You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today and then one day you find ten years have got behind you (Pink Floyd)

Wozza eating a luverly sundae

Wie geht's?

Christmas is within sight, again. Thought I'd take a trip back in time for this post - back ten years in fact, to 2015.

Where were you and what were you doing in 2015? [or: Who were you? and, Where were you going? if you prefer]

Can you tell where I am in that photo? A hint? Think Anaheim. The happiest place on Earth. Got it?  

Yes, that's right - Disneyland. The full post is here from 2015.

I can recall this time vividly because we'd flown to Auckland and on to LA straight after junior prize-giving at Woodford House. We were heading to the UK for Christmas. That was good actually - like a Band-Aid - rip it straight orf.

Anyway, back in 2025, it's nearly holiday time - time to break out the Christmas jumper again. I thought I'd wear it to prizegiving on Friday, but it doesn't really go with my pink hood. What to do? What to do?

Mention of the jumper reminds me of talk this week in the clubhouse (the Tier kitchen where all the cool kids sit, a.k.a. the maths and English staff). Somehow, chat centred on Love Actually and other Christmas movies.

[BTW our Purdzilla family hardy perennials are: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation; Die Hard; About A Boy; Love Actually; It's A Wonderful Life; The Grinch; Polar Express].

The general consensus was we each miss a northern hemisphere Christmas - one that makes sense. Wistful, meditative even, it was (rare for mathematicians but part of the DNA of English teacher types).

Oh, before I forget - here's a picture of my Christmas jumper in case I chicken out on Friday:

I hope my readership approve of this post. It has food, a festive theme, even has a Christmas tree, Die Hard, a Christmas jumper, and the happiest place on Earth without any mention of Dickens. Actually, he wrote a cool Christmas story, didn't he?

Love and peace - Wozza

Jade Purdy Day!

Mature, self-assured and happy

Jade by Jade

Wie geht's?

In our family tree, November 28 is Jade Purdy Day.

Jade Purdy Day started back in 1991 (you can read all about that special day here). Ever since that auspicious day, 34 years ago, I have instant flashbacks when November 28 arrives each year.

Not only that day each year, but every day - I am exceedingly proud of how JMP has developed into a confident, beautiful, intuitive, feisty, strong, very serious person.

 

Happy birthday DLG!

Love always and forever - dad

I wonder how it happens that when I am work, work, working here, all alone in the summer-time, I smell flowers (Jenny Wren in Our Mutual Friend)

Jenny Wren and her father (Mr. Dolls)

Wie gehts? 

What's that syndrome called when amputees still feel their limb as if it's still there? Phantom Limb Syndrome maybe? [Ha! I just searched it up and that's exactly what it's called!]

Having finally finished Our Mutual Friend yesterday, I am experiencing a hybrid condition called Phantom Dickens Syndrome.

I've been living with John Rokesmith, Bella, Lizzie...and Jenny Wren (to name four of the book's many characters) for some weeks now (I started it October 6) and suddenly - they've gone!

Over the last couple of days, I've reached for the phantom book and it ain't there. Phantom Dickens Syndrome.

Speaking of Jenny Wren: McCartney's song is a cousin of Blackbird (it's done in a similar style). The wren is a small bird in England and Jenny Wren is a character from Our Mutual Friend - so it's a nice play on words.

I think I now understand why Macca was fascinated by this character. Jenny is a young innocent girl but is also quite worldly (she has layers - is mature and self-assured). She creates a way of tolerating her father's alcoholism by reducing him to a child and treating him as such, and although she is physically challenged (John and Paul would have called her 'crippled') she manages to find love right at the end of the novel with Sloppy.

Her resilience and optimism are traits that I admire. She's sometimes not seen and so is often on the periphery looking on - again - things I can relate to (I like sitting at the back - in the outer rim, observing).

I'm with Macca; I like Jenny Wren.

Love and peace - Wozza

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

Wie geht's?

Tis the season to be jolly!

This might be a record for us - it's still November, but we spent a couple of hours putting up our Christmas decorations yesterday.

The reason for this sudden festive spirit? We have an open home today and we figured - why not. 

