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Wellington Centennial Memorial Building

Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial Building (1940)

Celebrating the pioneering ethic

From the mid-1930s, the Labour government presided over elaborate plans to celebrate the centennial of the European settlement of New Zealand. The Centennial Exhibition at Rongotai, Wellington, was to be the national event, but the government also subsidised many provincial memorials and events. Wellington had many suggestions for its provincial memorial – including a full-scale concrete sailing ship atop Mount Victoria. Based on the clipper Taranaki, the Pioneer, as it was poignantly christened, would have been 67 m long with masts, rigging and yards. On its gunwales bronze plaques were to record the names of the pioneers and Wellington’s movers and shakers. It would be set in a courtyard garden, with the name of one of the first ships on each of the steps leading up to it. The Pioneer’s lower deck would house a community hall, its walls lined with friezes showing the progress of Te Aro and Wellington since 1840; the upper deck would have a tea room, shop, cloak room and ‘pioneer cabaret’.

The Pioneer sank under howls of derision. Nevertheless, the sailing ship metaphor resurfaced in this building, Wellington’s provincial memorial but in many ways the New Zealand monument to pioneer endeavour. Located on the Petone foreshore where Wakefield’s duped settlers waded ashore in 1840 to ‘Britannia’, their flood-prone raupō and canvas shantytown, Aucklander Horace Massey’s stark white memorial set in concrete is an enduring celebration of pioneering.

The bow of the first migrant ship, the Aurora, thrusts triumphantly from a massive window. Sandblasted into glass are the figures of a Māori chief welcoming a pioneer family. The European male steps forward confidently, his mate standing behind him carrying a baby, symbolising the motherhood of New Zealand. Overhead is a cloud symbolising the traditional name of New Zealand, and in the offing is the ship from which the pioneers have landed. Beneath the Aurora’s bow the foundation stone acknowledges the achievement of the pioneers. On 22 January 1940, 5000 people braved atrocious weather to hear Governor-General Lord Galway and Deputy Prime Minister Peter Fraser open the building and praise the pioneers.

The wings flanking the central portion were bathing cubicles. But the blood and guts pumped out by the nearby Gear freezing works made dipping an ordeal in ordure and over time they fell into disrepair. In 1977 the western portion became the Petone Settlers’ Museum. Two years later the eastern portion was refurbished and since then the museum has gone from strength to strength. The building was completely refurbished and reopened in 2010.

Further information

This site is item number 96 on the History of New Zealand in 100 Places list.

Websites

Credit:

Text: Gavin McLean, 2013

Main image: Gavin McLean, 2002

Historic images:

Alexander Turnbull Library
References: 1/2-049193-G (photographed by Sydney Charles Smith), PAColl-7796-29 and GG-06-0360 (photographed by Gladys M Goodall)
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of their images.

Final image: Jackson Wood (Flickr)

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Date established:

1940

Corriedale sheep monument

Stone memorial commemorating the origin of the Corriedale breed of sheep. The stone was erected in 1940 as part of the New Zealand centennial celebrations.

The Corriedale was first bred at a north Otago property of the same name, by James Little, a native Scot. The pasture at the property suited neither the sparse-grazing Merino, nor the Romney, which prefer thicker grass cover. By cross-breeding the two, Little created a sheep which thrived in the conditions.

Corriedales are dual-purpose sheep, meaning they are used for meat and wool. Today, they graze in virtually all conditions in New Zealand, Australia, USA and parts of South America.

Read more about Corriedale sheep on Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Credit:

Image: Bruce Comfort, 2011.

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Railways poster for New Zealand centennial

The New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in Wellington attracted more than 2.6 million visitors, including tens of thousands of rail travellers from all over the country, during its six-month run from 1939 to 1940.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library/Archives New Zealand
Reference: ATL, NON-ATL-0154 / ANZ, AAOK, W3241, 36
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa and Archives New Zealand, Te Rua Mahara o te Kawanatanga must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Model ships at the Centennial Exhibition

This model at the Centennial Exhibition includes eight ships, some berthed at wharves and others sailing. The water is represented by a mirror which reflects the scene.

