The Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs is a world-wide organisation consisting of women, employed in many different spheres, who cooperate for the common good. They are united in concerns of public welfare both in their local community and in the world at large. The New Zealand branch was formed in Wellington in 1939, mainly through the groups of the “Round Table” clubs of the Y.W.C.A.. Before long many new clubs had been formed, with the result that in 1946 the Business and Professional Women's Clubs became an independent organisation affiliated to the International Federation. In the early years of the movement, the social service of the clubs was mainly concerned with war service work; then, while still continuing to send parcels to overseas clubs, they began other projects. At the same time serious studies relating to citizenship and the status of women in New Zealand and other countries occupied a prominent place, with international affairs constantly to the fore. In short, the objects of these clubs are to awaken and encourage in business and professional women a realisation of their responsibilities in civic, national, and international affairs, to assist them to take an adequate part in the life of the community, in social and economic fields, and to foster understanding and cooperation between business and professional women in all parts of the world, without distinction of race, religion, or political belief.

Since its formation, the New Zealand Federation has been well represented at all international conferences. Cooperation with other women's organisations has always been very close, as is shown by the recent formation, in Wellington, of a “Joint Committee on Women and Employment” comprising members of this organisation, the Federation of University Women, and the Y.W.C.A., supported by the National Council of Women. In 1965 the membership total was approximately 1,500 and there were then 24 branches.

by Olive Rita Croker, M.A., Botanist, Wellington.

(1811–85).

Pioneer missionary and teacher.

A new biography of Wohlers, Johann Friedrich Heinrich appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Wohlers was born on 1 October 1811 at Hoyerhagen, a North German township 30 miles from the city of Bremen. His father, Gerd Wohlers, came from peasant stock and was a man of some substance for he was elected squire, or Bauermeister, of the parish.

From an early age Wohlers lived in the home of his grandmother and went to the village school. Later, when anxious to study, he found the district poor in books. For reading he had to depend on the yearly land calendars, tracts, and the Bible. At 26 he entered the Mission College of the Reformed North German Mission at Hamburg. Wohlers was ordained in 1842 and arrived in New Zealand in June 1843, and until the following April he did pastoral work in rural Nelson. When Frederick Tuckett, Chief Surveyor to the Nelson settlement, chartered the schooner Deborah to sail south in search of suitable land for the proposed Scottish settlement, Wohlers accompanied him. When Wohlers set foot on Ruapuke Island on 17 May 1844, it contained the largest Maori settlement in southern New Zealand. Rising out of Foveaux Strait, Ruapuke, 8 miles long and 4 miles across, is an island of rugged beauty some 12 miles from Bluff, Southland's port. Wohlers found its inhabitants grouped in scattered villages and living in savage, sunken, and dirty conditions at a Stone Age level of civilisation. With only one birth to every three deaths, the Maoris were apprehensive about their future. To convert them to Christianity, to improve their social life, and to inspire them with hope became the life work of the German missionary.

The Ruapuke Maoris had had some contact with religion and were debating the claims of the Anglican and Wesleyan churches. Wohlers wisely avoided controversy, founded his own church, and worked for unity. He studied the Maori language until he could give simple addresses at the services. At the outset of his work, he found it necessary to produce his own food and he encouraged the Maoris to practise agriculture. Largely through his influence, sheep and cattle were introduced into Ruapuke and wheat and vegetables were grown. After five years of lonely toil, Wohlers paid a short visit to Wellington and married a widow, Elsie Palmer. She attempted to solve the social problem by training the girls in housework and showing Maori families how to care for their sick kinsfolk. In boats built by Europeans who had been sealers or whalers, Wohlers visited the mixed settlements at Stewart Island and along the shores of the strait. Many people came to Ruapuke for baptism and spiritual guidance. In 1868 a public school was opened on the island and, after two years when the teacher resigned, the Government agreed that Wohlers should take charge.

By this time, the population of Ruapuke was declining through emigration to the mainland and other islands. Wohlers ultimately moved to Stewart Island and died there at Ringaringa on 7 May 1885.

Unlike the earlier Protestant missionaries, Wohlers did not believe that barbarians could be civilised within a few years by the influence of the Gospel. A man of infinite patience, he laboured in a dark corner of the earth knowing that religious and social advance could proceed only slowly. His faith, courage, and self-sacrificing devotion enabled him to do much to civilise the southern Maoris and to prepare the way for friendly cooperation between them and the Europeans.

by Arthur Joseph Deaker, M.A., Secondary-school Teacher (retired), Invercargill.

