Belmont School

Nancy went to Belmont Primary School, as did her brother and sisters and her 6 children after her. She doesn't remember her first day at school but she does remember being entrusted with taking one of the neighbour's children to school on their first day and introducing them to the principal. Her best friend was Winnie Alnutt, and they are always together in the school photos. They used to walk home together and stand at the top of Clifton Rd talking, before Nancy went home down Clifton Rd, parting with the farewell " Nightie night", Jamajama".
She enjoyed playing basketball and was a good runner, often winning races at the school sports days, egged on by shouts of "come on Fatty" or "Come on ginger!"
There was a tram, which ran down to Devonport to meet the ferry, which the girls could catch to school but it was quite possible to walk it in about 20 minutes. Nancy remembered choosing to walk and spending the tram fare on sweets but feeling very guilty about it. Where it is all housing now was market gardens in the 1920s so it was quite a different walk from today with nose to tail traffic most of the time.

Takapuna Methodist Church

The Takapuna Methodist Church played an important part in the lives of Nancy's family. The church was originally in Huron St and she didn't remember very much about that- just a man with a big black beard, and wondering what was going on when the children were excluded from the church during communion (as they still were during our childhood.) Nancy was present at the laying of the foundation stone for the building on the corner of Lake Rd and Tennyson Ave in 1923 when she was 8 years old. Sundays meant church in the morning with the family, back home for Sunday roast dinner and out again in the afternoon for children's service. There were no games allowed on Sundays, the only entertainment was to look at illustrated Bible stories. Nancy remembers their father telling them to sit still and quietly for one minute and what a long time it seemed. When she was older she played the organ for the children's service.

Tom Arthur took the Young Men's Bible Class and would take them to their house in the Waitakere Ranges for social outings. He also opened his house and grounds to the Church for a fund rasing gala day on several occasions. Nancy and her cousing Hugh were in charge of giving rides on the boat swing, at a penny a ride.

The Arthur girls began the day with a warm wash and a cold shower, winter or summer. When she was old enough it was Nancy's job to go out to the gate in the morning and check where the steam tram was as she could see the smoke. She would then warn her father that it was time to leave to catch the tram at the top of Clifton Rd. to take him to the ferry. Before he left for work in the city he had already chopped firewood and worked in the vegetable garden. As the family had cows they made their own butter and had their own supply of milk. However others in the street had their milk delivered by horse and cart very early in the morning. Sometimes the horse would fall asleep instead of keeping up with the milkman and there would be much shouting and clattering of hooves.
Bread was delivered to the pantry window and coal to the coalhole just beyond the kitchen as they cooked on a coal fired stove. There was a copper in the wash-house to heat the water for the laundry and the water supply was from tanks.
The nearest shop was Duddings general store at Hauraki Corner which is still there today- it has had a number of identities and is currently the Lone Star restaurant and bar. It sold an assortment of household goods including potties, known to the girls as mimies, presumably short for jemima. Mum recalled Frank being terribly embarrassed when his little sister drew attention to these- "Ooh Frank, look at all the mimies!"

More childhood memories

Barbara's
birthday
1921.
Apart from
Nancy and
Barbara I
recognise
Hilda Winstone
front left






Below- Nancy and Barbara playing at sailors. 1920?
The little boy may be Hugh French.















There were several families with young children in Clifton
and Hauraki Roads and along Takapuna Beach
and Nancy remembers lovely birthday parties with fairy
bread and cakes and homemade sweets made by the aunts.
Parties aside, they were quite strictly brought up. We
were often told about how grandpa used to say "piece of
dry bread?" when the children said they were hungry, and
when they refused it- "Well, you can't be really hungry."
Nancy also remembers the day she complained that she
didn't have enough porridge and she was given her father's
large soup plate of cold porridge with salt, no sugar or milk,
and she had to eat every bit.
She also told us how grandpa wouldn't let them cry when
they were hurt- they were expected to be stoical and not cry
from the pain.
Tom's cousin Carpenter, his wife Ruby and their 4 children
lived at 10 Clifton Rd so there were cousins to play with- a bit
younger than Nancy I think. I remember Elaine, one of their
daughters, reminiscing with Aunty Barb about how they used
to pull up young carrots from the garden and use them to skim
the cream off the pans of milk in the dairy.
There were also the French boys, the 3 sons of gran's sister Rose
French, who died when the youngest was a baby. Jack, Hugh and
Graham came to live with the Arthur family for several years until
their father was able to care for them- presumably he remarried.
Another story mum used to tell us was how Graham, the youngest,
used to scoot around the upstairs hall on his potty and scooted
over the edge of the stairs where he hung precariously, wailing
"naughty potty, tip Graham over."
There was also a live-in maid and at some stage a man to help with
the heavy work, who had a room at the back of the woodshed,
and Mrs Joyce who lived with the family and did the sewing. She
may have been later on but it certainly must have been a very full
household.
Ethelwyn went as a boarder to Solway College (Masterton?) when
she reached secondary school as Takapuna Grammar had not yet
been built. However, cousin Kathleen Miles, the daughter of gran's
other sister Kate, came to stay with the family so that she could attend
Auckland Girl's Grammar.