The large Christmas tree certainly adds a cozy, homely atmosphere to Maple Grove. No doubt, potential buyers will immediately be able to see themselves snuggling up at home by the tree while the snow piles up outside, and the fire's warm glow bathes them in earthly delight.

Yes, it's 30 degrees and summer, but THAT'S how good the ambience is in our lounge.

Love and peace - Wozza

Animate London, with smarting eyes and irritated lungs, was blinking, wheezing, and choking (Charles Dickens)

Wie geht's?

Well the unlikely has happened. I've fallen for Our Mutual Friend. It only took 419 pages, but I finally got there.

What changed? It seems Dickens decided that enough was enough and revealed a major plot change amid a dramatic chapter titled 'More birds of prey'. Get this: a character that readers had been led to believe had drowned, was in fact alive!!

Suddenly John Rokesmith becomes a character I can hang my hat on. It turns out that he was John Harmon, who, through a complicated set of circumstances, survived an attempt on his life in the very first chapter. He then decided to disguise himself as Rokesmith to suss out people and watch events unfold. Genius!

Dickens also has shady characters like Mrs Lammle developing a conscience - yay - I can also root for her! I'm glad I persevered. The pay-off took a long time to arrive, but it did arrive.

His writing sharpens up noticeably as well from page 419 onwards.

The 24 year old Miss Pleasant Riderhood is introduced and described thus: 

She was not otherwise positively ill-looking, though anxious, meagre, of a muddy complexion, and looking as old again as she really was.

That last bit is superb. Looking as old again as she really was - she's 24 but looks 50ish. Wow. That short description provides everything you need to know about her 24 years - misused and beaten by her father (Rogue Riderhood) and being left fifteen shillings by her departed mother 'before succumbing to dropsical conditions of snuff and gin, incompatible equally with coherence and existence'.

I kind of gasp when I read brilliant descriptions like that.

There is new impetus to continue reading Our Mutual Friend, and you find me engrossed, having reached page 538.

Love and peace - Wozza

But the day will come, Jenny Wren will sing, when this broken world, mends its foolish ways (Macca)

Five dollars from the
Little Red Bookshop - bargain!

Wie geht's?

I continue to persevere with Our Mutual Friend. At the time of writing, I'm on page 354 (of 1,000). So, not even halfway.

The struggle comes from a lack of a strong plot. Little has happened in those 354 pages aside from various characters making appearances in a series of interwoven minor plots. That equals a certain amount of confusion. I had to consult my Dickens Encyclopedia a lot in the first few hundred pages - now, does that sound like a fun thing to do?

Clearly the novel (his final completed one) is about wealth and power amid the social classes in London of the 1860s. There is plenty of satire and biting commentary but by 354 pages I have found myself agreeing with E.S. Dallas who wrote in an 1865 edition of The Times that:

"On the whole... at that early stage the reader was more perplexed than pleased. There was an appearance of great effort without corresponding result. We were introduced to a set of people in whom it is impossible to take an interest, and were made familiar with transactions that suggested horror. The great master of fiction exhibited all his skill, performed the most wonderful feats of language, loaded his page with wit and many a fine touch peculiar to himself. The agility of his pen was amazing, but still at first we were not much amused."

Yes, some of the writing is extraordinary, and I continue enjoying Dicken's stylistic flourishes with the English language, but I wish there was a character I could root for and embrace.

Why do I persevere with what is quickly becoming my least favourite book of his? The same reason I started reading it.

Paul McCartney.

Specifically, I wanted to know why Jenny Wren (a character in Our Mutual Friend) fascinated Macca so much that he wrote a song about her. 

I don't know the answer to that yet, so I'll keep reading.

Love and peace - Wozza

I got a bad scratch fever, the cat scratch fever (Ted Nugent)

Photo by Alberto Bigoni on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Thankfully, this week saw off Guy Fawkes' night. 

Jerry especially hates the loud noises from the neighbourhood fireworks, and Laney has come inside early each night to curl up close to us on the couch for extra protection.

Poor Laney. She's had a traumatic few days, so she needs the soothing predictability of nights inside watching Hunted with us.

A few nights ago, I went to put her into her laundry bedroom as usual, and two things happened simultaneously that lead to a third thing happening.

First thing: the outside security light failed to come on and...

Second thing: a loud noise happened in the bushes near our back door.

