Leading from the front issuu

chapter one
pat’s early days
by marie gray — pat’s sister
Pat was born in 1926 in the small, east coast town
of Napier to Jessie and Robert Magill. He grew up
in the family home ”Repokite”, (meaning swamp
view) at 40 Cameron Road, while I appeared a few years
later.
Our mother Jessie Manins was born in Wellington and
Robert in Northern Ireland, and Pat was a welcome surprise
into his mature parents’ established world. Robert
was nearing 60 and Jessie nearly 40, and Pat’s hyperactive
character was an added challenge!
Well-known and respected members of the Open
Brethren religious group in Napier, Robert and Jessie
were both kind and caring, and while very committed
Christians, they had a twinkle in the eye and humour to
match when the serious work of the day was done.
Robert owned a general drapers store — which also
sold haberdashery, bed linen, clothing, hats and accessories
— called Robert Magill Ltd, down ‘on the flat’ at 42
Carlyle Street towards the southern end of town. Many
immigrants from Ireland, England and Scotland had settled
here and worked hard to make a living.
Before her marriage, Jessie was a Plunket Nurse and
one of the first of Sir Truby King’s graduates. She became
known in the community as an active member of
the Red Cross, leading classes in Home Nursing at secondary
schools, including Hukarere Māori Girl’s College.
An event that defined our childhood was the devastating
earthquake of 1931, which caused the tragic loss of
256 lives and extensive damage in the city. Fortunately,
the foundations of our house were simply shifted forward
several meters on the section, without severe damage
to the structure.
It was such a blessing that the family wasn’t home
when the earthquake struck on February 3. We were already
out of town at Waimai, the family farm in Te Akau,
north east of Raglan. Robert had a premonition that
something dramatic was going to happen and managed
to encourage the family to get out of town a week before
the earthquake occurred.
When the phone-call from Napier came through, confirming
that Robert’s fears had been eerily accurate and
the quake did wreak its havoc, we immediately headed
for home to check on family, friends, property and the
shop. Renting a house further up Cameron Road, we
waited anxiously for several years until the aftershocks
subsided and our home could be repaired. It wasn’t long
before Napier life settled back into something resembling
normality, while the city had the huge task of rebuilding.
PAT’S BRETHREN WORLD
In the 1930s the Open Brethren was a conservative group
with definite restrictions for younger boys of Pat’s age.
Movies and radios were banned as well as comics, but
Pat's Early Days 11