to suit the church context. There was much to learn, especially in subjects such as strategic planning, marketing, and finance, which had not been part of my theological education. My thesis was on clergy recruitment and described how the church needs to recruit gifted people across a broad age range. The M.B.A. had immediate benefits, as I chaired the Henderson and Districts 150th community celebrations in 1993-1994. Many well-attended public events were organised and my ministry took on a community leadership role that led me to briefly consider local body politics. I did serve as one of the founding trustees of the Waitakere City Council-owned Corban Winery Estate Trust, which was being developed into a community facility. While I had experience working with volunteers and team situations, the management degree gave me confidence and new skills in organising, planning and how to seek funding for various non-profit projects. Such equipping was to be beneficial for future community work and church leadership.
Aviation Ministry From 1990, I became actively involved researching and writing about New Zealand aviation history. With a background of collecting such material since the late 1970s, my interest in aviation was no doubt influenced by my early experiences on the West Coast. On my Mondays away from pastoral responsibilities, I spent a couple of years researching and editing my late father’s aviation manuscript. It was about his R.A.F. wartime flying and post-war pioneer flying around the South Island. I contacted a myriad of people, searching for photographs and
A Methodist’s Journey
119
Copyrighted Material committee that is planning some of the bicentenary events of Christianity in New Zealand. The Wesleyan Methodist Churches in the South Pacific created a regional conference in 2012 and I was appointed inaugural President, which gives me further church involvement in our wider region. Over the years, I have become involved in the World Methodist Council and World Methodist Historical Society, and in early 2014 was appointed by World Methodist Evangelism as their Regional Secretary for the South Pacific region. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to share the evangelistic imperative of the Great Commission with many Methodist churches in our region, as we work together to make a difference. Over twenty-five years ago a Māori proverb came to have deep meaning to me. ‘Whāia te iti kahurangi; ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei.’ It translates, ‘Seek the treasure you value most dearly [or Strive for all those goals in life]; should you ever be bowed down, let it be to the loftiest mountain.’ This indigenous proverb helpfully sets the stage for Paul’s encouraging words from Philippians 3:13b-14; ‘But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’
✠
126
God Knows Where They Come From!
Copyrighted Material
5
a catholic’s journey
So I leave my boats behind... steve lowe
I was born in Hokitika in 1962. On the international scene, 1962 was the year the world held its breath as the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolded and the Beatles released their first hit, Love me Do. In the Catholic Church, 1962 saw the start of the Second Vatican Council, while in New Zealand Peter Snell broke the world records for the mile and 800-metre events. The changes in the world and Catholic Church set the background of my formative years in Hokitika, and for my life beyond Hokitika.
A growing immigrant family and faith community In 1868, two brothers, Michael and Peter McCormack, arrived in Hokitika from County Clare in Ireland, seeking gold. Michael McCormack became my great-grandfather. Like many of the Irish Catholic immigrants of that time, the two brothers came from a poor background and there is no information about them before their arrival in New Zealand. Undoubtedly they were hoping for a new beginning and a brighter future. What they did bring with them was their cultural identity and their Catholic faith. Things Irish and an Irish brand of Catholicism were to be important influences for the new land in which they settled and, 100 years later, in my early years. Hokitika literally began in a rush. By the time the McCormack brothers arrived the number of Catholic immigrants in Hokitika and the surrounding goldfields had already necessitated the construction of a church and the appointment of
A Catholic’s Journey
127
Copyrighted Material visiting our house when I was small, but the assistant priest I remember is Fr Paul Duggan, who was the last Irish priest to come to the Diocese of Christchurch. At playtime he would take on the whole school in soccer. He was also the priest who trained me as an altar boy. When he was being farewelled, on his transfer to the Cathedral Parish in Christchurch, he told the gathered crowd, in front of Bishop Ashby, that it was like being sent from heaven to purgatory! Fr Noel Consedine followed him and he was the last curate stationed in Hokitika. One of the duties of being an altar boy was serving weekday, as well as Sunday morning Masses. Mass was celebrated at 6.45am so the Sisters of Mercy could attend Mass before breakfast and school. It was my early experiences of serving Altar boys Mark Davidson and Steve Lowe (right) about to lead the Sisters weekday Masses that gave me my love of from the convent across the road to St the Mass. I always felt better having been Mary’s Church for a Mass to mark the closure of St Mary’s convent in October to Mass, even though in winter it meant 1975. S. LOWE COLLECTION a cold bike ride home for breakfast up Hampden Street, battling against the chill wind coming off the mountains. Another feature of going to St Mary’s Primary School was our exposure to death. Occasionally we would all go to a funeral as a school, or form a guard of honour. If a funeral procession went past when we were near the school gates we had to take off our caps and stand still. When Sr Peg Flaherty’s father died, we all went over to the beautiful Gothic chapel at St Columbkille’s convent to pay our respects. This was the first time I ever saw a body! As altar boys we were given time off school to serve funerals. Again, this was an important time of sowing seeds for me and I have never had a fear of death. Even as a boy, while serving at funerals, I remember having an overwhelming sense of the goodness and mercy of God, who even leads us through death’s dark veil. Of course, it was also a bonus when serving a funeral if some money was left for the altar boys ‘to buy an ice cream’! While I was at primary school, a new presbytery was built. At the time, it was envisaged that Hokitika would serve Ross and even South Westland Parishes,
140
God Knows Where They Come From!