Rahiri, the house at 24 Clifton Rd, sat across 2 sections with a
tennis court beside it and rosegardens, orchard, vegetable
gardens and henhouse behind it. As outbuildings there were
a dairy, a woodshed and garage. Next door at 22 Clifton Rd
(Te Kopua, named after the mission station which Thomas
Buddle helped to establish) was a smaller house which was
originally the Arthur family holiday home.
T.B Arthur's mother, his brother and 2 sisters lived here.
The colour painting, done by Aunty Joan, shows the house
as it was in about 1930.














This photo shows the 2 houses when No. 24 was first built,
before the rockery was built in front. Number 22 is in the
background and Arthur Cres now runs down where
the lawn was that separated the 2 houses.



The view
from the
aunts' house
below shows
the lawn
where Arthur
Cres is today
and shows
the bedroom which was added to the side of the house when Nancy was a small child.

Family group early 1920s. Frank, T.B.Arthur, Barbara,
Nancy, Julia, Ethelwyn.

The Arthur family home was a small farm where they had 3 cows,
ducks and hens and a pet sheep, which occasionally escaped
through the hedge and chased people down the road. On Sunday
mornings Nancy woke to the sound of racehorses being exercised
on Takapuna Beach and a herd of cows would sometimes be driven
down Clifton Rd to the beach, trampling lawns and flower beds as
they went if the residents didn’t shut their gates in time. The
houses and streets were lit by gas and Nancy remembered the
lamp lighter coming at dusk to turn on the street-lights.
The pet sheep belonged to Barbara and was eventually eaten.
She steadfastly refused to eat a single bite of it.

Barbara with her sheep.

Nancy also remembered being terrified of the tar-boiler which was used to repair the roads.

She would cross the road to give it a wide berth. Another fear was going upstairs in the dark and having to go right into the middle of the square upstairs hall to light the gaslight. She would try and persuade Barb to go up with her and she, exercising the power of the younger sister, would refuse.

Christening and early childhood

Nancy was baptised when she was a few months old, wearing the gown which her father had worn. She was baptised at home and her mother was not very impressed to find a pudding basin being used as the christening font. Victorian christening gowns were very elaborate, long with lots of embroidery, and long tight sleeves with a frill at the shoulder. Nancy was Above: Nancy at about 15 months either older than her father when baptised or a chubbier baby as the sleeves were too tight for her and had to be taken out, which probably made life a lot easier for those of us who manouevered our babies into this gown in later years. Apparently the gown wouldn't meet at the back either and she kept trying to sit up and exposing the gap so had to wear a cardigan. There aren't any photos of Nancy's christening day but the gown features in lots of other photos later on.



Barbara was born almost 2 years after Nancy, just before Christmas 1916. She was named Matys Buddle as her father was determined to get Buddle in even though it wasn't another son and her mother had read Matys in a book and liked it. However, they soon got sick of people saying "Matys! Don't you mean Clematis?" and began calling her Barbara. They didn't change it legally so Matys Buddle remained her real name.

Barbara with her mother aged 12 months


Below: Nancy 4 1/2 and Barbara 2 1/2 yrs

Thomas married Julia Tetley, (Clarice Julia) and had the house in Clifton Rd built for her. She was overseas and Thomas decided he couldn't wait any longer so went to Sydney to meet her and they were married there. Apparently she thought the new house was very small compared with houses she had seen while she was away which does seem rather ungrateful! That's the story gran told me anyway.
Thomas was also reluctant to have more children as he was worried he would lose Julia but if he did he have more children he really wanted another son and to call him Thomas Buddle Arthur. However he had another 3 daughters, Nancy being the first.
Nancy Lois Arthur was born 5 January, 1915 at 5.00 in the morning and was immediately put out on the upstairs balcony so one assumes it was a fine sunny day. Her arrival saved her father from going to war as men with 3 children were not required to go.

This is the earliest photo I can find. Mum/gran with her mother aged about 6 months?