(1857–1935).

Educationalist.

A new biography of Edger, Kate Milligan appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Kate Milligan Evans was born in Abingdon, England, on 6 January 1857, the third daughter of Samuel Edger, a London University graduate and Congregational minister, and of Louisa née Harwood. In 1862 the family emigrated to Northland under the Albertland Co. settlement, and later lived in Auckland, where her father became a well known independent preacher. Kate was educated privately and at Auckland Grammar School. As there was no girls' high school in Auckland at that time, the headmaster of Auckland Grammar School permitted Kate to read with the boys of his highest class. In 1874 she was granted admission to the university branch at Auckland. After an outstanding scholastic record she received her B.A. in 1877 and became the first woman in New Zealand — and possibly in the British Empire — to be granted a degree. She later (1881) graduated M.A. from Canterbury College. In the field of girls' education she immediately became prominent as first assistant of the new Christchurch Girls' High School (1877–82), as headmistress of the girls' secondary school at Nelson (1883–90) and, later, as the head of a private school in Wellington.

A woman of feminist sympathies, Kate Evans became one of the first women preachers in the country and frequently filled the pulpit for her husband, the Rev. William Evans, a Congregational minister whom she married in 1890. She undertook work for the enfranchisement of women, chairing and addressing public meetings. Any reform movement engaged her active support and she was associated particularly with the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, and the League of Nations Union. In the former she acted as recording secretary for 15 years and was associate editor of the White Ribbon for 10 years. She died at Dunedin on 6 May 1935 leaving three sons.

Kate Evans's main contribution to New Zealand life was her influence on the feminist movement. Her successful university career gave encouragement to future women students and served as a proof of women's capabilities, not only in higher education, but also in all other spheres previously debarred them.

by Patricia Ann Grimshaw, M.A., Auckland.

• Auckland Star, 8 May 1935 (Obit).

(1837–1912).

Naturalist.

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

John Davies Enys was born in Cornwall, most probably at Enys Place where the family had been established from the time of Edward III. He was the second son of John Samuel Enys and of his wife Catharine, eldest daughter of Davies Gilbert, of Tredrea. John Davies Enys came out to New Zealand with his cousin, J. B. Acland, arriving at Lyttelton on 27 July 1861. His journal and letters are as concise as possible till he writes of subjects that interest him — rocks, plants, fish, and insects. From Christchurch he went to his cousins, the Tripps, and he carefully noted that he paid £100 for a year's tuition in farming. When his younger brother, Charles, joined him they went into the Castle Hill Station together in October 1864, starting shearing immediately and also letting the farmlands to neighbours to grow oats for Cobb and Co.'s coach horses, then working on the road between Christchurch and the West Coast goldfields.

Enys, much interested in geology, botany, and biology, discovered and studied the fossil beds in the limestone of the river gorges on Castle Hill Station. He built up an extensive collection of moths and butterflies and later published accounts of them; but he is best remembered for his discovery of the one and only specimen found in New Zealand, Botrychium lunharia, common in the Northern Hemisphere and in Australia.

Enys early took an active part in local affairs. In 1870 he was elected to the Canterbury Provincial Council for the district of Rakaia and was mainly responsible for the setting aside of 100,000 acres to produce revenue for botanical and scientific research, for education, and for the support of the museum. In addition, he was a very keen fisherman, importing trout spawn with which to stock the local waters, and jotting down when he caught the fish as they increased in size.

When his two brothers died in England, Enys had to leave all these interests and return to Cornwall to take over the management of the estate, first selling the Castle Hill property after he had arranged for the presentation of the font, carved from Castle Hill limestone, to the Christchurch Cathedral.

The three brothers never married; one sister did, and her son took the name and property of the Cornish estate.

by Eva Carlisle Richards (1879–1961), Sumner, Christchurch.

• Malvern County — A Centennial History, Popple, G. L. (1953)
• Early Canterbury Runs, Acland, L. G. D. (1951).

(1856–1934).

Headmaster of Wanganui Collegiate School.

