“He was stretched financially, I understand because he would build houses he wasn’t paid for and consequently he owed for timber that he couldn’t pay,” Bruce said.
In 1913, amid mounting debt problems and after his youngest daughter suffered an epileptic fit and died, George decided to make a journey into King Country to purchase some timber.
Bruce said he decided to purchase the timber there because he thought doing so meant he wouldn’t rack up any more debt.
“He said to his wife that that way, ‘even when times come good, those people will still owe me money’ - he was owed money for three houses, and if he built another one that would be four.”
George had put money aside to build a fourth house and reasoned this would keep the family going as World War I was about to break out, with him still being able to earn an income.
However, when he made his journey to the King Country, neither the timber nor he would ever make it back to Whanganui, as he abandoned both the town and his family.
Now Bruce lives in Te Awamutu and left the story of his grandfather to lie until he took a DNA test a few years ago.
After taking the test he received an email in 2020 from a woman in Washington State in the US.
“[The email] said ‘Bruce, I am your first cousin, I’ve done a DNA test and it matches yours’,” he said.
This led him to speculate whether his grandfather had fled to America once he left Whanganui, inspiring him to write the book.
He said the events of the book are completely fictional, but based around the lives of real people.
“I’ve written a story that is totally imaginary, we’ve got no other facts at all, but it could be the story of why he left, who he went with, where he went to, who he met and this lady finally contacting me in 2020.”
There will be a launch party for the book at the Lockett Gallery at 60 Guyton St on Saturday, June 3 from 4pm.
Bruce had never written a book before so wasn’t sure what type of reaction it will get, but thought the Spurdle name would draw a decent crowd.
