Pages tagged with: children

The Royal couple are standing in the back of a specially converted jeep as it drives past thousands of children gathered in Athletic Park. As their car passes the children they all swarm en masse to the other side of the field to get another look as the jeep turns a corner.

Baby farmers were paid caregivers who allegedly neglected children in their care, concealed their deaths or deliberately murdered the infants. The most notorious was Minnie Dean, who, in 1895, became the first (and only) woman to be hanged for murder in New Zealand.

Hear a young girl describe presenting flowers to Queen at Nelson

Chinese dragons and clowns entertain and thousands of children in the stands and on the grounds welcome the Royal couple in Forbury Park.

The need for the New Zealand government to promote national interests during the Depression and the Second World War created a renewed appreciation of the role of the family within society.

Having to move to a house where there are no steps is quite a common occurrence in Wellington when children arrive. This time it's a shift to a new state house...

By the late 1940s all New Zealand children had a medical examination on entering school, and were seen by a nurse at standards two and six. These examinations helped identify those who were not 'thriving' in their home environment.

Rest time in the boys' dormitory, Otaki Health Camp, c. 1945

By 1940 childhood was internationally recognised as a distinct stage in human development. A child's value to the family was no longer seen as primarily economic. Instead, children were viewed in terms of 'emotional capital' as socially priceless.

The dining room of the Otaki Health Camp in the 1940s

High-profile British and Australian court cases in the 1880s introduced New Zealanders to the sinister practices of baby farmers: paid caregivers who neglected children in their care, concealed their deaths or deliberately murdered the infants.

As a consequence of the post-war economic boom there was increasing demand for consumer goods. The 1956 census revealed that more than half of New Zealand homes possessed washing machines, refrigerators and electric ovens.

A boy receiving dental care at Te Kaha School, Opotiki Alexander Turnbull Library
John Dobree Pascoe Collection (PAColl-0783)
Reference: 1/4-001117; F
Further information and copies of this image may be obtained from the Library through its 'Timeframes' website, http://timeframes.

Eastbourne nursery playcentre, 1943

Hoani Waititi teaching te reo, possibly at Queen Victoria School for Maori Girls.

In 1895 Southland's Williamina (Minnie) Dean became the first – and only – woman to be hanged in New Zealand. Her story exposed the stark realities of paid childcare and the lack of choice that many women faced in this period.

Linton schoolboys delivering the school milk c. 1941

Maori women have been the backbone of kohanga reo (language 'nurseries' where pre-schoolers were immersed in the language) since the first opened in 1982. By July 2000 there were a total of 11,519 children attending 611 kohanga reo.

Children were key targets for Empire Day.

School children enjoying their daily apple

On the day of the reception for children at Athletic Park, the Evening Post wrote: 'As the mother of two young children 12,000 miles away, the Queen today assumed the role of mother to her wider family, and it was this maternal aspect that so caught the imagination and love of the New Zealand citizens of the future'.

Teacher assistant Nan Bella with a new generation of Maori speakers at the bilingual unit in a Lower Hutt school in 1981.

Waitangi Tribunal members Chief Judge Edward Durie (left) and Paul Temm QC visit a kohanga reo at Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt, in 1985. Kohanga reo or language 'nurseries' immersed infants in a Maori language environment; the first of these opened in 1982.

Marama Ormsby (left) and Erina Hurihanganui won the 1985 National Maori Speech Contests held in Wellington.

Sir Denis Blundell always liked talking to senior high school pupils about constitutional matters.

Dame Silvia Cartwright (2001–6) visited Halfmoon Bay School on Stewart Island in August 2002.

For years schools lined up children for patriotic addresses before giving them the rest of Empire day off as a holiday

The central theme of opposition to sporting contact with South Africa was opposition to apartheid. This protest took many forms and involved many parts of New Zealand society from church groups to trade unions and student bodies, including school-age children, as shown here.

Salvation Army homes were the only option for many 19th-century orphans and abandonded children.

Much of the Railways Department’s advertising focussed on promoting family holidays.

This painting is titled Young New Zealand at play; cricket in a mining town. It appeared in the Weekly Press, 28 October 1899 and was probably painted in 1896.

As adults fell to influenza, children were called upon to help with deliveries and other chores.

One man tells of the terrible situations his family faced during the pandemic.

Crowds of children welcome the Royal couple at the civic reception in Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, 9 Jan 1954

The sensational murder trial of Daniel and Martha Cooper revealed that the difficulties facing single mothers and unwanted children continued well into the 20th century.

Before the middle of the twentieth century, most apples sold in New Zealand were soft and floury, useful as pie fillings or for baking. New, crisper varieties for eating, such as Pacific Rose and Braeburn, were developed from the 1950s.

Young Boer boys astride their donkeys outside their encampment. Boys such as these were among the many South Africans held in concentration camps run by the British.