Third thing: in fright, she attacked the person holding her - me - biting and scratching like crazy to get away.

Her frenzied actions meant I had blood dripping from a variety of wounds to my hands. Cat bites take ages to heal but the plasters are now off as the healing process kicks in.  

Love and peace - Wozza

We know the game and we're gonna play it (Rick Astley)

Wie geht's?

Recently, on the three amigos' latest playlist (WTWMC - Tragically unhip), I chose a song by Rick Astley. It was Never Gonna Give You Up, of course. It's by no means his best song, but it's mos def his best known.

Coincidentally, I saw his autobiography, Never, in Whitcoulls and decided to have a flick through it. It looked pretty good so I bought a copy.

Blimey - I can't put it down. I started alternating chapters with My Mutual Friend but I enjoyed his company via Never so much that I'm exclusively reading Never.

As is my wont, I also created a playlist of the songs he mentions along the way - Wozza - Never (Rick Astley). There is also a playlist out there created for the book that is worth a listen as it features a lot of the prog stuff he grew up with (as did I).

He has a wonderful dry northern sense of humour that comes through in his writing (he was assisted by Alexis Petridis but it feels like Rick is the writer). He's also not a former drug addled rock star which is a very refreshing change.

I notice he has a podcast that I must check out next, and Never is available as an audiobook. I prefer to read rather than listen but it might be fun.

Love and peace - Wozza

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they've gone (Sunscreen)

Photo by Meg on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

The advice about knees comes in Baz Luhrmann's Sunscreen and it's a key piece of the puzzle. 

It's advice that's always worth bearing in mind, as I sometimes forget to look after my knees. Yesterday, that message flooded back to me in a torrent of emotion as a rush of blood to the head had me running through the rain for about 50 metres. 

I immediately regretted it.

Friend and colleague Clare and I were heading to the main staffroom to get essential supplies for the maths/English departments' staffroom (tea, coffee, milk, sugar). 

Unfortunately, we needed to go across the field to get there.

Now I need to explain about the asbestos. 

Ongoing building improvements to our school library have revealed the presence of asbestos. Apparently, on the long weekend it somehow got loose and now poses a health hazard. A wire fence has been extended to contain the outbreak.

I can't believe I just wrote those last two sentences - as in, it all looks and sounds totally implausible. I'm shaking my head in disbelief.

Anyway - our usual avenues of access have been forbidden, hence our going cross country in the rain, hence my knees being savagely abused. 

Damned asbestos!

Love and peace - Wozza

Whispering grass, don't tell the trees 'cause the trees don't need to know (The Ink Spots)

Wie geht's?

Thanks to strike action (Thursday), Hawke's Bay Anniversary (Friday), and Labour Day (the coming Monday) - you find me in the middle of a five-day weekend! Weird.

The recent stormy weather and high winds have left plenty of branches and even a couple of trees down at Maple Grove. Consequently, we've spent a few of those days cleaning up. 

The most dramatic example was a large pine, centimeters from our boundary, that crashed down onto the road, wiping out power lines on its way down.

Again, I'm wondering about the decisions made long ago and far away to carry power to people overhead via poles and strands of wire, where they're vulnerable to damage from mother nature. That seems absurd, but what do I know.

After the local council workers cleared the road and the power people restored the lines, our neighbours cleaned up all of the damage the next day (big tractors help). We did our bit by picking up three bags of pinecones that had embedded themselves in our lawn. It's an ill wind...

Love and peace - Wozza

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy! (Robert Burns)

 

Wie geht's?

Recently, we almost sold Maple Grove, and almost bought another house. 'Almost' is a tricky word. It's not quite, very nearly.

It's a state of being where things don't quite work out the way you'd planned. That feeling has generated a large number of idiomatic phrases. Robert Burns captures that idea well.

• Don't count your chickens, until they are hatched.
• It's not over until the fat lady sings.
• It's not over till it's over.
• Don't get your hopes up too soon.

Those idiomatic phrases all express that vague warning but still, they don't quite prevent that empty feeling when plans don't quite work out.

But, as I have said many times: 

• You have to take the crunchy with the smooth.
• Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.
• You can't always get what you want, but sometimes...you get what you need.

Recent events mean that the maple leaf has landed, and Jacky's cute nose is feeling warmer.

