Number 42 December 2016

In 1857 a young man by the name of David Galletly arrived in Lincoln from Perth in Scotland and took up land along what is now Birches Road. As well as breaking in his block of land he also worked for the Deans brothers in what is now Riccarton. Lincoln obviously was a commuter town even then. He built a sod house behind the present day vet clinic and after 2 years his wife, Mary joined him.

They had 13 children and they all needed educating. Luckily another early settler by the name of Mrs Tod felt the same way and in conjunction with the Presbyterian Church, in 1858 she opened the first Lincoln School in her house in East Belt. Soon the role became too big for her front room, so the classes moved into the nearby church in 1863 with a roll of 9 pupils. The teacher also lived in the church so the pupils learned with all his personal belongings tucked away in the corner.

This could not continue so in 1865 a school was built on this present site of the manual rooms, on land donated by the Tod family. There was no ventilation to this school except through a window and a door. And so it continued this way for a number of years with a small role which fluctuated according to the seasons with general farm work keeping many pupils home. One school inspector actually reported that ‘the school was bound to fail’. Education in the late 1800’s was not free and the fee of 1/- a child, or 10c per child in today’s language, per week must have been a burden for large families to keep paying and so when an extra farm-hand was required it was considered OK to bring in the unpaid child labour.

By 1875 the school building had become what I knew in 1947.Along with a school room, there was also a house for the headmaster. In the meantime, the Galletly family was steadily growing, their eldest daughter was Margaret and along with her siblings she would have walked along the unformed road. Well Margaret grew up and she eventually married Andrew Robertson Brown, also a native of Perth. He was a carpenter He also had the job of driving the doctors horse and trap when the medical gent had had one or two too many ‘snifters’ and was called out at night. The equivalent of the ‘sober driver’. The Browns had 4 children and their eldest daughter was Jeannie who of course came to school here. On the event of her marriage she moved away but illness struck the family so their eldest daughter Vera was sent to live with her Granny Margaret Brown. Vera eventually married a Motukarara farmer named Jim Blanche and settled there. When their youngest son was ready for High School, he came to Lincoln District High School, which was under the jurisdiction on the Primary School Headmaster. There Max met the girl who would eventually become his wife (me) and I had started at Lincoln School at the age of 5. We had 3 children, who all attended school here and our eldest, Kaye, sent her 2 children to Lincoln, and her daughter Danielle now has her daughter Trudi Middleton attending. That is 7 generations of one family to wear the Lincoln colours.

Lincoln Primary School 150 year’s celebration

Margaret Morrish planting a tree to remember Lincoln Primary School’s 150th Anniversary

Lincoln and Districts Historical Society

What changes would this family have seen in the last 150 years? The most obvious is of course the growth of Lincoln and districts and the size of the school. From Mrs. Tod’s roll of 9 to today’s 575. Certainly the early pioneers never dreamt of anything like this when they laid out the plans for the ‘village of Lincoln’ and Mr. Fitzgerald named all the streets after family members, ironically, only male relatives were honoured this way. In 1904 there were enough pupils interested in a higher education and so a District High School was established which closed for lack of pupils in 1918, a casualty on WW1. In 1945 it reopened with a role of 45, WW2 was over and families were moving into the district and it was fast becoming a commuter town. Pupils travelled to both schools by bus, bike or walked and even some on their ponies. There was no convoy of cars delivering pupils into the class rooms.

History books can tell us what it was like to be taught in the 19th and early 20th century, I can tell you what it was like from 1947. When I was delivered to school by my parents, and that was the one and only time that happened, I was greeted by the kindest of infant mistresses. Her name was Miss Walters and at the 100 years celebrations she still remembered all our names. The infant room was one half of the school. It was heated in the winter by a large open fire which we all sat around for reading. No body fell in or got burnt. Separating the two halves of the school were the cloakrooms, the other classroom housed the older pupils and this room had a curtain separating the older from the younger classes. Of course we soon outgrew these conditions and a new school was built, the one which was pulled down just a short time ago to

