Pahiatua Museum

03/06/2026

03/06/2026

Well,would love help to do a thorough clean such as this.😉
However, no need to photograph everything on display, as with lotteries funding those items were digitised and can be viewed on ehive,an international website for museum artifacts.Go to www.ehive.com
We have yet to digitise all those items in the kitchen cupboards which need some sorting.😊

03/06/2026

03/06/2026

Letter #3 from Louis Angelini to his Mother 19/9/25

Dear Mum,

📬Received your letter on Tuesday and was surprised you are in Auckland.So you were not frightened of the journey.I expected you to throw up the idea of going up there.
You did not tell us much about the trip-what time you arrived, whether you saw much scenery, or whether it was raining or not.You tell us of the snow at night, where was this, was it Mount Ruapehu?
That is the only snow clad mountain I can think of that you would pass at night and that would be a little after midnight.So Harry ( Henry) likes the boats. I thought he would be frightened of them. Was sorry to hear he was ill again on the train.He ought to be well used to it by now- after so many hundreds of miles.

Have found the seeds all right although you took some time telling me where they were.The selection is quite safe now.Dad signed numerous papers on Tuesday and everything is set now.He is going out there tomorrow with the County overseer. ( likely the purchase of Rocky K**b at Marima)

Macaroni arrived today ( just in time too) and there was six shillings to pay on them.How many boxes did you order? Only two came and we have nothing for soup now.We have soup every night.Have you paid for them or is the bill coming to us?I have not sent the 10 Bob yet.

I am glad you like Auckland. I suppose you will be staying there a few months. While you are there could you get me a map of the city?( I do not mind how much you pay for it) I would like to see where the places are you go to. Perhaps I might bike up next year.Dad says he does not want you back again but I would like you here to cook Christmas dinner.
Things are going along quite smoothly here at present so you can stay at least three months.

Sorry to hear the pup died.Strange he should hand in his checks.He seemed all right when I saw him.You ask how the animals are. Well the cows are fair- 598 pounds of milk yesterday and a 10 pound cheque today.The horses do not have enough work.Tweed is getting lazy ( rivalling me) and the cats are more or less right.This morning I found half an eel on the verandah. It was about three quarters of an inch in diameter.I watered your plants on Sunday.They were beginning to look funny so I poured water into them and it was not until I went to put my boots on that I discovered all the boots had about half an inch of water in them.The pantry is not painted yet and I think there is no chance of getting it painted either.

Yesterday afternoon dad went up to the yards to finish off again and about 3:45 Garry came in and asked if there was anything to eat.We had coffee and scones.It is the first time I have had afternoon tea since you left.
By the papers I see you had a few fires during the weekend. Did you go to see any of them? They should have been worth watching.I also that the Post Office in Napier was burnt. They will have their new post office they have been wanting for some time now.

If next Sunday happens to be a fine day Skilton, Roy and myself intend exploring some limestone caves in the hills behind Campbells and I am going to try my hand at flashlight photographs.
Ask Harry if he has forgotten me. He has not sent me a letter, parcel or anything. I suppose he has shown Uncle how to sow seeds. I put some more cabbage seeds in this afternoon.The other plants have nearly all gone.

Well it is past nine o’clock and I must go to bed. Remember us to Uncle and Auntie and love to Harry and yourself.
From Dad and Louis
Ps,NB etc Don’t forget to stay as long as you like and enjoy yourself . Don’t worry about us. We are getting on fine.
Louis
X############xxFor Harry

“The Garry mentioned would be Garry O’Rourke an old friend
and stock agent.He was a cheeky, cheerful chap, a millionaire one day and broke the next. He lived in a two -story house on the left as you enter town.(3 Main St)
When I was small he called me” Michaelangelo” and was the source of hundreds of cigarette cards.He would buy and sell cattle on a large scale driving furiously to and from Gisborne in his 1937 Vauxhall.It is said he read the newspaper stock reports while driving.
I don’t remember the dog Blackie, but black and tan Tweedie was my constant companion. When I was in trouble I would sit in the kennel with him.
The caves mentioned are across the river. Campbell’s house was in front of Skin Symond’s house.” Henry Angelini

02/06/2026

01/06/2026

Continuing the letters Louis Angelini sent to his Mother.

