IMPRESSIVE EVENT AT WAKEFIELD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 13 June 1936, Page 8

IMPRESSIVE EVENT AT WAKEFIELD

CATHOLIC MEMORIAL

USE MADE OF FATHER GARIN’S DIARY

LINKS WITH THE PAST

' Copious use was made of an old diary, that of Father Garin, at the Wakefield Catholic function last Sunday. Begun in the year 1850. it contains a very complete record of all matters of Catholic interest in Nelson. In the late eighties but a few weeks before the death of its author the diary ceases. From its pages Father Cullen gave verbatim the account of the beginnings of the new Catholic centre created in Wakefield: new, seventy years ago. The bore witness to the importance of i 1 ather Chareyre's work in building the first and still existing church. Supplementing this precious work was another bearing the minutes of the first committee: meeting of 1869 and of all subsequent meetings. ! Distances were apparently of little account in the old days. Catholics walked or drove in vehicles of all and any kind the many miles on Sundays to the church in Waimea West near Stafford, the home of the Redwoods. Blit already in the sixties, those living in the spout-shaped valley of the Wai-iti were considering the building of a church nearer home. A property for the purpose was already in their hands. The trustees were: James Hagen, Edwin. Fowler, Joseph Hoult Snr., Joseph Hoult Jnr., Richard and Henry Tomlinson. Of these, James Hagen was already dead. Till only last year these names still stood as trustees; the property is now vested in the H.C. Archbishop of Wellington. The diary mentions the growing movement for the first time in the year 1868. “The Catholics of Wakefield, principally Mr Hoult, being anxious to have a church nearer their place and more convenient for a great number of the Catholic' population of that part of the country, express to Father Chareyre their strong desire for it and offer willingly their cooperation in work and money for the purpose, Mr Hoult himself promising all the timber required.” The soundness of the church building now nearly seventy years standing bears witness to-day to the quality of his gift from his mill.

Five generations later, Miss. Bernice Hoult, as the Country Queen in last year’s Carnival, was largely responsible for obtaining funds for painting an,d adorning the same church. And midway in the descent. Wililam Hoult through a bequest of forty years standing made possible the presentday memorial to the Wakefield Catholic pioneers. , It may be of interest to record that the earlier church at Waimea (1854) was built before the vagaries of white pine were recognised. When in the nineties, the foot of ?■ soloist in the choir came suddenly through the floor of the organ loft, bringing consternation above c|ad amusement below, it was admitted that 'the old building should be demolished and heart-rimu be used in the new. In 1869 the first committee was elected. This was in March; by October the foundation stone was laid. The committee were: Thomas Shea (chairman), James Arnold, Joseph Bolton, Edwin Fowler, Joseph Hoult Srir., Joseph Hoult Jnr., and Joseph Tomlinson. Mr Stewart’s plan was accepted for the new church. A second plan was received from Mr Jacobsen. - The memorial has taken the form of; two stone pillars at either side of

the approach to the church. The stone for them was taken fittingly from the bed of the 'Wai-iti River. The pointing is in black cement to match the two black granite tablets that carry the inscriptions. The first of these bears the legend: “The William Hoult Memorial to the Trustees and the First Committee of 1869”; the second carries the names.

Between the two pillars is that thing which is a bridge or a chasm, depending on whether the traveller is two- or four-footed, namely, a cuttl estop, but referred to, euphemistically, as ? causeway in the ritualistic dedication.

From the pillars the fence curves to the road. The picket fence that stood for over sixty vears was demolished, and concrete posts, cream coloured, with pipe and hurricane netting, took its place, giving a unity to the whole scheme. This last was a venture and a liability for the present generation and .they are facing it generously. Through two old residents of Wakefield there was a living link with the dead past. Mrs Thomas Shea in her ninety-second year, but vigorous in mind and body, is the widow of the chairman of 1869. The tall and massive redwood trees that stand guard as sentinels along the roadway weie held in pots by her against the time of their planting over sixty years ago. Mr Henry Fowler, the other bridge over the years, as a lad in his ’teens carted the flat stones upon which the woodwork of the church was laid. The picket fence that he built gave way to the new. It was a solemn moment when these two rose to move the veils aside and formally reveal for all time the names of those beneath. One felt that seventy years were as yesterday, and the church-ground peopled again for them with those of whom, they alone remain. That impression returned again later as Mr Fov/lei leaning on the arm of nis daugbtei was seen exercising his feeble eyesight in reading slowly and delibeiatelv each name upon the tablet. The present might be chattering about him; but the voice of the past was for the instant more clamorous, more insistent. . , , There are other things to tell; the order of the ceremony, for instance. It comprised in order: The procla-mation-formal justification for the whole enterprise; the unveiling; the Blessing in which a benediction was asked on behalf of all those who passed through the new entrance; the sermon for the occasion by Father O’Leary—a clarion call to follow the high ideals and achieved purpose of the people honoured that day his church the spreading branches of a giant redwood tree and his pulpit the mound of earth about the bole raised in the process of its growth; and finally, the Benediction in the church. The Nelson Choir supplied vocal music during the ceremony. Mr W. Condeii whose seventy-eight years in Nelson gave him opportunity to meet the past Catholics o f the district gave his impressions of the pioneers and their times. As an example of sturdiness he mentioned Mrs O’Leary who in her seventieth year walked nine miles _ each way to be present at Mass at Waimea. Afternoon tea was provided for the visitors who were representative ol all creeds and localities.