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Story: English

Police physical culture class, 1906

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Police physical culture class, 1906

At the beginning of the 20th century, anxiety in England about the physical decline of the race (sparked especially by the poor physical level of Boer War recruits) encouraged a movement for gymnastics and physical culture. This quickly spread to New Zealand. Here, members of the Auckland police (another English institution) display their Anglo-Saxon manhood.

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Alexander Turnbull Library, Auckland Star Collection (PA-Group-00610)

Reference: 1/1-003161; G

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Terry Hearn, English – Values, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/2046/police-physical-culture-class-1906 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Terry Hearn, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 August 2024.