Love and peace - Wozza

Instinct is the nose of the mind (Delphine de Girardin)

Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy
on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

House selling is such a stressful activity. We had Maple Grove on the market for almost a year with no luck so we took it off the market and relaxed. All that presentation prep without reward equals stress.

Six months goes by...until, out of the blue a couple who had viewed it in January reignited their interest - stress returns!

According to last night's news, your nose gets colder when you're stressed. Huh! The nose knows. In the current situation, Jacky told me she thinks her nose is going to fall off! She has a really cute nose so this would be a tragedy.

Hopefully, we'll have a resolution one way or the other a.s.a.p. and her pretty little nose can warm up.

Love and peace - Wozza

Every thought I send with love (Shade Smith)

Wie geht's?

Jacky and I enjoyed a date night last week at a Readers & Writers event as part of this year's Hawke's Bay Arts Festival. Both authors (Diana Wichtel and Ali Mau) read from their recent work - Unreel (Diana), No Words For This (Ali).

It was great to see an old friend (Diana) and hear them both talk about their creative process. I had previously bought both of Di's books, but I also seized the opportunity to buy Ali's memoir book about her family.

This part of Hastings by the Opera House has really improved its ambience. On the night we visited from Maple Grove, there were portrait artists, a live band, shops open beyond their stated trading hours (go you good thing Little Red Bookshop) and loads of families enjoying a Rush Munroe's iced cream on a warm Friday evening in town.

Lovely warm fuzzy feelings!

Love and peace - Wozza

Jenny Wren will sing when this broken world, mends its foolish ways (Paul McCartney)

Wie geht's?

I've been mowing through the reading pile of late - thanks to not buying any new books for a while (apart from Suzanne Lynch's terrific autobiography - Yesterday When I Was Young - which I bought as a birthday present to myself and immediately read). 

Recently, I've also had two weeks of study break so that meant some increased reading time.

Which means I can no longer put off reading Dicken's final novel - Our Mutual Friend. Over the last few years, I've been buying a lot of his work, and they've often sat in the reading pile for a lengthy period, until the moment is right.

That's not through a lack of enthusiasm but they're often big novels and the idea of reading Dickens can be intimidating. However, as soon as I launch into one, I'm immediately caught up in his world.

So, it's the turn of Our Mutual Friend. Why that one? Easy answer is Paul McCartney. Specifically, his song Jenny Wren. Jenny Wren being a character in OMF.

The story opens with a deeply impressive scene on the Thames with two figures in a rowboat scavenging for what they can get from the muddy water. Okay, I'm on board (pun intended).

Then chapter two introduces a plethora of new characters and does so via writing that is quite challenging (very different to Suzanne). Probably didn't help that I was reading it during my Sustained Silent Reading period after lunch with my Year 13 students.

I shall persevere and report back.

Love and peace - Wozza

I'm glad it's your birthday. Happy birthday to you (The Beatles)

Love this photo!

Wie geht's?

The ancient concept of celebrating an individual's completion of a year's trip around the sun came to Nu Zild with the European settlers.

Apparently, one reason for the birthday celebration was that, just as the actual moment of birth is a dangerous thing for mum and baby - so the annual celebration of that moment with friends and family helps keep away any evil spirits lurking around. Which is why it's important to wish a person well on their birthday. I like that idea!

Of course, having a party is also part of that tradition - especially when we're young. Those kids' party years are pretty brief, though.

I love that photo above with all my family present and correct. Dad was right there - he took the photo, Ross is looking on/ helping me celebrate as he still does, and mum is the one holding me back/ protecting me - maybe she was concerned that I was going to dive into her cake without blowing out the candles (I do love cake), but I prefer to think she was watching over me, as she still does. 

Thanks mum.

Love and peace - WNP

P.S. huge thanks to friends and family who helped celebrate with me - I really appreciate your good wishes and your ongoing efforts to help keep those evil spirits at bay.

Time is never time at all (Smashing Pumpkins)

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Daylight saving time change in Nu Zild means a few things at Maple Grove.

Gutter cleanout is number one - not a nice job - mainly because in a 120-year-old villa they are many and they are high up and they are dirty and they are smelly. It took all day, but they are done.