• Memories of the Life of J. F. H. Wohlers (autobiography), Houghton, J. (transl.) (1895)
• Rakiura, Howard, B. (1940)
• Maori and Missionary, Pybus, T. A. (1954).

(1877–1945).

Founder of the Young Maori Party.

A new biography of Wi Repa, Tutere appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Tutere Wi Repa was born in 1877, at Hicks Bay, his father, Eruera Wi Repa, being related both to the Apanui and to the Ngati Porou. As his mother, Wahawaha Terehia, belonged to the Wairoa section of Ngati-Kahungunu, he was descended on both sides from Toi. In 1884 he attended Te Kaha School and in the next year won a Government scholarship which enabled him to study at Te Aute College, where he was respected not only as a prefect and assistant master but also as a footballer. He gained a Te Makarini scholarship in 1899 and entered the Otago Medical School. He graduated M.B., Ch.B. in 1906 and served as a junior house surgeon at Dunedin Hospital. When his application for the house surgeon's position at Gisborne was rejected, he decided to take up a medical practice among his people at Te Araroa, where he did sterling service. While a student at Otago University Wi Repa played representative rugby for the province, and was fullback in the teams of 1899 and 1903. He was captain of the University rugby team and a member of the executive of the Students' Association. In the early 1900s, along with other Te Aute old boys, including such famous men as Buck, Ngata, and Pomare, Wi Repa played a leading role in the formation of the Young Maori Party, which was an attempt to revitalise the race by means of forceful leadership, both in and out of Parliament. In his later years Wi Repa was a keen student of Maori tribal history and became a recognised authority on the subject. He was twice married, and died at Te Araroa, Hicks Bay, on 25 October 1945. He was survived by his wife, Miria, and by one daughter.

by Robert Ritchie Alexander, M.A., DIP.ED.(N.Z.), B.T.(CALCUTTA), PH.D.(MINNESOTA), Teachers' Training College, Christchurch.

• Te Aute Student Association Conference Papers (1898)
• History of Te Aute College, Alexander, R. R. (1951).

Winton is situated on the Southland Plain near Winton Creek and about 4 miles upstream from its junction with the Oreti River. The Invercargill-Queenstown highway and the Invercargill-Kingston railway, which are almost contiguous, pass through the borough. Winton is the junction of a small branch railway line to Browns, 5 miles east. By road Winton is 20 miles north of Invercargill.

Winton is the centre of a farming district with good, well-watered soil. The main rural activities are sheep farming and mixed cropping, but some dairying is also carried on. Industrial activities in the town include the manufacture of cheese, the production of concrete products, timber milling and joinery and, on a modest scale, wine making. Adjoining the town, but substantially outside the borough, is the residential locality of East Winton.

Winton came into existence as the terminus of the first section of railway from Invercargill to Kingston. The site is said to have been a regular camping place of Thomas Winton, a well-known stockman of the 1850s. Both the nearby stream and the town were named after him. The Winton Municipality Committee was established as the local authority in 1875. This body was replaced by the Winton Town Council which met in the following year. Winton was constituted a borough in 1877. In 1895 the town received some notoriety when a resident, Minnie Dean, found guilty of child murder, was hanged.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 1,133; 1956 census, 1,287; 1961 census, 1,473.

by Brian Newton Davis, M.A., Vicar, St. Philips, Karori West, Wellington and Edward Stewart Dollimore, Research Officer, Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington.

(1912–60).

Maori educationist.

A new biography of Winiata, Maharaia appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Maharaia Winiata was born on 29 September 1912 at Ngahina pa, Ruatoki. His father was Winiata, son of Pihana, and his mother was Teruakawhero. He received his early education at Otumoetai and Tauranga Primary Schools, and later attended the Tauranga District High School. By 1945 he had graduated M.A., Dip.Ed. from Auckland University College, and in 1952 he received a Nuffield Scholarship which enabled him to study at Edinburgh where he was the first Maori to obtain a Ph.D., his thesis being entitled The Changing Role of Leadership in Maori Society.