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

Walter Empson was born in 1856 at Eydon, Northamptonshire, the eldest of the eight children of Arthur John Empson, an Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Anna Delicia Hook. At an early age Empson decided to go into the army but, while attending Charterhouse he found that deterioration of his eyesight prevented the achievement of this ambition. Instead of Woolwich he therefore proceeded to Trinity College, Oxford, where he went in for rowing and took his B.A. degree with honours in law. In 1877 he came to New Zealand. After working for a time with a survey party in the Patea district he joined his brother, Arthur, who had purchased land on Rangitata Island, Canterbury, but soon went to Fiji where he invested (and lost) his small capital in a banana farm. Two years later he returned to New Zealand (with a malaria germ which stayed with him for the rest of his life) and secured the position of secretary of the Canterbury Jockey Club. He became a well known figure in Christchurch. His biographer, R. M. Burden, records that at this time “he usually wore riding breeches and a rather loud check coat. An eyeglass was a permanent fixture in one eye and a bulldog followed close at his heels wherever he went …. In fact a long succession of bulldogs followed him all his life”. In 1883 a written application for appointment to the staff of Wanganui Collegiate School was accepted, and he commenced duties at once. Two years later he married Agnes Dyke, daughter of J. B. Acland, of Peel Forest, Canterbury. In 1890, upon the death of the Rev. Dr B. W. Harvey, he was appointed headmaster, a position he held for 20 years.

In appearance Empson was a wiry man of medium height with bright straw-coloured hair and with a generally weatherbeaten look. He possessed a distinct individuality and was considered by acquaintances to be eccentric. He was in fact a wise and enlightened teacher. While steadily increasing the standing of his school in face of problems of overcrowding and lack of finance, he introduced at the same time ideas which in the main were soon adopted by leading secondary schools throughout the country. He was, for instance, the first to introduce to New Zealand the present characteristic style of uniform for schoolboys — grey flannel open-necked shirt and navy-blue shorts — a fashion previously created by Dr Almond at his school at Loretto, Scotland. To encourage responsibility and self-reliance, Empson developed the prefectorial system and appointed senior boys as cadet officers instead of masters. He founded a debating society, fostered organised games like cricket and rugby football, and arranged interschool matches with Wellington, Nelson, and Christ's Colleges. The production of the school magazine he handed over to a committee of pupils who elected the editor.

Despite these innovations he kept the general direction of affairs well under his own control and retained corporal punishment, which he normally administered with a fives bat (on the principle that the louder the noise of its impact on flesh, the greater the moral effect). He believed in work for work's sake and was a brilliant teacher with a natural gift for interesting his pupils. His discipline was firm but natural and kindly; and his sympathetic understanding of adolescent problems, his uncanny knowledge of all that went into the school, his sense of fair play, and his unbounded enthusiasm and energy in promoting the welfare of the school and its members inspired the keen devotion of all his boys. Like Frank Milner he was known as “The Man”, and although as a schoolmaster he replaced his eyeglass with a pair of spectacles, he was loved for his humour and his unconventional ways — his fondness for wearing old clothes; his bust of Caesar (which he regularly sent to represent his presence at parties organised by his prefects); his willingness to work with his boys as a labourer in erecting cycle sheds, cricket pavilion, laboratory or classroom; his profound disdain for prizes and testimonials; his readiness to assist boys in trouble (as when he trundled a sick boy home in a wheelbarrow past a group of pupils of the Wanganui Girls' School and their headmistress — without loss of caste).

In 1910, on the eve of the opening of new buildings, after over 20 years of gradually but firmly moulding his school on the principles in which he believed, he decided to retire, though still only 54 years of age. He went overseas to visit his son in India and his brother in Mexico, and then came back to New Zealand for a time. Finally he returned to England, and after a few terms of teaching at Uppingham, he settled in the Cotswolds. As a satisfying service as well as a hobby, in his later years he took up Braille typing and the transcribing of books for the blind. He died at Parkstone, Dorset on 14 June 1934, after a long illness.

His wife devotedly supported Walter Empson in all his work for the school; and after his retirement, during the Great War, busied herself with work for the New Zealand War Contingent Association, for which she was awarded the O.B.E. There were two children, a son and a daughter.

by Herbert Alexander Horace Insull, M.A., DIP.SOC.SC., Principal, Marlborough College, Blenheim.

• New Zealand Notables (Series 2), Burdon, R. M. (1945)
• Dominion, 16 Jun 1934 (Obit)
• Wanganui Herald, 15 Jun 1934 (Obit).