President: Dr Rupert Tipples 3295 634Secretary: Kirsty Brown 3252 237Editors for this edition: Dr Rupert Tipples 3295 634

make way for the 2 storied block now gracing the sou-east corner of the school grounds. While awaiting the completion of these very modern classrooms, the Presbyterian Church Hall again came into use and we would be walked around to attend classes. Most girls had long hair in plaits and it was quite an achievement for some boys to tie 2 sets of hair ribbons together and enjoying the spectacle of 2 girls trying to go in different directions but restrained by their hair. Are you here today Derek Moir? While attending a class in the Sunday School I witnessed a rather nasty accident, our teacher was tying a carrot to the rafters in a science experiment when she fell through the seat of the chair. What pain she must have been in and callous little beggars that we were, we all laughed. The new classrooms gave us all a sense of superiority, Lincoln was the first in the district to have what was to become the normal type of buildings, big wide verandahs with folding doors opening out, lots of light and fresh air. Classes were big, anything from 40 to 45 pupils were the norm and desks were set in neat rows facing the blackboard and the teacher.

Teachers were armed....with weapons of choice. They were respected, obeyed and were never addressed by any other title than ‘sir’ or ‘Miss or Mrs’ so and so. The weapons were,--- by male teachers the cane or more commonly ‘the strap’. A piece of leather approximately 4cm by 40cm swung with force across the upturned palm of the miscreant (or on some occasions, across the seat of the pants). Not usually used by female teachers but one, who shall remain nameless used it whenever a pupil, boy or girl got a spelling word wrong. One slap for each wrong word. Believe me, you soon learned to spell. Incidentally when my children attended here the same lady was still keeping strict control of her class, but not with the strap any more-- but she did have trouble keeping her cigarette ash off the piano keys. Some straps even had names, one I recall was ‘Charles Dickens’ and used to hang over the corner of the blackboard. Another very lethal weapon was--- the blackboard duster, a pad of felt backed by wood and it hurt, as did a piece of chalk. Thrown with great accuracy you really knew when it met its target. Let us spare a thought though for the teachers of 100 years ago. Long before my time! They had rules too.

Rules for female teachers 19151. You will not marry during your term of contract2. You are not to keep company with men3. You must be home between the hours of 8pm and 6am, unless attending a school function4. You may not loiter downtown in ice-cream stores5. You may not travel beyond the city limits without the permission of the chairman of the board6. You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother7. ‘You may not smoke cigarettes8. You may not dress in bright colours9. You may in no circumstances dye your hair10. You must wear at least 2 petticoats.11. Your dress must not be shorter than 2 inches, that is 4 cm, above the ankle12. To keep the school clean you must—sweep the floor least once a day, scrub the floor at least once a week, clean the blackboard at least once a day and start the fire at 7am so the room will be warm by 8am.

And on top of that, female teachers were paid less than half of their male equivalent. There was one other person that almost every student was terrified of. She ruled supreme in a small room at the western end of the ‘new’ school. Always dressed in white and wearing a stiff fly-away veil, when she walked into the class room we all tried to become invisible. She was the school dental nurse. The trouble was not that she was about to peer into your mouth, but the fact she may find a cavity and that meant---a filling. If your name was called at the beginning of the day, it was not so bad but by the end of the day she was getting weary and her pedaling leg was getting tired. You see the drill was powered by ‘pedal power’ and it ground away relentlessly, occasionally grinding to a stop only for her leg to give a jerk and start up again. The dental room was universally called ‘the murder house’