Irrigation is number two because spring has been fairly dry so far. Again - a painful task because the only way to check that all the nozzles are working is to put the watering on. As it's a faff going backwards and forwards to shut it off - I choose to get wet. Meh. Tick.

Garden furniture is number three - cleaning and putting out all the outside furniture and enduring the seasonal kerfuffle about the state of the large umbrella that goes over the six-seater. I think it's fine btw.

Leaf blowing is a sundry item - Jacky is doing that as I type.

Oh yeah - and the clocks go forward. Always a pain changing the times in the cars.

Roll on spring. Go you good thing (btw the amigos' spring playlist is here if you need cheering up).

Love and peace - Wozza

That's the 7 O'clock edition of the news, good night (Simon and Garfunkel)

Photo by mp ilp on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Our recent family zoom had a discussion about watching the news. A few of us don't watch the news cycles on TV anymore - too depressing in their fixation with Trump/ death/ and violence, but a few of us still do.

I choose not to pander to Trump's insatiable need to dominate the conversation, instead I get my daily world news from the BBC headlines and The Morning Brew - a newsletter that visits my email inbox each day.

Simon and Garfunkel's poignant song on their 1966 album (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme) called 7 O'Clock News/ Silent Night explains why I choose not to watch nightly news broadcasts better than I can. It also shows how little the news has changed in its approach.

Love and peace - Wozza

I wasn't cheating (The Sundance Kid)

Wie geht's?

In celebration of The Sundance Kid (a.k.a. Robert Redford) who passed away this week - aged 89.

It's a slightly surreal feeling - thinking he's not going to be part of Wozza's World on Planet Earth from this point onwards.

He's been a constant - threaded through all of our lives (a river running through it even).

He began his career in 1959 on Broadway. I was 2 years old, so not yet aware of his presence. That would happen ten years later with his iconic role as The Sundance Kid in George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (written by my hero - William Goldman). What a combo: William Goldman, Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

From then on, his films have been constant touchpoints through the years up to his last acting appearance (Avengers: Endgame) in 2019. Sixty years of remarkable quality.

I know many of his movies inside out, but I never get tired of them. This weekend, I think I'll opt for one such to honour his life and his talent -  1972's Jeremiah Johnson. I love that film!

Goodbye Sundance. Look after Butch.

Love and peace - Wozza

When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes (Erasmus)

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

Wie gehts? 

Sadly, during a recent parent interview night a number of parents genuinely and seriously asked me how their son could improve.

I answered with a question of my own: do they read?

Their response was entirely predictable.

Their sons have X station boxes, and the latest smart phones. But they don't read. Compared to all those tech costs (and time costs) a book is relatively very cheap (there are excellent secondhand book shops in Napier and Hastings).

Of course, I'm biased and yes, I've always been a reader. But, really, c'mon - there is always a price to pay.

Currently I'm reading a Haruki Murakami novel that I've somehow missed. I love his writing.

I recently attended a Hawke's Bay English Teachers' Association (HBETA) meeting and a presentation on dyslexia got me and my colleagues thinking.

Do we read in pictures? Or do we read in our own voice?

I tend to read in the voice of the character, or the author, and that does include pictures. When I read students' work I read in their voice (if they don't have one I tend to comment on that and suggest they do). Apparently, I am a bit of a freak.

Seems most people read in their own voice. Hmmm. Who knew?

Love and peace - Wozza

Hey, you, with the pretty face - welcome to the human race (Electric Light Orchestra)

Wie geht's?

A huge blogosphere welcome to our latest grandchild! Ivy Dulcie Fenn!

Names are important, right, and I know I'm biased, but our latest grandchild may just have won the first-equal best grandchild name of all time award (along with Asher and Poppy).

It looks great in print, too. 

The middle name specifically honours Ivy's great grandmother/ Jade's grandmother/ my mum.

It's a wonderful name and it totally suits Ivy.

BTW symbolically, Ivy represents fidelity, eternity, and enduring attachment due to its evergreen nature and tenacious climbing ability. Historically, it was used in wreaths for newlyweds to signify loyalty and in ancient cultures for its associations with immortality.

Dulcie is derived from the Latin word meaning sweet. It was a hugely popular name in NZ around the time my mother was born (1930) and coincidentally, it has enjoyed a resurgence since 1997 in England and Wales.