Copyrighted Material so it was built for three priests and a live-in housekeeper. Filling this role were Margaret and Bill Rouse. As the parish was paying off the new presbytery, the grounds in front and behind the church were planted in potatoes as a fundraiser. The new presbytery, however, proved too big. Hokitika lost its curate at the beginning of 1975 and plans for the Ross and South Westland priest to move to Hokitika never came to pass. Across the road, the roll at St Mary’s High School was declining and the decision was made to close the High School at the end of 1973. With the High School no longer being used and the St Columbkille Convent buildings being so old, a decision was made for the Sisters to move across the road to the presbytery. This meant several major shifts for the parish. The first was to build a second, smaller presbytery. It was built behind the church, on the corner of the Stafford and Tancred Streets, where the St Mary’s Rugby clubrooms were located. To create enough accommodation for the Sisters at the presbytery site, the infirmary building from the old convent was moved across the road. The ten sisters moved from their convent built in 1878 to a much more modern convent,
The interior of St Mary’s Church on the day of Fr Steve Lowe’s sister Dorothy’s wedding to Mike Holling on 5 April 1975. Steve is the altar server at left. The four statues are still in their original colours before being antiqued, the marble altar rails and pulpit are still in place. The original wooden altar is in front of the wedding party and the celebrant is Fr Bill Costigan. S. LOWE COLLECTION
A Catholic’s Journey
141
Hi Ellie
Copyrighted Material
Further to our discussion about “God Knows…” book, PROOFS can be sent in due course to m and to Allan:: • Richard Waugh 80 Highland Park Drive Howick Auckland 2010 Ph 09 5339400 • Revd Dr Allan Davidson, 2/6 Marua Road Ellerslie Auckland 1051 Ph 09 5280865
Re front cover, you will see in photo 4.6 a complete colour front view of the old Methodist Chur and it shows a distinctive roundel above the front centre cross. You might see if you can add tha to the front cover photo. DONE
In subsequent emails I will forward the first text and some electronic photos. Today I will by cou rier send you photos for chapters 2 (Ted) and 4 (mine).ARRIVED. Chapters 1 (Goldfields) and (Allan) will likely come later today or tomorrow. ARRIVED
photo 2.6 for “God Knows”. We only need the two centre men (others can be cropped out) and t photo needs to be flipped as it is back to front! DONE
‘HALL MOVING 1972’ This is a photo of the Methodist Hall moving past the Catholic Church 1972. It could be used somewhere toward the end of the book, even in the index area. The capti is at the end of the captions for my chapter (4) that I will be sending. DONE Please use the Westland District Council logo and signature as per “Waugh Stories” DONE It would be good to use the Gold Rush 150 logo somewhere creatively in the early part of the is book – contents page perhaps? DONE pic 1-1 aerial view of hokitika sent via wetransfer DONE
from allan davidson: I’m enclosing the illustrations for God Knows Where They Come From! for chapters one DONE and three and the Afterword. DONE Some of the illustrations are on th enclosed USB memory stick.DONE – I’m also enclosing a hard copy of the text for the captions. I’ve also included this on the memo NEW stick. PUBLICATION – There is one photo still to come to hand – 1.11 This will be sent on to you as soon as possible. DONE god for theknows Where They Come From! – There are restrictions on the editing or altering of the photos accessed from public repositorie A minister with an international ministry, a formator of priests, a national 150th1.2,Hokitika 1.6, 1.8, church leader,1.10. and a distinguished church historian – all from Hokitika on
Gold Rush the isolated West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Attached is the photo of St Mary’s Hokitika built in 1866 - this is to be anniversary Growing up in Hokitika, these four were profoundly influenced by four distinct
photo 1.5 (according to my list) Please use this reference: Marist Archives Wellington: PSC
Christian streams – Anglican, Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian – in local 93/7024/178A DONE churches with gold rush beginnings.
In this unique book (clockwise from top left); the Revd Ted Schroder, the Revd Available from Dr Richard Waugh QSM, the Revd Father Steve Lowe, and the Revd Dr Allan Craigs Design and Print Ltd Davidson ONZM, tell their stories in thoughtful www.craigprint.co.nz ways – sociologically and theologically – about how their faiths were shaped and developed by their own church traditions in a small town context, and reflect on their continuing ministries.
168
God Knows Where They Come From!