S.I. ‘gentry’ scrutinised

Press, 21 October 1980, Page 1

S.I. ‘gentry’ scrutinised

The launching tomorrow pf “The Southern Gentry”, a book by Dr Stevan El-dred-Grigg about the origins of prominent South, Island families, may cause a few red faces among those whose ancestors are revealed “warts and all”, the Christchurch historian believes. “I have met a lot of individuals who are still very much part of what remains of the gentry,” he said yesterday. “Maybe it seems like a betrayal of hospitality .to take the ‘anti’ stance but I think many of them find it exciting to have skeletons in tiie cupboard.” Dr Eldred-Grigg was in good spirits yesterday as he spoke of his determination to wake New Zealanders up to the realities of their own history. The guile, snobbery and ruthless ambition which

permeated the rich landed classes of last century must be understood, he said.

"Most contemporary accounts of the gentry were written by people far too close to them to ever tell the real truth,” he said. “Those ’delightful’ Firing broadsides at the Establishment of the South Island in the last part of the nineteenth century is no mere academic exercise for Dr EldredGrigg. , His great-grandfather, whose name was Grigg but “definitely, not the Longbeach variety,” was a small landholder in the Ashburton district. “He never made the inner circle of the gentry,” he said, “nor did my grandfather, but my grandfather had a lot of influence over my family. So did my mother who represented the other side of the coin; she was able to trace her background to the slums of Glasgow.”

Dr Eldred-Grigg, who received his Ph.D from the Australian National University in Canberra, believes that many people who were “bred to boss” because of the money and social position that was the birthright of their families last century, feature prominently on “committees and local bodies” up and down die South Island. Dr Eldred-Grigg is writing two more books. Both are destined to blow a few cobwebs from traditional views of New Zealand history. One, called “Chastising the Flesh” is “the story of sex, drugs and the. repression of pleasure.” in colonial New Zealand. The other is a “new” history of Canterbury at three periods — 1870, 1920 and 1980.