Significance of the third of September, 2025: 

• Ivy is a Generation Alpha, 
• Her Chinese zodiac sign is snake 
• Her star sign is Virgo.

Three famous others born on September 3:

• Beach Boy Al Jardine 
• Model Kaia Gerber (she's got the look, but she's not in the same Ivy league - sorry, couldn't resist) 
• Automobile designer Ferdinand Porsche.

A couple of events that happened on this date:

• In 1936, Britain's Malcolm Campbell set a land-speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, averaging 301.129 mph in two runs.
• In 1939, Britain declared war on Germany and was quickly joined by France, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
• In 1942, Frank Sinatra began his solo singing career after leaving Tommy Dorsey's orchestra.

5 current hits of the month

• Billie Eilish - Birds Of A Feather
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - Die With A Smile
• Justin Bieber - Daisies
• Coldplay - Sparks
• BLACKPINK - Jump

Big movies right now:

• Hamilton
• Weapons (a horror which your mum and dad went to recently, Ivy)
• Freakier Friday 
• Caught Steeling 
• The Roses 
• (And in a throwback to the old days) - Jurassic World, Jaws, Superman, Naked Gun and a Fantastic Four movie are also out and making money.

Finally - A thought for the day: 

"Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push -- in just the right place -- it can be tipped." - Malcolm Gladwell

Love and peace - Papa

I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune (Seneca)

Wie geht's?

Before you know it, this happens:

Interesting that the same basic circular formation was replicated in Denver this year - with Jacky, who took that first photo, standing in for Keegan. That is - me at the top, then Adam, Jade, Samantha. I love the closeness in each family grouping. This was all done absolutely spontaneously - we all just formed into a tight knot for Adam's timed photo.

You can tell we love each other.

Quite rightly, what you don't see are all the early days hardships behind those family portraits. Jacky and I often wonder about how we survived those early days on one teacher salary with four young children under 7: trying to make payments, feed everybody, and learning by doing. There are no manuals for young families aside from what you know based on experience.

Luckily, Graham and Dulcie Purdy were superb role models for me, but still - mistakes happened often. Along the way, I aimed to learn from those mistakes and, having gone through difficult periods, those experiences have become badges of honour to some degree. We made it, and remain relatively sane.

As we become grandparents to the children of Adam, Jade and Samantha, I know we aim to do the best we can as Mema and Papa and pay forward the good role modelling into the next generation.

Love and peace - Papa

Spring fever - love is in the air, Spring is everywhere (Elvis)

Spring's emergence at Maple Grove 2025

Wie geht's

Spring at Maple Grove. 

While I've been resting up during the week (see this Baggy Trousers' post for details) I've had enough mindfulness to notice the gradual changing of the season (winter into spring in the southern hemisphere).

The days are getting noticeably longer, the lambs and daffodils are kicking into gear, and the blossom is emerging on the plum trees at Maple Grove.

As well as all that, the WTW Music Club has continued to build their 'Spring in their steps' playlist quietly in the background. Sixty songs, so far, to accompany the emergence of spring.

You're welcome.

Love and peace - Wozza

This is the end, beautiful friend (The Doors)

A sign that hung in WNP's office at Reimers' Ave.
Seems to have resonated with him. 

Wie geht's?

The more I look into my great grandmother's story, the weirder the story gets, but the more real she becomes, and the more I like her.

First some further corrections and further information:

Her 1900 and 1930 marriage certificates both have her maiden name as Emma Meakin (a correction - it is not Meachen as Tom Purdy spelled it in his genealogy which is what I went by previously). 

In 1900 she was a cotton weaver. Her father was James Meakin, a master painter, and her mother was Mary Ann Lett.

In 1900 she was listed as 18 (born 1882), but 30 years later in 1930 her age is listed as 46. That would mean she was either 18 or 16 when she married William Purdy (my great grandfather) in 1900 or else 48 or 46 in 1930. How can birthdates be so fluid? I'm going by the 1900 date and figuring she undersold the 1930 version of herself or else it was a clerical error.

