Kōrero: Methodist Church

Temperance – avoiding alcoholic drink – was a central feature of New Zealand Methodism until the mid-20th century. One of the organisations promoting temperance was the Band of Hope, whose members signed a pledge to 'abstain from all intoxicating liquors'. This magnificent certificate was given to Lottie Maria Brewer of Blenheim when she signed the pledge in 1886. Daphne Jarvis was involved with the Band of Hope in Gisborne. Listen to her reading the pledge she signed in 1923.  When this recording was made 50 years later, she still abstained from alcohol.

Transcript

Now one of the main points of the old Band of Hope meetings was to get the girls and boys to sign a pledge and in the hope that this would be kept throughout their lifetime and I have here one of the old Band of Hope pledges which I signed and it reads like this: I promise by God's help to abstain from all intoxicating liquors including homemade wines, beer and cider. And I signed mine as Daphne Bond approximately 1923 or '24 in Gisborne. And since then I have always kept that pledge in my mind. It has led on to the work which I now do for the Women's Christian Temperance Union.