In the late 1950s, a pioneering restaurant helped introduce Wellingtonians to ‘fine dining’ but faced the absurdity of New Zealand’s antiquated liquor laws

In 1951 Boyd Klap arrived in New Zealand as a Dutch migrant in his early 20s with his wife and brother. They were among the first of a wave of immigrants from the Netherlands who moved to New Zealand during the 1950s and 1960s. He soon realised that his specialised skills in tropical agriculture which had been honed during his term of military service in the Dutch East Indies were to be of little use in New Zealand and he began what was to become a life-long career in the insurance industry.  Many European migrant groups formed societies and associations during this period and one of the largest of these was the Wellington Dutch Club and Boyd was soon involved with its administration. The club was not only a social gathering point but also went a small way to try and replicate elements of  the hospitality scene of Europe that were lacking in New Zealand. Wellington at the time had few such options: restaurants served basic grills & roasts and serving alcohol was prohibited. Coffee and wine were virtually unobtainable (tea and beer were the dominant drinks) while pubs closed at 6pm after which the city emptied out.

Continue reading “The flowering of The Tulip” →

A remarkable 80 year old collection of letters and family trees detailing the genealogy of thousands of individuals descending from early European settlers of the Wellington Province has now been digitised and is available to view on Wellington City Recollect.

The 1930s saw both local and central government give increasing thought to how New Zealand might celebrate the 1940 centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.  The idea that there would be a grand centennial exhibition in the capital had been decided as far back as 1930 following an agreement between the Wellington City Council and the ‘United’ government of Prime Minister Joseph Ward. However, provincial centres across the country also wanted to mark the occasion so funds were raised for projects such as the planting of stands of native trees and the construction of community facilities such as centennial libraries, halls and Plunket rooms. In 1937 the Wellington Historical Committee was formed to come up with a different kind of  project to mark the occasion and Dr Guy Scholefield was appointed as its chairman. He had begun his professional life as a journalist, had written several books about New Zealand’s history and had a particular interest in biography, being the founder and editor of the Who’s Who series of publications from 1908.

Continue reading “New online genealogical resource: The Scholefield Papers” →

Previously only available in an online text form, one of the most useful and readable books about Wellington’s local history is now fully digitised on Wellington City Recollect.

The Streets of my City broke new ground when it was first published in 1948, presenting Wellington’s past through a tour of its streets and how they had been named. It was a radical departure from previous dry and somewhat pedestrian works of local history such as Alan Mulgan’s The City of the Strait (1939) and Louis Ward’s Early Wellington (1929). It was the culmination of years of work by one of Wellington’s most remarkable women from the first half of the 20th Century, F. L. (Fanny Louise) Irvine-Smith.

She was born in Napier on 10 September 1878 but her father died in an accident when she was only six-months old and the family moved to Wellington after her mother remarried. She attended Wellington Girls’ College from 1892 to 1895, then attended teachers’ college which began her life-long professional involvement in education. Her first teaching position was as a young intern at Fitzherbert Terrace School in Thorndon in 1897 (eventually to become Samuel Marsden Collegiate) when she was aged only 19 and she soon accepted a number of placements around the North Island. As she never married, Irvine-Smith was free of the social norms of the period that expected women to give up their careers upon marriage. She completed her teaching qualifications in New Plymouth in 1898, then returned to Wellington and enrolled at Victoria College (now Victoria University) where she studied part-time while continuing to teach, graduating with a B.A. in 1908. While there she also became the founding editor of the university review magazine, Spike which remained in publication for 60 years. She returned to the institution in 1920 where she completed a M.A in history; a rare achievement for women in this period.

Continue reading “‘The Streets of My City’: the Legacy of Fanny Irvine-Smith” →