Uniforms, yes we had a uniform, not as strictly enforced as today, but a uniform never the less. Girls were clad in gym frocks, black back in the 50’s, and worn with a white shirt and tie; boys- grey shorts, summer and winter. We were a hardy bunch then. For phys ed, us girls had to wear---rompers. There is no doubt that they were mainly hated, but modesty prevailed. The games we played were not hugely different from today. During lunch time we had ‘all across’. Then someone renamed it ‘bull rush’ and suddenly it became dangerous. I don’t ever recall anyone getting seriously injured other than the odd bruise. We learned to be fairly self-sufficient and self-reliant. Perhaps the ‘milk in schools’ had something to do with it. That calcium intake was meant to give us strong bones but first you had to get your head and taste buds around the definite ‘off ’ taste and smell because the milk, in glass bottles, was delivered early in the morning into the open stand situated at the James Street entrance, in full sunlight. By the time the ‘milk monitor’ collected it, it had taken on a whole new persona and a thick wad of cream on the top! In my early days at school we had cocoa drinks as well in the winter months---at least it got more milk into us! I think the general consensus to cancel the milk scheme was probably bought on by that almost off milk we had to consume. Luckily today it is better controlled. And we had school gardens too. Isn’t it amazing how things go around in circles?

A high light of each year was the school picnic. Scarborough Beach was a favourite. A ride in the tram, down to the sands, an ice cream and we were in heaven. Going to Scarborough was quite an adventure in those days as petrol rationing although finished, was still very much in the minds of our parents. Another annual event was, the school concert. We rehearsed for weeks getting everything word perfect, costumes were pretty basic, excitement was at fever pitch on the night in the old Lincoln Hall as the resident mice and birds beat a hasty retreat. The whole school was involved. No matter how rehearsed though, junior pupils inevitably looked for Mum and Dad in the audience and franticly waved. My debut into the lights was as a waddling duckling. Strangely I cannot recall other concerts, except for singing, but I do remember that shuffle across the stage.

Swimming lessons were in the school pool, shared for a few of my early years, with colonies of frogs and tadpoles. The water was a bit green. The original pool was created around 1895/1900 and was filled from the water race on Boundary Road. By 1948 the pool was decreed to be unusable and when a working bee repaired and rebuilt the pool we were in 7th heaven, 25 yards of clean, aquatic life free water which was teeth chattering cold whenever the pool was emptied and cleaned. It took a few days to warm up to a level which did not induce hypothermia. Most of us at least learned the rudiments of swimming.

I look back on the years spent here on these high school and the primary school grounds as among the happiest of my life. The friends made here, are still my friends. To the pupils of today, I know you were wondering ‘who is this old girl talking to us’ and that is OK, but I hope from today you will take on board this,

Lincoln Primary School and Mrs Wolfe’s House 1920s

Editorial

In my first issue as sole editor we mark two recent Lincoln anniversaries – 150 years of Lincoln Primary School and 140 years of Lincoln Baptist Church, and also the passing of our Patron and founding President, Dr Neville Moar, who died on June 1. Alison Barwick, who had known him for many years in the Society, and worked with him on some of his publications has written his obituary. While Neville’s presence is no longer with us his writings are still being published. In the next issue his last article on a German migrant, John Gerken of Tai Tapu, will appear. His book Fitzgerald’s Town is no longer in print. He left his many resources to the Society and it is our plan, with the help of his daughter Joanne, to publish a second edition of his book as an e-book, with more photos from the Society’s extensive collection, as a tribute.

At the time of the Lincoln Baptist Church celebration (October), an article appeared in Faces, the magazine of the Canterbury-Westland Baptist Association, which is reproduced in this issue with minor editing to account for it now being after the event. We thank Faces and its editor, Barbi Larkins, for permitting its reproduction.

Rupert Tipples.

always be proud of your school, be proud of your uniform and be proud of yourself. If you respect your teachers, they will respect you and you will, in turn, have self- respect. When you finally are let loose on the world you will look back and realize that of all your teachers there will probably be only 3 or 4 who mold you into the person you have become and you will not be aware of who they are until you enter your 3rd or 4th decade.

There are days when you hate having to crawl out of bed, put on the red and green and face the lessons, but believe me, it is worth it. You are being educated now for jobs that have not even been invented, so cram in every bit of knowledge you can. Before your time, President John Kennedy of the USA said in his inauguration speech ‘Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country’. Perhaps we should say, ‘Ask not how these teachers impress me, but how I can impress them’ hold your heads up high, and say proudly, I am a pupil of Lincoln School.

Speech delivered by Beverley Blanche (née Bissett) at the celebrations.