As early as 1916 the kowhai was suggested as a national emblem; but although this claim has often been revived it has never been widely accepted. The clematis and manuka flowers have also had their advocates, but these have not made much headway against the fern leaf. Among the birds, the huia, tui, and bellbird have been suggested, and New Zealand's only reptile, the tuatara has also received some support.

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

• New Zealand Gazettes, 1869, p. 556
• 1874, p. 122
• Enclosures to Governor's Despatches G. 28/3 (MSS), (1867), National Archives
• Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives, A. 1 (1908), A. 2 (1909)
• Triumphant Tour of the New Zealand Footballers, 1905, Dixon, G. H. (1906).

The kiwi as a national emblem is of comparatively recent date. It was used after 1911 in the badge of the 2nd South Canterbury (Territorial) Regiment and became widely known from the giant kiwi carved on the chalk hill above Sling Camp, England, during the First World War. After 1940 the kiwi became synonymous with New Zealand servicemen overseas. The Kiwi Concert Party, which toured many battle areas during the Second World War, and the Kiwi (New Zealand Army) Football Team, which toured the British Isles, France, and Germany in 1945–46, greatly enhanced the emblem's popularity. Although in recent years it has rivalled the silver fern to some extent, the kiwi has never received official recognition or legal protection as the country's emblem. More recently, the kiwi has become the emblem used by New Zealand rugby league representative teams.

The tree fern or “silver fern” has also received recognition as New Zealand's official badge, although it does not enjoy statutory protection like the Southern Cross. It was originally adopted by the New Zealand Native Rugby Team which visited England in 1888 and has since formed part of the uniform (or badge) of successive representative sporting teams. From the early 1900s the fern leaf has been used as a trademark for meat and dairy exports. On 18 May 1908, to mark the attainment of Dominion status, the Secretary of State for Colonies approved the New Zealand Government's proposal to substitute a wreath of fern leaves for the laurel wreath on the Governor's Ensign. This usage, also, continued until about 1935. The fern leaf has been used as a distinguishing badge for New Zealand military formations, particularly during the Second World War, and was also used to mark the graves of New Zealand servicemen in overseas countries. In the most recent revision (1963) of the New Zealand Coat of Arms, two fern leaves provide a base for the supporters to stand upon. In both instances of official recognition the leaves are shown in green, not silver. The fern portrayed is Cyathea dealbata, but the emblem differs slightly from the original in that it is usually given a smaller stalk.

New Zealand's official badge or emblem consists of the four stars of the Southern Cross. This device was first adopted by a Proclamation dated 23 October 1869 when it was laid down that “the distinctive badge of the colony … shall be the Southern Cross, as represented in the Blue Ensign by four five-pointed red stars in the fly, with white stars to correspond to the colouring of the Jack …” This arrangement remained in force until the passing of the New Zealand Ensign Act of 1901 which came into force in 1902 and, although the relative proportions of the stars were revised, the Southern Cross device remained the official badge of the colony. The Shipping and Seamen's Act of 1908 repealed the New Zealand Ensign Act, but the sections concerning the national badge were re-enacted. This law protects the use of the national emblem today.

As depicted emblematically, the Southern Cross is a penitential cross, having its base rather longer than its two arms. In the New Zealand version there are four five-point stars; while in the Australian there are four seven-point stars, with a smaller five-point star where the lower edge of the right arm joins the upright.

The initials “N.Z.” have also been officially recognised as a distinctive badge or monogram for New Zealand. On 27 April 1867 these were adopted as a temporary device on the New Zealand Maritime Flag but were superseded by the 1869 Proclamation. In 1874 the initials were incorporated with the Southern Cross in the badge used on the Governor's Ensign. Thus usage continued until about 1935.

Eltham is situated on undulating land on the Waingongoro River in central Taranaki. The main New Plymouth — Wanganui highway and railway pass through the town. Eltham is 6 miles south of Stratford by road and 13 miles north of Hawera. Dairy farming is the main activity of the surrounding district and a number of factories produce butter, cheese, and other milk products.

Eltham is a servicing and shopping centre for the district but also supports a number of industries related largely to the rural economy. Among these are the manufacture of butter, cheese, and rennet; ham and bacon processing; and the manufacture of meat small goods, meat freezing and packing. A local speciality is the manufacture of novelty cheeses, notably “blue vein”. Other industries include timber milling and joinery, and the making of concrete poles.