In 1929, it was only Emma who attended the divorce hearing (William was a no show). William was ordered to pay costs and Emma waved the right to alimony or maintenance. I guess because William had custody of the boys. My colleague, Susan,  tells me that this was not unusual for the times. In fact in Victorian England fathers were given custody in the majority of cases. Anyway, there is nothing in the documents I have that mentions custody.

In a sworn statement Emma says that she was abandoned 'without just cause'. She also says she is 'domiciled in New Zealand and resides in Auckland' in 1929 (but she had bought the Mereweather property in NSW in 1927).

Florence and Will. We two.

In 1930 Emma's new husband was 10 years (or 12 years) older than her, but Florence Charlotte Northington (William's new wife) was 22 years younger than him!

William (a 'plasterer') is listed as age 49 on the marriage certificate, she is 27. She is from London, and divorced. 

Florence and William

Interestingly, the marriage certificate has her maiden surname as both Northington and Worthington. Clerical error, I'm picking.

Weirdly, William is listed in 1929 as residing in Auckland, but in 1930 he is living in Turramrra, NSW.

Now to the speculation:

Something seriously went down in 1908 (Emma mentions that the abandonment started three years before 1911). They had only just landed in New Zealand in 1907 - 1908 (Edward was about 1 years old, Harry - my grandad was 4).

Irene Purdy's suggestion was that Emma was a Kleptomanic,  but would that result in an abandonment without just case? Probably not. 

Same goes for an affair by either party. An affair would certainly qualify as just cause, right? 

Maybe this wasn't even Emma's fault. Maybe William had already met Florence Northington and abandoned Emma as a precursor to hooking up with the much younger Florence (born in 1903, like Harry).

Emma's handwritten note in 1929

I find myself leaning more and more towards Emma. She comes across as quite a tough person, very resilient, confident, resourceful (buying a house in her twenties), quite independent, and frugal certainly (mum and dad witnessed that at first hand when they visited, staying one night only, with her and Rube in Mereweather). 

I like her, a lot!

She also looks lovely! In an era when people didn't smile in photos - she does!

For that matter, so does Florence. I presume that is her in the photo captioned 'we two' above - in her handwriting. She was obviously around for quite a few years but there are no pictures in my collection of her with Harry and Edward (a.k.a Eddie and Ted later in life).

No Florence. Just Harry, WNP, Edward

You can certainly see Emma in that photo of Harry and Eddie (Eddie's smile is very similar to hers). I have another when Eddie was a boy at Reimers' Ave - in front of those famous steps. A good looking kid! 

There are similar blind alleys in other family histories, I dare say. This is just one in mine. I wonder if there are others in either the Adsett line (my mother's maiden name) or grandma Purdy (the Curson line).

Probably. 

Love and rest in peace Emma - WNP

Weird scenes inside the gold mine (The Doors)

Briefly a happy family in Rochdale with
Harry, William, Edward and Emma Purdy1907

Wie geht's?

This post is a continuation (and a much overdue correction) of Emma Purdy's history. My great grandmother - remember. Married to William Purdy (somewhat briefly as it turns out).

I've been delving into some legal papers that I've had since 2009. Until this week, I've not read them intently and Emma's story now comes into much sharper focus (out of the mists of time).

What I've been previously led to believe, turns out to be a smokescreen of stories.

So, to the true facts!

Emma Meachen was born in Rochdale in 1882. When she was 18, in 1900, she married William Purdy - he was 20, and so she became Emma Purdy.

A baby, James Purdy, died in infancy. My grandfather, Harry, was born in 1903 in Rochdale, and a third son, Edward, was also born in Rochdale, in 1906 (he passed away first of March 1998).

Sometime around 1907-1910 they (Emma, William, Edward, a baby, and Harry) all travelled from Rochdale to Wellington, New Zealand.  

In August 1911 William 'willfully' deserted Emma 'without just cause'. We don't know why.

From 1911 to 1929 Emma lived off and on in Auckland, as did William. The divorce papers indicate that William 'continued to desert me without just cause'. She petitioned for divorce in 1929. 

Emma's activities in Australia prior to 1930 are murky to say the least. It appears that she remarried in Australia prior to her divorce and subsequent third marriage to Reuben Davies. Which would make her a bigamist!!