Credit:

New Zealand Centennial Exhibition: Official Catalogue

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Classroom ideas for teachers and students

This page contains a broad outline as to how the feature on the 1940 New Zealand Centennial could be used by teachers and learners in social studies and history. Students in particular will find this to be a concise summary that will assist them with revision.

We welcome feedback. Please use the comments box at the bottom of this page.

The 1940 Centennial

Between 8 November 1939 and 4 May 1940 more than 2.6 million people visited the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in Wellington; a daily attendance average of about 17,000 people. Four years in the planning, and with considerable public investment, the Centennial Exhibition represented the Labour government's and the country's value systems. It was designed to celebrate New Zealand's progress as a nation over the preceding 100 years; it was a deliberate act of national self-definition. Prime Minister Michael Savage said of the exhibition that 'we have history in a nutshell'.

In February 1990, a carnival billed by promoters as 'New Zealand's biggest event ever' opened in Wellington to mark New Zealand's sesquicentenary, or 150th birthday. A joint venture between the Wellington Show Association and the 1990 Trust - a high-powered regional organisation - $150,000 worth of fireworks launched what was known as Sesqui, a six-week carnival expected to attract 30,000 visitors a day. The Wellington regional and city councils jointly underwrote the event by $1.4 million.

Sesqui struggled to attract visitors and closed after only two weeks with debts of $6.4 million. The closest it got to meeting its attendance figures was when 32,000 visitors took advantage of a decision to waive all entry fees. Many days the numbers struggled to reach 5000.

The contrast between 1940 and 1990 couldn't be more striking. Critics of Sesqui argued that it was no more than a mediocre trade fair that reflected little of New Zealand society or heritage; the Centennial Exhibition was a triumph of national spirit and pride. What had changed in the intervening years?

This feature is of great value to teachers and students studying at a variety of levels.

Social studies

Classes at Levels 4 and 5 could use the 1940 Centennial to look at the causes and effects of a significant event from New Zealand's past (Time, Continuity and Change). How did the actions of people at this time influence not only the lives of individual people but how was New Zealand society as a whole was shaped by this event; How did New Zealanders participate individually and collectively in response to this issue? One approach could be to put the 1940 Centennial into a broader study of New Zealand's first 100 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. the comparisons between 1940, 1990 and the present could also be explored.

The nature of the celebrations provides an ideal opportunity to explore the level 4 achievement objectives for Culture and Heritage by considering how individuals and groups pass on and sustain their culture and heritage. Classes at lower levels could consider the 1940 centenary when looking at other celebrations of identity such as Waitangi Day.

NCEA History

This feature could support a research topic at any level of NCEA history. It does however have obvious relevance to theLevel 2 topic on the Growth of New Zealand identity 1890-1980 and in particular the following achievement standards:

2.6- the 1940 Centennial provides a good examination of individual or group identity in an historical setting.
2.3- there are any number of excellent historical sources relating to this event which can be used as practice for final assessment.

For more detail of specific activities relating to this topic go to Centennial- NCEA 2 activities.

Further information - New Zealand Centennial

Links

Fletcher Construction's online image library has some excellent photographs of the exhibition's construction.
Apirana Ngata biography (DNZB)
Joe Heenan biography (DNZB)
Eric McCormick biography
'The arts survive' by Nancy Taylor, The Home Front volume II, Historical Publications Branch, Department Of Internal Affairs, 1986, Wellington, New Zealand. Hosted by the Electronic Text Centre, this chapter looks at the development of New Zealand literature and artistic style during the 1930s and early 1940s.
Wellington (Te Ara)

Examples of historic sites related to the 1940 Centennial from the NZ Historic Places Trust Register:

Publications

Appendices to the House of Representatives, Department of Industries and Commerce, 1941, H-44, pp. 21–23
Bowron, G. 'A brilliant spectacle: the Centennial Exhibition Buildings', in John Wilson (ed.), Zeal and crusade: the Modern Movement in New Zealand, Christchurch, 1997
New Zealand Centennial Exhibition 1939–40: official souvenir catalogue
Palethorpe, N.B. Official history of the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, Wellington, 1939–1940, Wellington, 1940
Renwick, W. (ed.), Creating a national spirit: celebrating New Zealand's Centennial, Victoria University Press, Wellington, 2005 (NZETC website)