The Genealogy of a Church

The story begins with Communion. Nine men gathered together to break bread and share a vision for a small farming community. The next day, they and their families met in what was the first service of a Baptist church in Lincoln. The date was 25 September 1876. For the 140th anniversary of Lincoln Baptist Church, long-time member, Rupert Tipples, has been researching its history. Rupert retired in 2014 from his 38-year career as lecturer at Lincoln University. He enjoys research because it combines the skills he used on the job with a hobby. In order to put together the pieces of the church’s past, Rupert relied on a number of sources. Church minute books dated back to the earliest beginnings in 1876, although books from 1912 – 1950 were missing. Rupert supplemented this information by searching historic issues of The Canterbury Evangelist, now known as The Baptist.

Lincoln and Districts Historical Society wishes all members a Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year. Nga mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou.

Rupert established contact with descendants of the church’s founders, interviewing them and researching their memories for information on the church’s early years and the people involved.

Serving a Community Beyond MeasureOne of the most notable of these people was Thomas Pannett. In 1868, the Presbyterian Church in Lincoln offered a non-sectarian Sunday School. Thomas Pannett was its first superintendent, a title he would hold in one way or another for 51 years. By the 1870s, the Presbyterians wanted to offer their own Sunday School. A handful of Baptists had been meeting in a house church in the home of Charles Storey. These families formed the basis of a new Baptist church in Lincoln, with the support of the newly formed Canterbury Baptist Association. J.S. Clarke was appointed as pastor, not only of the new church at Lincoln, but also of a Baptist church on Lincoln Road, a church now known as South West Baptist. J.S. Clarke pastored both churches jointly.

Founding members Thomas Pannett Senior, James Osborne, Charles Storey, James Wolfe and J.S. Clarke met together to establish the church constitution and rules of membership, including provision for a church meeting “to be held in the months of March, June, September and December on a Tuesday nearest preceding the full of the moon”. While scheduling church meetings on moon phases is a more colourful piece of Lincoln Baptist history, Rupert Tipples points out that for a farming area in an era before electric lights, the provision was probably based on common sense. Thomas Chivers, a Sunday School teacher at Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, made land available to the fledgling church, a free gift as long as the church could pay the legal expenses. A wooden chapel was built and dedicated by Oxford Terrace Baptist Church pastor, Charles Dallaston, in February 1877. Three hundred people attended the opening service. The little wooden chapel in Lincoln was home to Lincoln Baptist Church until 1981. Prior to the church’s move to Lincoln Community Centre, members recall the practise of the men who stood at the back of the church in order to feed the log burner. The service would be designated as either a ‘one’ or ‘two block of wood’ sermon, depending on who was preaching that day and how long the service was expected to run.

Today, Coffee Culture now operates where the wooden chapel once stood. On the wall is a plaque, engraved with the eulogy, “In memory of Thomas Avis Pannett 1811-1889. A pioneer farmer in Lincoln from 1863 and a founder of the Baptist Church originally on this site. Thomas Pannett served his community beyond measure.

Thomas and Eliza Pannett 1880s (Mrs E. Taylor)The Way of Men and CommitteesThe church waned during the 20th century. By 1912, the pastor, George Cox, was forced to leave because the church could no long afford to pay him. The church was without a full-time pastor until 1979. Like a seed once planted gathers its strength under the soil, the Baptist church in Lincoln was about to rise up and bloom. “The Almighty had a bigger plan,” Rupert said. “He could see that Lincoln was going to expand dramatically, so he put the right

After Church one Sunday in 1978, members and students, with Peter Reynolds in the jacket facing the camera under the water tank.

Neville Taylor Moar 30 July 1926 – 1 June 2016

One July afternoon eight years ago Neville and I sat down at my dining room table and began. Our task was to sort, catalogue, and where we could, identify people, places and the likely time photographs in the Lincoln and Districts Historical Society’s collection had been taken. Many photographs lacked that information. Hundreds of photographs and five months later the task was done. During the course of it I learned a great deal about Neville: his perseverance; his continual striving for accuracy; his delightful (sometimes wicked) sense of humour and love of a good gossip; his generosity of spirit.