“When Louis finished primary school at Mangatainoka he went to the Pahiatua District High School for three years.

The next letter that has survived was written on 30-8-25.
This would have been when Mum and I went to Auckland to visit Uncle Henry.
Apparently Mum, Louis and I went to Wellington first where he “inspected” the American fleet He would have been seventeen.”

Dear Mum,
I suppose you are beginning to get anxious because of me not writing.
I won’t make any excuse- I’ll leave that to your imagination.
Well, I received the four “letters” on Friday and found them all interesting.
To answer some of your questions,Jackie handed in his checks on Monday morning at 7:10 am.I arrived home at 1:30 am Monday morning and he was alive at 6:30 when I went to milk he was still alive and at 7:10 when I came home he was dead.Tweedie is quite well now.
Sorry to hear little Jackie is crook and hope he has recovered.If he is going like the other Jackie give him a handful of sulphuric in a pint of milk.
Well after I left you on Sunday I went to the Lambton Tram Terminus and saw every Island Bay tram but did not see Uncle.You said he was on that run so I suppose I missed him.I was making my way towards the Houses of Parliament when the monotony was broken by a motorist knocking a lady over.
I saw silk stockings & patent leather shoes in the air for a moment then the driver hopped out,put her in the car and drove off. I followed a stream of people through an iron gate onto the wharf where a policeman directed them to the road again through another gate.I tried another gate that seemed well patronized but met with the same fate.
My third attempt proved lucky and I found myself alongside the famous Seattle.I thought it was the Days Bay ferry at first, then I thought it might be one of the smaller members of the fleet.I was surprised when I saw Seattle on the front of it.I expected to see something big. I went over the Seattle, Richmond and Pennsylvania and I might mention they are not worth looking at.Everywhere you go - “ No visitors allowed”.I started to climb to the upper deck to see the searchlights but a joint(?) pulled me by the coat tails and told me I was not allowed.They would not even let me go down to the hold to see the engines.It was not till about 5pm that I discovered the hospital ship was at Jervois Quay.I would have liked to have seen it as I was told there are 18 Gobs being embalmed and taken back to “Murka”.Well at 5pm I was to be found on the Terminus again but again I drew a blank.To cut a long story short I arrived home at 1:30am Monday morning feeling very tired and my feet were so sore that I “couldn’t put them on the ground when I was walking”as Mrs McSweeey says in the book I am reading.
Received my flowers and planted them. They were dry and shriveled up and I do not know if they will grow.I suppose you will forget all about them when you come back.A few cows are come in now but there is very little milk and most of the cows are bulls so there are not many to feed.
We are patiently waiting the 1st September for the reading of the Selection. Will write to you on Tuesday. Sorry Henry was bad with dentistry and I hope his teeth are all right now.Does he not want to go to Auckland now for fishing with sharks?
I just asked the cats if they were all right.Timmy takes little notice, Jimmy less notice, Ginger thinks I want to give him something and Blackie says “ half& half”.
Something went wrong with the cooking a few days ago. I fried some eggs for breakfast and shoved a few eggs in the oven to keep warm for Dad.Went outside and came back and was nearly knocked over by a curious noxious affluvium.Opened the oven door and discovered the eggs and all discoloured, the plate cracked and the handle missing from one of your stainless steel knives.-something must have happened!
Went to the pictures on Saturday ( The Hunchback) The acting was very good. They started off by showing a coloured picture of Notre Dame.The jazz accompanist played a tune on some bells then chimed out eight rings.Voice from the audience “Eight bells and all’s well”.Immediately after this Robinson played the organ for about 15 minutes then the picture commenced. After the interval Robinson tuned up again and the choir raised their voices in hym.I had to pay 1/6 and sit in the very front row bit it was worth it.
Bedtime must close.
Louis
Love to all. When are you going to Auckland?

