Te Awamutu's St John Church graveyard. Photo / Dean Taylor
Te Awamutu's St John Church graveyard. Photo / Dean Taylor
The Te Awamutu Genealogy group has planned two events in early March for the Waipā Libraries Heritage Month.
The first is a virtual walk titled ‘From Then to Now’ on Wednesday, March 1, a close-up look at the changes that concrete and brick brought to Te Awamutu’s commercial architecture between World War I and II.
Instead of the traffic noise and heat experienced on previous walks, this one can be enjoyed over a cup of tea from the comfort of your chair in the Community Room at the Te Awamutu Library.
Alan Hall will again bring his knowledge of the trends that drove the growth of rural towns in the 1920s and 30s, and provide insights into what Te Awamutu once looked like and the building trends that changed the face of the town to what we see today.
The genealogy group’s second event on Saturday, March 4 builds on a project members completed in 2015 when they transcribed and printed booklets on the headstones and plaques in the St John Church graveyard in town and the St Paul Church graveyard at Hairini.
These booklets are still available for sale, but the ‘Stories From the Dead Centre of Town’ event goes one step further and explores the stories of 11 families who have members buried in St John’s graveyard.
Some are heart-wrenching; others shine a light on people who made a huge contribution to the town.
Among the stories are those of the Bathurst, Bond, Brooks, Cottrell, Gibson, Hutt, Morgan, Rickett, Taylor and Woolly families.
All stories are being researched and presented on the day by members of the Te Awamutu genealogy group.
The story of Edward Ingleby Miller, whose monument is one of the larger ones in the St John’s churchyard, is a fascinating one.
The monument of Edward Ingleby Miller, one of the larger ones in the St John’s churchyard. Photo / Dean Taylor
Born into a life of privilege, this self-proclaimed “man about town” was a keen entomologist who filled his days painting and travelling all over the world collecting bugs and butterflies.
When Edward and his Pirongia-born wife, Bernice Mabel Berry, returned to Te Awamutu in 1907, they purchased land in College Street and set about building the house with the distinctive turret that is now owned by the O’Shea family.
Edward was one of the first in the town to urge the establishment of a local newspaper and was on the Board of the Waipā Post from its inception until his death from pneumonia in 1913. He was also one of the trustees of the Te Awamutu Young Men’s Institute, better known as the YMI.
Those wanting to attend the ‘From Then to Now’ event on March 1 are asked to book through www.waipalibraries.org.nz or via the library.
The ‘Stories From The Dead Centre of Town’ event starts in the Community Room at the library before heading to the St John’s Churchyard.
The event will finish with a short talk inside Old St John’s. Both events start at 10.30am. Expect to allow up to two hours for the cemetery talk and walk.
For those interested in exploring their family history, the Te Awamutu genealogy group meets on the first Tuesday of the month at the St John Ambulance hall in George Street.
