“Our purpose is to recognise, appreciate, preserve and share Remuera's past and present.”
Remuera Heritage 2016 Christmas party
11-Dec-2016
The Remuera Heritage Xmas party was held on the 4th December 2016. Thomas Swinburn from Dilworth College spoke on his being
a Young Ambassador for New Zealand on the Shared Histories project to commemorate the First World War. Thomas travelled to
Arras and Quesnoy in France to participate in commemoration services for the Battle of the Somme.
Thomas spoke about his great grandfather William Harold Woodward, solicitor, who went to Samoa in 1914 and stayed on to become Crown Prosecutor till the end of 1916. In 1917 he re-enrolled as a machine gunner in the Auckland Company. In October 1918 he received a gunshot injury near Solesmes on the Western Front. After spending time in the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital in Hornchurch, Essex, he returned to New Zealand on the Ruahine on 11 July 1919. William, or Chun as he was known, then became the Crown Solicitor in Western Samoa in 1919 and lived there for 20 years.
Photos: Thomas Swinburn, Brian Cooper of Remuera Heritage and Julia Brown of Dilworth College.
Thomas talking about his great grandfather
These windows came from England as a gift from Alfred Bell, glassmaker to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, who owed his illustrious career to Albin Martin, who had given him drawing and painting lessons as a boy in England and set him on his path. In order to ensure that the church building and windows are properly preserved the parish vestry has employed heritage architects to oversee the work that needs to be done. .jpg)
Remuera Heritage held nine events in 2017 – a hard act to follow!