The facts: this according to sworn testimony by Reuben's son -Emma Jones, in 1927 bought the Merewether property. Apparently, according to him, she had married a William Jones at some point. He believed that when she married his father, Reuben Davies, she did so as Emma Jones, not Emma Purdy. The marriage certificate certainly lists her as her maiden name - Emma Meachen.

The lawyers dealing with the later sale of the Merewether property ascertained that Emma Jones and Emma Davies were the same person.

The NZ Supreme Court divorce documents from 1929 indicate in a special closing notice that 'Notice is hereby given that if either the Petitioner (Emma) or Respondent (William) herein contract marriage before the within-written decree nisi be made absolute she or he will be guilty of bigamy'. 

Holy homework, Batman!  

After her divorce from William came through in 1929, she remarried in 1930 to Reuben (Rube) Davies in NSW. So, she then became Emma Davies. She was 46, he was 36. There were no further children. Whether she was divorced from William Jones is unknown.

Reuben Davies died 22 December 1980. He continued to live in the Merewether property until 1977. Upon his death in 1980 the property went to Harry and Eddie as per Emma's will. Other tenants in the property paid rent to Emma until her death in 1959 and then to Reuben Davies.

As to William and the boys? The two brothers stayed with William, it seems. Indeed, Harry's younger brother, Eddie, according to my dad, did not even know of Emma's existence until he was forty years old! So, Emma had also abandoned her young sons it seems. 

My dad remembered how William and the two boys lived in Greymouth for a while and how, by the time he came along, Emma would make regular visits back to NZ. She was always ready with presents and stayed with my grandmother's mother of all places during her visits. So, she was never ostracised by the family, so that supposed abandonment is called into question. 

I have no idea how she was presented to the boys who were then in their late twenties/early thirties with their own children. There must have been some sympathy for her because she eventually went blind as a consequence of her diabetes.

And William? Well, he also remarried - to Florence Worthington, in 1930, and also in NSW, Australia. They didn't have any children. Little is known about her and her relationship with Harry and Eddie, but she was their stepmother (or maybe to Eddie - his mother, until he learned of Emma). 

In the mid-fifties my parents visited Emma and Rube in Australia. As stated above, Emma Davies died in Australia in 1959. She was 77 years old.  The Merewether property in Australia was bequeathed to her two sons, as previously mentioned, and was eventually sold by my father and Eddie after Harry passed away. 

Regardless of what went on, my four children and me and my brother all owe Emma huge respect and gratitude. Without Emma, we wouldn't exist. Maybe there are more revelations to come, but I'm sorry that the family stories have painted her as the cause of the rift between my great grandparents.  

We will never know the precise reasons for the abandonment in 1911, but it seems that a divorce was needed in 1929 by both parties so that they could remarry, which they both did a year later.

Time works its magic on family secrets. My father must have known this timeline (the divorce papers were in his possession), but he didn't communicate any of this to me or my brother.  Maybe he was still doing his protective bit. Who knows. He always maintained that Emma was left behind in Australia and didn't come to NZ with William and the boys but that is false. He told me that 'whatever happened we will never know but I'm sure he (William) was very bitter towards her.

In other discoveries:

William wasn't the only Purdy to come to New Zealand. His younger brothers Samuel (born 1887) and Richard (born 1894) also emigrated. 

Samuel was a house painter who married Clara Smith. They had three children: Phyllis (one son - Benjamin), Ronald (married Irene Roberts - two children: Brent and Linley), and Annette.

Richard married Alice Beesley. There were no children. According to my dad, Richard worked as a sound engineer on the famous NZ film Rewi's Last Stand (the 1940 remake with sound).

There is also Jonas Henry Purdy (one of William's uncles) who emigrated to Auckland about 1914, after first travelling to Australia (a popular destination for our family it seems).

So, William, at least, had some of his relatives in close proximity in New Zealand and Australia.

Aside from all that, I have no other details, but it's added another layer of mystery - given there are other Purdys out there in NZ/Australia that I have little knowledge about. 

Certainly, I'd be keen to hear from any other NZ/Australian Purdys who want to reach out with their own histories.

Love and peace - WNP

ad died and never really looked at them closely. Now I wonder why William deserted her in 1911. Coincidentally (!) he also remarried in NSW in 1930 to Florence Worthington.