01/06/2026

🟠Yesterday we held our AGM at the Pahiatua Bowling Club.
⚫️On learning about the fact that the club rooms were actually a classroom from the Pahiatua Camp,we approached the President to ask if it would be possible to use the rooms.
🟠We were kindly given permission and welcomed
by Jo, and Barry Wilton who joined us for the meeting.
⚫️What a wonderful venue and very poignant, especially as we had Tania Kopytko speak about the upcoming Displaced Persons event.For the majority of the 5000 people who came to the camp,Pahiatua was their first introduction to NZ life.

🟠We would like to thank the Bowling Club for their generosity, and also to the locals who joined us for a memorable afternoon, and for joining our committee

01/06/2026

Several people have asked after Jean Eddie lately.❤️

🌸Jean turns 98 on Thursday 4th and is in the hospital wing of Waireka, recovering from a minor fracture and slowly becoming mobile on her walker.
🌸Today we talked about the time she received the Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) in the 1999 New Years Honours for her services to education and the community.
🌸Daughter-in-law, Teresa, recalls the occasion in Wellington very well.
🌸Pictured below is Jean and her late husband, Colin, at Government House.

01/06/2026

🇮🇹Many locals remember Dad’s brother Louis Angelini, known for his humor and mischievous antics.
Dad included letters he had written to his mother Hilda, in his own Family history I have been sharing.

“Louis was born in Wellington on 29th February, so he was a “leap year baby.”
I see on the Birth Register Index he was listed twice, once as Louis and once as Lewis Domenici, both with the same folio number (884).
There are photos of him as a baby sitting on a cane chair and as a small boy with Dad in front of crops of tomatoes and maize, and in the cabbage tree at the foot of the track to the downstream flat.

🇮🇹Lewis attended Mangatainoka School no doubt going on the milk cart and walking home until he was able to ride a bike. I believe he spoke Italian and knew very little English when he started school as our parents used Italian at home. His reaction was to refuse to speak Italian for the rest of his life, and to pretend he didn’t understand it although I’m sure he did.

🇮🇹When he was ten years old Mother must have taken a trip to Wellington for Lewis wrote her this letter:
1/7/18
🇮🇹Dear Mother,
I am just writing to ask if you have arrived safely.I spent that penny you gave me on the way home from school.When I got to the brewery I said to some other boys that were with me
“ Let’s have a look to see if there are any bottles down here.”
So we all went to have a look.At last I found two bottles and another boy found one.Of course I went to Walkley’s shop to get some lollies but the other boy broke his and so he never got any.Well, with two sticks of lollies and two pence of licorice all sorts I started for home.When I got to Bowden’s , Miss Bowden stopped me on the road and asked me if dad and I would spend the evening with them.As soon as we said”Good Bye” the W.F.C.A.’s order-man stopped and said to me “Jump up Captain”.
So up I got and had a ride home.He always calls me “Captain”.When I got home I fed the fould,chopped the morning wood, and started to light the fire a half a dozen times.At last dad came in and lit it.Then dad did his usual work while I laid the table. When he came in he told I had to put a saucepan on the fire to boil and that there was a pudding in the oven.When I heard this I quickly got the cream out and then we had a hearty meal but we felt lonely without you.After tea I bandaged up Dad’s hand and then we started to wash up. Now we are here as quiet as mice. Just before we sat down our ring went and of course I answered it.It was Mrs Dick wanting to speak to Dad so I handed the watch-a-ma-call-‘‘em to Dad.So he had a yarn.All it was about was Mr Dick wanted Dad to come to a send- off to Mr Edward Parker. He is going to camp on Wednesday. The party was to be held at Mr. Thomas Edward Parker’s building but Dad said he would not be able to go. I must knock off now because Dad A Speta per fare una partitta a carte.🇮🇹
( Dad is waiting to play a game of cards)
Love from Dad and I to you and the rest.
I remain
Your loving son
Louis