Earlier he had entered the Methodist ministry, then turned to teaching, rising to the position of acting principal of Wesley College, Auckland. He also did valuable work as secretary of the “King” movement, but it was after 1949, as Adult Education Officer in South Auckland and Auckland, that Winiata did his greatest work for the welfare of the Maori people. He believed that not until all strata of Maori society had become educated would many of the problems affecting the race as a whole be solved. He also wished to preserve Maori culture and, with this in view, promoted schemes for building carved meeting houses. He died suddenly at Tauranga on 6 April 1960 and was buried at Judea pa in the shadow of Tamatea pokaiwhenua – one of the finest of these meeting houses. Because of his great work in Maori education, it was fitting that Dr Winiata's memorial should take the form of the Maharaia Winiata Memorial Scholarship. He was survived by his wife, Francis Eileen Winiata, and three sons and two daughters.

by Robert Ritchie Alexander, M.A., DIP.ED.(N.Z.), B.T.(CALCUTTA), PH.D.(MINNESOTA), Teachers' Training College, Christchurch.

• Bay of Plenty Times, 7 Apr 1960 (Obit)
• Journal of the Tauranga Historical Society, No. 6.

Each year since 1957, in an effort to raise the standard of New Zealand wines, a competition and a wine tasting function are arranged by the Department of Industries and Commerce in association with the Viticultural Advisory Committee of the Department of Agriculture. The international system of judging, which is used in Europe, the United States, and Australia, is used. Under this system awards are given for all wines meeting prescribed standards. Wines qualify for gold, silver, or bronze medals or the equivalent certificates according to a points system. The judges consider each wine separately and award points under four headings: colour, 2 points; clarity, 2 points; bouquet, 4 points; and general impression, 12 points – making a maximum possible of 20 points. Awards are given to wines reaching the following standards:

Gold: 17·01 points or over.

Silver: 15·01–17·0 points.

Bronze: 13·01–15·0 points.

There are 11 classes in the New Zealand Wine Competition and each is divided into two divisions – Commercial and Exhibition – depending on whether the producer holds prescribed minimum stocks of the wine. The classes are:

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

The 1957 Parliamentary Committee suggested that distinctive local names should be given to New Zealand wines, though it was admitted that this could be done only gradually and with adequate publicity. At the present time few wine makers have distinctive names for their wines and the common practice is to classify them broadly as claret type and the like. In recent years there has been a steady improvement in quality and presentation. Among the fortified wines, port has declined in popularity in favour of sweet and dry sherries. There has also been a more significant increase in popularity of the high-grade white table wines, for the production of which the country appears especially well suited, as well as of carbonated and sparkling types. In 1964 a large proportion of these premium wines were red and rosé table varieties. The wider recognition of New Zealand wines has been helped by awards gained in overseas wine exhibitions and shows; in 1963 three gold and 13 silver medals were gained at the International Wine Fair at Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.

Although most New Zealand wines are made from grapes, many fruit wines are also produced. Current import restrictions have led to an increase in the production of compounded liquors which New Zealand wineries market as cups, cocktails, and liqueurs.

The origins and early history of the wine industry in New Zealand are obscure. It is known, however, that Marsden introduced the grape vine in 1819, and that Busby produced wine on his Waitangi estate in 1833. In the South Island French settlers planted small vineyards at Akaroa. The oldest winery in New Zealand, which was established in 1865, is at the Mission Vineyards at Greenmeadows, Hawke's Bay. By the close of the century small commercial vineyards were established in other parts of Hawke's Bay and in the Auckland-Northland region. Today these districts comprise more than 90 per cent of the area of New Zealand's vineyards.

No reliable statistics for wine production exist prior to 1916 when 85,000 gallons were made. By the outbreak of the Second World War, 174,000 gallons were produced. Since then production has increased steadily, reaching 1,500,000 gallons in 1964. In 1957 a Select Committee of the House of Representatives investigated the needs of the wine-making industry; and, by and large, its recommendations have guided the industry's development in its legal aspects. The restrictions placed upon the importation of spirits and wines by the 1958 Budget created an immediate demand for the cheaper New Zealand wines. Although these restrictions have since been relaxed, the industry's subsequent expansion shows that the public has acquired a taste for locally grown wines. Since 1955 the annual consumption of wine has been steadily increasing and is about 0·7 gallons per head per annum. Imported wines, now highly priced, occupy a very subordinate position in the New Zealand market, four bottles of local wine being consumed for every one imported.

(Aristotelia serrata).

