Patrick Nolan at the Red Hatter Society's royal convention in Dannevirke. At left Mr Nolan's ceremonial uniform, worn for state occasions, holy days and the Queen's birthday during his 16 years living and working in the Tower of London. Photo / Christine McKay
Patrick Nolan at the Red Hatter Society's royal convention in Dannevirke. At left Mr Nolan's ceremonial uniform, worn for state occasions, holy days and the Queen's birthday during his 16 years living and working in the Tower of London. Photo / Christine McKay
Patrick Nolan made history when he became the only foreigner to guard the Queen's jewels and work as a Yeoman Warder in the Tower of London.
Never before had the bastion of British sovereignty been guarded by anyone other than a member of the British armed forces.
Born in Marton, and now living in Feilding, Mr Nolan lived and worked in the Tower for 16 years, during that time 48 million visitors went through the Tower.
Dannevirke red hatters Countess Dra Goyle (left) and Dame Gypsy Magpie of the EvaReady Cheery Chicz, with the world's only foreign Yeoman Warder of the Tower of London, Patrick Nolan.
"It was a very demanding job, but I've the privilege of being the only non-British person to have the job of Beefeater and there will be no other foreigners who will have that honour," he told the Dannevirke News.
Beefeaters, officially the Yeoman Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, are the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London, with a large part of their job today acting as tour guides.
In the Dannevirke Town Hall on Friday night the Red Hot Flashes from Napier were having a right royal time at the convention.
The first Yeoman began work at the Tower of London on August 15, 1100, but it took another 850 years before Mr Nolan arrived.
"I was the 351st Yeoman Warder sworn in since 1826, taking my oath at St James' Palace."
Mr Nolan retired from the New Zealand Army after 29 years service, serving in Vietnam and the Sinai, having earned earned his medal of gallantry while fighting in the Tet Offensive in 1968. On the way home from the Sinai he and his wife visited the Tower of London and he liked what he saw, so asked about joining the ranks of the Beefeaters.
To become a Yeoman Warder applicants must have served in Her Majesty's armed forces for a minimum of 22 years and achieved the rank of a senior non-commissioned officer. They must hold hold long service and good conduct meals and Mr Nolan had both.
A British general he worked under in Sinai wrote his reference and the fact his wife Dawn is the sister of former All Black Doug Rollerston, certainly helped his application he said.
At 45 he and Dawn were about to begin one of their big life adventures.
The couple lived in an apartment in the outer wall of the Tower and Dawn worked for the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, across the road.
"It was just 79 steps from the apartment and over the road and I was there," she said. "There was something magical about living in the Tower and yes, there were ghosts."
Her husband described the eerie goings on as "something different to explain."
"Living and working in the Tower, which was built in 1078, was unique. There I was looking at the same stones William the Conqueror did and I sat at the same table where they sentenced Guy Fawkes to death.
"I've been in every room in the Tower and it's amazing to think it was built 250 years before Maori arrived in New Zealand." Working at the Tower and representing the New Zealand RSA while overseas, Mr Nolan served on a committee with Prince Phillip. "He's a delightful man."
And he said Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II was "lovely."
But Mr Nolan wasn't quite so complimentary about the ravens of the Tower.