Apirana Ngata leading haka, 1940

Apirana Ngata leading a haka at the 1940 centennial celebrations at Waitangi. The meeting house, Waitangi House, is on the left.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: MNZ-2746-1/2-F
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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Waitangi Day 1940s-1950s

1940 Centennial

Haka at Waitangi, 1940

In 1940 New Zealand marked the centennial of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The government made a great show of national pride and unity at Waitangi. Newspapers talked of Waitangi as the 'cradle of the nation' and the Treaty as the 'foundation of nationhood'. The Treaty and Waitangi began to find a place in the national consciousness, although for most New Zealanders they were of historical interest only.

Ngatokimatawhaoroa at the centennial

Maori leaders saw the 1940 celebrations as a chance to challenge the nation's record of race relations. Āpirana Ngata observed that not everyone had something to celebrate, and Waikato tribal leaders refused to go to Waitangi even though they had assisted in building the 30-metre canoe, Ngatokimatawhaorua, that was launched there.

Post-war observances

The army used the property at Waitangi during the Second World War. In 1947 the navy erected a new flagpole, and from that year commemorations incorporated a naval ceremony. By 1950 several hundred attended the annual celebration (as it was called) on 6 February. Royal visits were to greatly boost public interest. In December 1953 the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh stopped at the grounds for an hour. The visit captured the public's imagination. 'At last Waitangi comes into its own and New Zealanders must see that its status is maintained and heightened' reported the Dominion newspaper.

The annual ceremonies at Waitangi expanded through the 1950s. Thousands attended, and the governor-general's speech became a feature. Forging one nation from the partnership of two races by a sacred compact was a common theme, but the often expressed ideal of 'one people' provided an excellent opportunity for Māori to protest at the shortfall between promise and practice in race relations.

Governor-General speaking at the centennial exhibition

Hear the speech by Governor-General Lord Galway speaking at the centennial exhibition in Wellington, 1940.

Transcript

Today the opening of this exhibition marks the eve of New Zealand's arrival at maturity. The exhibition represents a clear, unified and comprehensive picture of a century of modern progress and civilisation. So far as has been possible, the past has been depicted so as to give an understanding of the present as we find it today, and by means of this evolution outline, will, it is hoped, give some idea of the possible future.

Apart from its educative value, this exhibition will serve as a happy meeting ground for people from town and country, for friends from far and near, the producer and consumer, and of providing to each an opportunity of an enlightened recognition of their identity and interests, and mutual interdependence. It will give us an excellent opportunity of meeting people from overseas and at the same time give those people an opportunity of learning something of our conditions of life and of appreciating our various problems.

I hope that all who visit this exhibition, will make a careful study of everything that is on view. If they do they cannot not fail to leave it feeling proud of their Centennial Exhibition, and of those who were responsible for it. And at the same time bear in mind the part that they themselves will play in their country's future, convinced that only by close co-operation, a collaboration between all interests: between primary producers and secondary producers, between employers and employees, between master and man, and by mutual harmony and sympathetic outlook, can they hope to enhance the credit of New Zealand in the eyes of the world and to achieve that happiness and contentment in life, which we all seek.

Radio New Zealand Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright. To request a copy of the recording, contact Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero. Reference no: D171.3

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Centennial highway construction, 1939

Construction of the Centennial Highway and coastal road north of Wellington, 1939.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-115770-F
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image

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tags:

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NZHistory, New Zealand history online - centennial

Wellington Centennial Memorial Building

Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial Building (1940)

Celebrating the pioneering ethic

Further information

Websites

Corriedale sheep monument

Railways poster for New Zealand centennial

Model ships at the Centennial Exhibition

Classroom ideas for teachers and students

The 1940 Centennial

Social studies

NCEA History

More Classroom topics

Further information - New Zealand Centennial

Links

Publications

Apirana Ngata leading haka, 1940

Waitangi Day 1940s-1950s

1940 Centennial

Post-war observances

Governor-General speaking at the centennial exhibition

Transcript

Centennial highway construction, 1939