Makomako, a shrub or small tree growing up to 30 ft high, frequently occurs in thickets following the burning or felling of native bush. In a natural state it is found in open lowland or montane forest throughout North, South, and Stewart Islands. Along with tea tree (Leptospermum), it is a plant that has increased greatly as a result of settlement. There is one other shrubby species of Aristotelia, A. fruticosa, in New Zealand. Both species are endemic, but the genus is represented in Australia, New Hebrides, and South America. The family to which it belongs, the Elaeocarpaceae, is a small one, mainly tropical.

Makomako has opposite leaves on long, slender petioles. They are about ovate, up to 5 in. long, have sharp-pointed tips, and are thinnish and deeply and sharply toothed. Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. Both are small, reddish and fragrant, and are arranged in panicles. The fruit is a small, dark red or almost black berry.

by Alec Lindsay Poole, M.SC., B.FOR.SC., F.R.S.N.Z., Director-General of Forests, Wellington.

(1808–81).

Indian Civil Servant and New Zealand politician.

A new biography of Wilson, John Cracroft appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

John Cracroft Wilson was born on 21 May 1808 at Onamore, in the Madras Presidency, India, the son of Alexander Wilson, F.R.S., a Judge in the Madras Civil Service, and botanist of distinction. His mother was Clementina, née Cracroft. He was educated at Haileybury School and Brasenose College, Oxford, and entered the Bengal Civil Service as a cadet. He became an Assistant Commissioner under Sir William Sleeman with whom he distinguished himself in suppressing Thuggism. As a reward for these services he was appointed Magistrate at Cawnpore, but, in 1841, transferred to Moradabad, where he acted as Magistrate and Collector until 1853. During the Scinde War Cracroft Wilson was attached to Sir Charles Napier's staff in a civil capacity; but, notwithstanding his status, he took part in the Battle of Meeanee on 17 February 1843. In 1853 his health broke down and he was ordered to convalesce in a cooler climate. Accordingly, he sailed to Australia and, after purchasing sheep and cattle in Sydney, brought them to Lyttelton in the Akbar. He arrived on 8 April 1853 and at once took up land in the Cashmere Hills. By the time his leave had expired, his station was well established. In May 1855 he returned to Moradabad, where he resumed his position in the magistracy. During the Mutiny, when Europeans living in Moradabad were endangered by the 29th Sepoy Regiment, Cracroft Wilson secured special powers from the Lieutenant-Governor and acted to prevent the spread of disaffection. His intervention was so effective that, after the Mutiny, he was appointed Special Commissioner for the Trial of Rebels and Mutineers. In 1859 he resigned from service and came to New Zealand, bringing with him a number of Indian retainers. Lord Canning, the Viceroy, recommended him for a distinction “because he has the enviable distinction of having, by his obstinate courage and perseverance, saved more Christian lives than any man in India … at the repeatedly imminent peril of his own life”. Queen Victoria awarded him the C.B. and, when the Order of the Star of India was instituted in 1872, Cracroft Wilson was offered, and accepted, the rank of Knight Commander.

In New Zealand Cracroft Wilson was returned to the House of Representatives for Christchurch City (1861–66), Coleridge (1866–70), and Heathcote (1872–75) and was for some years Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee. He was a forceful and, at times, provocative debater. During the sixties, when Maori affairs were frequently before the House, Cracroft Wilson drew freely on his Indian experiences to reinforce his arguments. He strongly urged the use of Gurkha troops as the most effective means of bringing the war to a speedy and successful conclusion. He represented Ashburton in the Canterbury Provincial Council from 1866 to 1870 and Heathcote in 1871 and 1875–76. For a short time in 1875 he was President of the Provincial Executive. In addition he served on numerous local bodies and was a keen member of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. He was an early member of the Canterbury Jockey Club and helped Cass to select the site of the racecourse. He commanded the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry, was a patron of opera and drama, a governor of Canterbury College, and a diocesan synodsman. As a farmer, he imported pedigree sheep, principally Lincolns, and founded a stud flock.

Sir John Cracroft Wilson was twice married: first, on 4 November 1828, at Westminster, to Elizabeth Hall; and, secondly, on 12 October 1844, at Moradabad, India, to Jane Torie Greig. He had four sons and three daughters. Cracroft Wilson died at Cashmere, Christchurch, on 2 March 1881.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• History of the Sepoy Mutiny, Kaye, J. (1867–76)
• Press, 4 Mar 1881 (Obit)
• Lyttelton Times, 4 Mar 1881 (Obit).