These qualities were evident again several years later when I proofread and edited “Fitzgerald’s Town”, Neville’s book about Lincoln’s beginnings. My dining table was once again where we sat, discussing chapter after chapter of Neville’s lucid and elegant prose. Neville also researched and wrote many articles on topics as diverse as the Road Boards, drains and German immigrants. He brought to that labour of love the same analytical care he took when considering pollen issues. (He was a botanist, specialising in pollen, and worked at Botany Division, DSIR, now part of Landcare.) In both areas, pollen research and local history, he was active until his death, aged nearly ninety.

The Lincoln and Districts Historical Society grew out of a meeting of local residents on 30 May, 1991, and amalgamated the Pioneer and Early Settlers Association and the Liffey Cottage Action Committee. The meeting was chaired by Neville and he later became president, and subsequently a patron of the society. He was an active committee member for many years and a staunch and untiring advocate for the importance of local history knowledge in a rapidly growing community. It is to be hoped that the excellent foundation he laid will be further built upon by future Lincoln and Districts Historical Society historians.

Haere raa Neville

Alison Barwick

Obituarypeople in position before that growth happened.” Peter Reynolds, a student at Lincoln University during the 1970s and member of the Navigators campus outreach ministry, recalls, “They were wonderful days. The Lord turned many hearts to himself, and that little church at Lincoln played a vital role in the lives of us all.”

In 1979, the small but strong Lincoln Baptist Church approached the Canterbury Westland Baptist Association about getting a new minister. The church wanted a full-time pastor, but recognised that they could not afford to pay one according to the guidelines set out by the Canterbury Westland Baptist Association. Rev Malcolm Montgomery, Secretary of the CWBA, appealed to a minister he knew who was thinking of returning to Canterbury from Auckland and had expressed an interest in University work. In his letter to Alistair Mackenzie, Montgomery wrote, “You will see that this is a venture of faith and will need a responding spark of faith in the pastor. The traditional way of approaching this type of venture would be for it to have been stillborn. However, we have a peace and an assurance that the Lord is in the Lincoln project. The way of men and committees are not necessarily the way of God.” The CWBA offered grants to help pay for a new pastor, and a step of faith from Alistair Mackenzie took care of the rest.

At the time that Alistair arrived, the Lincoln church was composed of two families, the Walkers and the Woodwards, as well as Peter Reynolds and a few others. The Woodward daughters learned to play organ so that the church could have music. Following Alistair Mackenzie’s induction as pastor of Lincoln Baptist Church on 22 June 1980, the tiny church went from a Sunday attendance of 25-30 people to 80-100 within a year. The wooden chapel was no longer big enough for God’s explosive work in Lincoln, and the church relocated to the Lincoln Community Centre. There were challenges in holding church services in a hall that was often used for drunken parties on Saturday nights. Attendees from that time have less than fond memories of the stench of beer and vomit that permeated church services. One memorable service came to a complete halt as a beer tanker from a wine and cheese party the night before was removed, a venture that required all of the pews on one side of the venue to be lifted so the tanker could be trundled out. By 1982, church attendance was up to an average of 120 each Sunday. The church built its new and current home on Birches Road in time to be opened just before the 2011 February earthquake. Lincoln was still a small town with a strong sense of being a village when Kim Peters, current pastor of Lincoln Baptist Church, first arrived in 2000. Kim is the longest serving pastor in the church’s history. In his tenure, he has seen vast changes in the Lincoln community. Subdivisions were founded in the once rural town. Earthquakes have caused the population to boom. Lincoln is torn between the farming village that it once was and the burgeoning township that it is quickly becoming. As the community of Lincoln has changed and grown over the years, Lincoln Baptist Church has changed and grown alongside it. Rupert Tipples has compiled his research on the church’s history into an e-book available at http://lincolnbaptist.org.nz/about-us/our-history/. Lincoln Baptist Church celebrated its 140th birthday on 2 October with a special service followed by a lunch.

Barbi Larkins.