Articles in ‘History’

May 5, 1893 - US Stock Market Tumble Triggers Panic By the end of the year, 600 banks closed and several big railroads were in receivership. Another 15,000 businesses went bankrupt amid 20 percent unemployment. It was the worst economic crisis in U.S. history up to that time. Like most major financial downturns, the depression of the 1890s was preceded by a series of shocks that…

Nz’s First Poppy Day One Hundred Years Ago, on April 24th 1922, New Zealand held its first Poppy Day. It followed an international effort led by French woman, Madame Guérin who was a well-known touring lecturer and fundraiser, who split her time between living in the USA and France during the First World War. She was a director of the “American and French Children’s League”,…

The Spanish Flu The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that about…

The Napier Earthquake – Feb 3, 1931 On the morning of 3 February 1931, the air in Napier ‘had grown still and oppressive’ and the sea was ‘so calm and still’ and a ‘most peculiar colour’, (Wright, 2001). At about 10:47am an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck central Napier and Hastings causing widespread damage and resulting in the deaths of 256. For two and a…

The Commonwealth of Australia was founded on January 1st as six former British colonies became six states with Edmund Barton as the first prime minister. The commemoration was declared at a ceremony held in Centennial Park in Sydney, after a process of deliberation, consultation and debate involving majority votes across all of Australia. Not everyone was allowed to vote, however…

The first international war crimes tribunal in history revealed the true extent of German atrocities and held some of the most prominent Nazis accountable for their crimes. On October 18, 1945, the opening session of the first international war crimes trial in history took place in Berlin, Germany. Unable to find a suitable venue in the destroyed Nazi capital, the court soon…

A longstanding historic landmark built over 170 years ago with the hands of over 1000 men with a unique interior of both Maori and European design but also a sad history stands the Rangiatea Church in Otaki on the Kapiti Coast. Formally one of New Zealand’s oldest Maori Anglican churches, Rangiatea church was originally built in 1851 under the leadership of Chief Te Rauparaha and…

War is a barbaric evil stain on our past, but it happened, and the stories live on in its survivors and we owe it to them to retell and remember so that we never endure such suffering again. The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of…

With stunning views of Lake Tekapo and the Southern Alps on its doorstep sits another of New Zealand’s most photographed churches. The small Anglican church in the south island named The Church of The Good Shepherd. With intent to create a place of worship and as a memorial to the pioneers of Mackenzie Country, a successful appeal for funds was granted in October 1934 and was…

Imagine being stuck in a ‘foxhole’ in the ground as a raging battle in the air took place and bombs were exploding all around you. This is what my father Eugene Warwood endured during his Second World War service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force in Vanuatu’s Green Islands. Eugene was a Staff Sergeant, a cook with the RNZAF Radar Group supporting the New Zealand 3rd Division…

Few New Zealanders are unmoved on April 25th, ANZAC day, by the haunting sound of the lone bugle playing the Last Post and what it represents. Steeped in history and tradition it is ingrained into every Kiwi’s heart and everyone of us can share a story of what it means to us and our families. The custom dates from the 17th century or perhaps even earlier. It is believed to have…

Under a spreading chestnut-tree The village smithy stands; The smith, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands; And the muscles of his brawny arms Are strong as iron bands. Week in, week out, from morn till night, You can hear his bellows blow; You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, With measured beat and slow, Like a sexton ringing…

In the popular sea side town of Russell in the Bay of Islands is one of the country’s most popular and historic landmarks. Nestled amongst its prominent graveyard is home to New Zealand’s oldest surviving building, Christ Church. In the 19th century, Russell, then known as Kororareka was known as a rough sea port, popular with whalers. The land on which Christ Church sits was…

“A hundred immigrants just landed have been sent here. The Government found them lodgings and give them rations . . . till they can be sent forth to their own grants of land.”[^1] These were just some of the immigrants who had recently arrived as part of the Waikato Immigration Scheme.[^2] Between October 1864 and June 1865, thirteen ships arrived in Auckland with settlers from…

‘[This] has been the busiest, gloomiest and most exciting fortnight I have ever passed. The war has suddenly left Taranaki and broken out here.’[^1] So wrote Rev Vicesimus Lush, Anglican minister, in his journal on July 19th 1863. Only a month before, he had speculated that the fighting was not expected to ‘extend beyond the Taranaki.’ With war breaking out within his parish…

Traditions at Christmas time have a long and varied history. Many are steeped in custom and religious significance and while some vary between families, their beliefs and even between countries, others are universally celebrated in a manner recognised by all. Many a house around the world is decorated for the season with a Christmas tree laden with lights, ornaments and atop with…

Christmas Parades or Santa Parades as they’re more commonly referred to are parades held worldwide to celebrate the official opening of Christmas season with the arrival of Santa Claus. Typically, these parades include themed floats, dancing, marching groups and bands with accompanying Christmas songs. As moving floats there is usually a starting point as the parade moves…

Sitting high on a hill in the Awhitu Peninsula overlooking its dramatic backdrop of farmland, Lake Pokorua and the Tasman sea sits an iconic building dubbed by some as New Zealand’s most photogenic church. Kohekohe Church was designed in 1886 by Scottish emigrant, Captain Sir John Makgill, the founder of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Waiuku in the 19th century, and a…

Amnesty International has been called in to rule against a case involving the New Zealand government using manufactured corrupt documents to acquire freehold title land from an innocent white New Zealand farmer. This is the final part in a series on Allan Titford, claiming the farmer has been an innocent political prisoner since he opposed the Crown acquiring his freehold titled…

Around midnight on May 3rd 1916 in the pretty French village of Morbecque, Private James Stanton picked up his fountain pen and began to write on the first page of a canvas bound diary. “Now it’s my intention to keep a few notes of dates and occurrences… It’s started at a queer time in the night, but you see – my readers – I’m on guard and this is the way I’m filling in time…” …