Selwyn Times: July 31, 2019

10 Wednesday July 31 2019
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
SELWYN TIMES
Wealth and influence used to
SIR HEATON Rhodes is
well-known locally as being
a benefactor for the Tai Tapu
community.
However, there was more
substance to this historic
statesman, who served the
district at a national level and
used his influence and wealth to
support those less fortunate.
Sir Heaton lived the typical
life of a male born into the New
Zealand colonial landed gentry
during the Victorian era. He
was born in Purau on Banks
Peninsula in February 1861, the
son of Robert Rhodes, a wealthy
sheep farmer and politician.
When Sir Heaton was five, the
family moved to Christchurch
for a more comfortable life,
where his father had built a large
house, ‘Elmwood,’ on Papanui
Rd.
The family later travelled to
Europe in the 1870s to further
the education of the children,
which was commonplace for
wealthy families at the time.
Sir Heaton attended school in
Geneva and Hereford Cathedral
School in England, before
entering Oxford University in
1880. After completing his MA
he returned to New Zealand in
1888 and established himself
as a barrister and solicitor in
Christchurch.
Sir Heaton became an
exceptionally wealthy young
man when his father died in
1884. This allowed him to give
up practicing law to become
a farmer and live the life of a
country gentleman.
About 1893, he purchased land
near Tai Tapu and eventually
established an estate of 2023ha.
It was here that he had built
for his new Australian wife,
Jessie Clark, ‘Otahuna,’ a grand
country house that befitted his
wealth and social status, and
which is now one of Canterbury’s
iconic heritage buildings.
For the next decade, Sir
Heaton focused on designing
and planting a large garden,
which included an artificial
lake and several acres laid out
100%
CAPITAL gAIN
TO THE RESIDENT
Historian and district council staff member
Wayne Stack continues his look at Selwyn’s past.
Anyone with suggestions for future features can
phone Wayne on 021 119 9107. This feature is
about Sir Heaton Rhodes.
in trees, lawn and flower beds.
This led to Otahuna becoming a
popular venue for garden parties
for the social elite of Canterbury.
It became famous for its daffodil
beds, with surplus bulbs being
donated to the Christchurch
Hospital and Botanic Gardens.
These formed the nucleus of the
daffodil beds in Hagley Park
today.
Sir Heaton became an
expert horticulturalist and
a judge at flower shows
throughout Canterbury. In
1903, he was elected president
of the Canterbury Horticultural
Society – a position he held for
the next 53 years.
He was also a highlyrespected
model farmer and
had established the first herd of
norfolk red poll cattle in New
Zealand in 1898. Prior to this
in 1896, he had been elected
president of the Canterbury
Agricultural and Pastoral
Association. Otahuna was also
known for its fine flocks of
english leicester and corriedale
sheep, along with its clydesdale
horse stud.
Sir Heaton’s love of horses
directly led to his 30 years
of military service. As a
young man, he had joined
the Canterbury Yeomanry
Cavalry in the 1880s; a mounted
volunteer regiment associated
with the wealthy social elite.
In 1896, he was elected as
a lieutenant and appointed
captain in 1902. At this time he
volunteered for service in the
Boer War in South Africa and
commanded a squadron in the
Eighth Contingent. He proved to
be a very popular and respected
officer, going on to command the
Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry
as colonel until 1921.
He was also a well-respected
politician, serving in Parliament
as the member for Ellesmere for
Our Great
history
WITH WAYNE STACK
WELL-KNOWN: Sir Heaton Rhodes in 1915. (Right) – Otahuna Lodge, Sir Heaton’s homestead in Tai Tapu.
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WOODCROFT WAY, 32 KENDON DRIVE, ROLLESTON, CANTERBURY
26 years. In 1899, he won the seat
stylising himself as an ‘old-style
Liberal.’ In reality, his politics
was more conservative and he
went on to serve in William
Massey’s cabinet as postmaster
general and minister of public
health in 1912.
Described as hard-working,
efficient and honest, but not
forceful or ruthless enough to
make a big impact in politics, he
did earn a reputation as an able
and energetic minister.
His philanthropic ideals
came to the fore in 1915
when he was appointed as a
special commissioner to visit
Egypt, Malta and Gallipoli to
investigate the treatment of sick
and wounded New Zealand
soldiers. His report led to many
improvements for the soldiers
and earned him much public
esteem. He refused to accept
money to cover his expenses,
but used the amount awarded by
the Government, along with his
own contribution, to establish a
scholarship fund to support sons
of returned soldiers.
In 1917, Sir Heaton travelled
to London as the special
commissioner of the New
Zealand branch of the British
Red Cross Society, where he
supervised its work in military
hospitals in France and England
until 1919. It was for this work
that he was first knighted in
1920.
The same year he was
appointed minister of defence
and was instrumental in
establishing the Royal New
Zealand Air Force with the
purchase of Sockburn airfield,
which later became Wigram Air
Force Base.
In 1922, he was appointed
commissioner of state forests
and was instrumental in laying
the foundations for the country’s
future exotic timber industry.
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