Old Maori tracks through the former dense rain forests junctioned at the site of Eltham. The Ngaere Swamp nearby was a fruitful Maori hunting ground. During the Hauhau uprising Colonel G. S. Whitmore with an Armed Constabulary force arrived at Te Ngaere on 25 March 1869 in pursuit of Titokowaru and retreating Maori fugitives. Whitmore's party made a dramatic swamp crossing at night on a causeway made of fascines but failed to make effective contact with the enemy.

Bush clearance began in the district during the 1870s. For a time sawmilling was important and was responsible for the emergence of the settlement. This industry declined with the extraction of the readily millable timber and the extensive burning off methods that were used for clearing the bush. The cleared land proved ideal for pasture and the dairy industry was soon established. Chew Chong who opened dairy factories in Eltham and district, is credited with pioneering New Zealand's export butter trade during 1874–75. He also organised a lucrative export trade in edible fungus.

The settlement was proclaimed a town district in 1884 and on 10 October 1901 was constituted a borough.

It is not known how the town received its name but, according to some early residents, it was given by a surveyor who named it after Eltham, a part of Woolwich, England.

POPULATION: 1951 census, 1,982; 1956 census, 2,192; 1961 census, 2,255.

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

(1869–1951).

Phosphate Commissioner.

A new biography of Ellis, Albert Fuller appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Albert Ellis was born at Roma, Queensland, on 28 August 1869, the son of George C. Ellis who subsequently became a farmer in the Auckland district. He was educated at Cambridge District High School and then joined the firm of John T. Arundell and Co., a London company engaged in Pacific trading in phosphates, copra, and pearl shell, as an analyst and prospector. In 1899 he discovered that a large piece of rock used as a doorstop in the company's Sydney office was rich in phosphate. It had come from Nauru. In May 1900 Ellis landed at Ocean Island, found workable deposits of phosphates, and commenced operations within three months. The recovery of phosphates from Nauru itself began, under Ellis's direction, in 1906. By 1911 he was the local director of the phosphate industry, residing in Auckland and visiting the islands as necessary. In 1920 the United Kingdom, Australian, and New Zealand Governments together bought the entire phosphate industry on Ocean and Nauru Islands, and in 1921 Ellis was appointed British Phosphate Commissioner in New Zealand, a position he held until his death.

In 1928 Ellis was awarded the C.M.G., and in 1938 was created a Knight Bachelor. He represented the New Zealand Government at surrender ceremonies held at Ocean and Nauru Islands in 1945, at the end of their occupation by the Japanese.

In 1900 Ellis married Florence Christine, daughter of Andrew Stewart, of Auckland. She died in 1903 and in 1909 he married Nellie Isobel, his first wife's sister. He had one daughter, Joan Izod.

Ellis died in Auckland on 11 July 1951.

by Keith Kennedy Campbell, M.A.(N.Z.), Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Melbourne.

• Ocean Island and Nauru — their Story, Ellis, A. F. (1935)
• Evening Post, 12 Jul 1951 (Obit).

Although its 70 sq. miles make it the fifth largest lake in New Zealand, Lake Ellesmere, 20 miles south of Christchurch, has a maximum depth of only 7 ft. It is essentially a coastal lagoon separated from the sea by a gravel spit (Kaitorete Spit) that extends eastwards 18 miles from Taumutu to Birdlings Flat. This spit is formed of gravel from the eroding edge of the Canterbury Plain to the south, carried northeast by longshore drift. The Selwyn River flows into the lake from the north and has built a delta into it, but there is no permanent outlet to the sea. When the lake level rises sufficiently to endanger the adjoining farm land, an opening is bulldozed at Taumutu where the spit is narrow. The lake is brackish and abounds in flounders and eels; it also supports a large game-bird population, notably black swans and Canadian geese.

The Maori name for the lake is Waihora, said to mean “wide waters”. Lake Waihola, near Dunedin, was originally known as Waihora, for the same reason.

by Richard Patrick Suggate, M.A.(OXON.), D.SC.(N.Z.), F.R.S.N.Z., New Zealand Geological Survey, Christchurch.