Marlborough men sail off to war
ROUGH N' READY: Marlborough members of the NZ 4th contingent, known as the Rough Riders, pose ahead of their March 1900 deployment on the SS Monowai for the Boer War in South Africa. From back left, Blenheim dentist Cyril Carey, Havelock farmer R. Maud, unknown, Harry Rainbow, Havelock man E.H. Smith, and from front left, A.J. Maclaine, Wilfred Conolly, Fred W.D. Gray, Picton man W. Hebley and Dennie Fitzgerald. The first Marlborough soldiers to head to the war left in October 1899.
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War was looming as the 19th century neared its end and Marlborough men prepared to answer the call, Cherie Howie finds.
The battlefield was calling for young Marlborough men as the 19th century closed.
With war between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics of the South African Republic imminent the first contingent of Blenheim Mounted Rifles left for camp, en route to South Africa, on October 10.
Led by Lieutenant D. Chaytor, the contingent arrived in South Africa on November 2, just under three weeks after war was declared.
By the war's end in 1902 nearly 6500 Kiwi volunteers and 8000 horses had sailed for Africa, along with doctors, nurses, vet surgeons and a few teachers. Of those, 228 did not come home: 70 lost their lives in action and 158 were killed accidentally or died of disease.
An accidental death also made headlines in Blenheim in 1899 with a man and his horse struck and killed by lightning in January.
There were more dramas during the year, with bootmaker Mr O'Sullivan and drapers Mr Smale and Mr Hay losing their Market St south shops to fire.
Meanwhile, Mr W.H. Field showed some foresight when he suggested there should be a Cook Strait ferry service from Picton, while a tenacious advertiser did their best to steer "young ladies and budding maidens" towards blood cleansing bile beans.
"(They) will eradicate common red pimples, blackheads and foulness after eating".
Another correspondent was also employing the hyperbole as they lamented the state of Blenheim's streets as "horrible quagmires and veritable sloughs of despondency".
Still, the situation did not deter one prominent visitor to the province, with the Governor, Lord Ranfurly, calling on Blenheim on January 10.
The Blenheim Borough Council adopted measures including the banning of the use of barbed wire on any fence in borough streets and the building of a firebell tower in Alfred St at the cost of 70.
The council, which also welcomed a new mayor – Robert McArtney – at the year's end, also accepted Mr J. Fawcett's 575 tender to build Eckford's Wharf.
It was similarly a good year for Wairau MP Charles Mills, who was re-elected to the seat on December 7.
The education of Marlborough's young people also took a major step forward during the year, with an Act of Parliament opening funding for a Marlborough district high school.
The move followed a push early in the year by the Blenheim School Committee when it asked the Education Board to convert the current boys' school into a district high school.
Source: The First Hundred 1869-1969 by A. (Sandy) Beverley
1899
MAYOR: J.G. TREVOR
Councillors: E James, T Smale, F Shaw, J Jackson, J Scott, RF Priddle, R McArtney, R McCallum, W Ching, J Conolly, WH Macey
New Zealand 1899
Born: Burt Munro, record-setting motorcyclist Charles William "Bill" Hamilton, inventor of the jetboat
Re-elected: The Liberal Party, which forms the 14th New Zealand Parliament. The number of MPs is increased to 80
Sought: Parliamentary support, by Prime Minister Richard Seddon, to approve the offer to the Imperial government of a contingent of mounted rifles for the Boer War. The first New Zealand Army contingent sailed for South Africa before the end of the year
Killed: Balloonist David Maloney, when his balloon is blown out to sea after taking off from Lancaster Park. It is the first aviation fatality in New Zealand
Established: First base in Antarctica, at Cape Adare, by British expedition including several Kiwis
Passed: Legislation that from 1900 Labour Day will be a public holiday
The World 1899
Born: Al Capone, American gangster; Alfred Hitchcock, British film director; Ernest Hemingway, American writer; Humphrey Bogart, American actor
Died: Princess Kaiulani, last monarch of Hawaii; Johann Strauss, Jr, Austrian composer
Scored: The highest ever recorded individual cricket score, 628 not out, by 13-year-old A. E. J. Collins. Collins, who was later killed in action at World War I, was dropped seven times during six days at the crease
Discussed: The confederation of Australia by the leaders of six Australian colonies
Patented: Aspirin, by Felix Hoffmann and the paperclip, by Johan Vaaler
- The Marlborough Express
