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Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies, Volume 2, Issue 6, 1995

Jeffrey Newton Ward Newport

page 23

Jeffrey Newton Ward Newport

At its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 7 June 1994 the Nelson Historical Society elected a Patron. This position had been overlooked for some years and needed to be filled by a worthy personality. It was with great pleasure that those involved nominated life-member and esteemed senior-historian, Jeff Newport.

Jeffrey Newton Ward Newport was born 3 April 1912 and bred on his family's farm on the Korere-Tophouse Road, in back-country Nelson. Educated at the local Korere Primary School, he then worked on the family farm until going into a carrying business with his father and older brothers, which is described in his book More Footprints published in 1987. This business was sold in 1938 and he shifted to the Tapawera District, where he purchased a farm at the mouth of the Wangapeka River north of Tapawera settlement.

In World War II, having failed a medical test for military call-up, Jeff played an active part in the Tapawera Home Guard Unit. He also took an active part in Tapawera School affairs, serving for many years on the Tapawera District High School Home and School Association. A long-time involvement has been with the Boys and Girls Agricultural Club, which was inaugurated in the 1940s and which has organised its annual Children's Field Day, commonly known as the Tapawera Show, which is still alive and well. It was by Jeff's efforts that the Waimea Boys and Girls Agricultural Clubs continued to function beyond the earlier years and, as an office holder of the Tapawera Agricultural Club, he kept children's interest alive beyond his own local district. In his early years of farming in the Tapawera district he was an active member of the Tapawera-Tadmor Federated Farmers and was an advisor to the Tapawera Young Farmers Club and a member and office holder of the Nelson District Jersey Breeders Club.

For many years Jeff was an active member of the Anglican Church in his home district, being a member of the Motupiko Vestry (now known as Tapawera). He attended many Nelson Diocesan Synods and was an Anglican lay-reader for many years.

Jeff and his wife Barbara retired to live in Nelson city in 1962. In his early days of residence in Nelson Jeff was employed by Noeli Mellet in her bookshop and then by its new owners, Whitcombe and Tombs.

In the 1950s he had begun what has been a consuming interest ever since, researching and writing about his beloved Nelson back-country. This led to his series of four Footprints books, the first being published in 1952. His expertise was in demand around the Nelson province to write County, business, church and school histories and his history of local government in Golden Bay received the J.M. Sherrard Award in 1976. His advice has been sought and freely given to historians in the Nelson and Marlborough regions.

Jeff joined the Nelson Historical Society soon after its formation in 1954 and was invited to become a committee member in 1956. This began a deep involvement with the organisation of the Society, and he served as its President from 1972 to 1977. He edited the Journal, contributing many articles himself, and prepared the regular Newsletters sent out by the Society to keep members informed.

Another memorable contribution has been on Society field trips, where his well-informed commentaries have been a delight as buses nudged into the highways and by ways of the Upper Motueka, Lake Rotoiti, the Upper Buller Valley, Tophouse and the Wairau.

Jeff was made a Life Member of the Society on 30 May 1978. At the Annual Confer-page 24ence of the New Zealand Federation of Historical Societies held in Nelson in March 1977 he was elected as vice-president. He was re-elected to this post each year, attending Conferences as the Nelson Society's delegate, until his resignation in March 1981. At the Annual General Meeting of the Nelson Historical Society on 9 May 1982 Jeff resigned from the committee, but has been on call to share his wide knowledge in commentaries on Field Trips into those country areas which have been so much a part of his life.

Jeff wrote or edited the following publications:

Footprints the story of the settlement and development of the Nelson back-country districts (1952)

A Short History Of Nelson Province (1966) revised and reissued in 1992

Collingwood A History of the Area from Earliest Days to 1912 (1971)

St Cuthberts Church, Collingwood 1873–1973 (with Rev P J Taylor)

Golden Bay One hundred years of Local Government (1975)

Sovereign Butter Seventy-five years of Dairying in Golden Bay (1977)

Footprints Too Further glimpses into the History of Nelson Province (1978)

Rockville Schools Centennary 1879–1979

School Days … School Days 100 years of Education in Tapawera and District (1981)

More Footprints Still further glimpses into the History of Nelson Province (1987)

Footprints Farewell (1990)