A mixed package sent from New Zealand to a researcher in North Queensland has resulted in interesting stories emerging , ranging from the Maori Wars to the spread of American Carnegie libraries in the South Pacific and elsewhere .
The impressive building in this photograph, dated 1932, is the Carnegie Library , opened in 1912, at Onehunga, Auckland, one of 18 established in New Zealand between 1908 and 1916 . The woman in the photograph , Miss Gertrude Mary "Maisie" Osborne , is of particular interest due to the current growing concern in America and Australia at the rising number of measles cases.
Born in 1895 , at the age of 10 months , Maisie caught measles and became deaf as a result. Over the years , she became adept at lip reading , wrote children's stories for The Manukau Chronicle and Auckland Provincial Times , worked in the library, her father, Charles Alfred Osborne, a seaman, shopkeeper and prominent fireman , mentioned recently in Little Darwin .
Included in the package were photographs of her father in fireman's uniform with many medals and a folded typescript outlining the history of the Onehunga Fire Brigade from 1887 to 1946 for its diamond jubilee , a real photo postcard of a mill fire and an early 20th century "Vagrant Verse" by Shaun O'Sullivan , of Invercargill , dedicated to a fireman , which appeared in the Southland Times.
Included in the package were photographs of her father in fireman's uniform with many medals and a folded typescript outlining the history of the Onehunga Fire Brigade from 1887 to 1946 for its diamond jubilee , a real photo postcard of a mill fire and an early 20th century "Vagrant Verse" by Shaun O'Sullivan , of Invercargill , dedicated to a fireman , which appeared in the Southland Times.
Newspaper clippings and handwritten notes helped flesh out Miss Osborne's life. While modern newspapers battle plunging hard copy circulation , she had been taking the New Zealand Herald for 79 years , at the same address , avidly doing the crossword with the help of a dictionary , surrounded by a Royal Doulton collection . On reading that she had been taking the paper for so long, a newsagent gave her a free subscription for a period.
She was quoted in newspaper articles and claimed her grandfather ,William J. Wernham, had planted the solitary tree on Auckland's One Tree Hill.
The above cabinet photograph of the Victoria Hotel , at the corner of Victoria and Grey Streets, Onehunga, is thought to include uniformed firemen posing at the front of the building , which opened in 1862 and closed in 1906. Her father , who joined the brigade in 1902 , was the first secretary of the Orphans Club , a borough councillor and secretary of the Onehunga Chamber of Commerce for 10 years .
Maisie was invited along with her parents to attend the April 15 ,1921 citizens farewell at the Auckland Town Hall for Prime Minister W.F. Massey
and Mrs Massey on the eve of their departure to the Imperial Conference in London .
and Mrs Massey on the eve of their departure to the Imperial Conference in London .
Her father was invited to attend the official opening of The British Isles Club by the patron , the NZ Governor- General , Viscount Jellicoe .
Maisie's mother ,Mary Ann Osborne, greatly involved in community organisations , described as one of the most esteemed residents of Onehunga , died in l932 , aged 58.
In recent years , the Carnegie Library building at Onehunga was turned into a café, some others had closed . Part of a Carnegie Library was installed in the police station at Borroloola in Australia's Northern Territory Gulf country, its contents read by Charters Towers born author Bill Harney while he was jousting with the law . Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated large amounts of money to set up thousands of libraries around the world , including the USA, to enable the masses to be exposed to literature and further their education.
UPCOMING : Maori canoes and other nautical matters .
