New Zealand Journalists Make Good Overseas

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 308, 30 December 1939, Page 10

New Zealand Journalists Make Good Overseas

Rhodes Sholars are often criticised for no returning to New Zealand. Usually it is because there is more scope and more opportunity for their specialised talents in larger towns abroad. New Zealand cannot and does not oiler them the kind of work for which they have been trained, nor the salaries which they can command elsewhere. The same applies to newspaper men. New Zealand journalists are to be found in high positions on leading newspapers all over the world. The adventurous hature of their calling takes them far afield. Often a journalist who was without honour in this, his own country, finds his level among the leading writers of another country. Mr. Hector Bolitho, for instance, is a New Zealander who has become a distinguished writer in England. Recently he received a commission in the Royal Air Force and was appointed to the directorate of the Intelligence Department of the Royal Air Force. In a comparatively short period of ten years, he achieved the distinction of being one of the chief biographers in England and earned a position in the literary world. For many years he lived with the Dean of Windsor at the Deanery in Windsor Castle. He collaborated with the Dean in writing the memories of Lady Augusta Stanley, a relative of the Dean’s, who was lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. The memories were of particular interest because Lady Augusta and Queen Victoria were intimate friends. Mr. Bolitho’s best bpok is undoubtedly his Life of Albeit, Prince Consort. It shows mastery of his craft and the development of a personal style. He wrote this book five times, and in the final revision, an actor read it alond to him, to test the rhythm of phrase and sentence. A year or two ago Mr. Bolitho bought the Field House, Hampstead, Saffron Walden, Essex. Essex is the Cinderella of the counties near London. The “East End” belongs to it more than any other county. It has a poor, shabby front entrance. Also, the more spectacular beauties of Surrey, Kent and Sussex have overshadowed the modest charm of its countryside. It has been left severely alone, and so has grown old gracefully and preserved its beauty spots and ancient villages, where the other counties have often been spoilt by popularity. H. G. Wells, the late Arnold Bennett, Rebecca West, Richard Church are a few of the present day writers who chose quiet places in Sussex for their homes. Mr. Bolitho’s house was once the home of William Harvey, the eminent doctor and scientist who lived in 1578 to 1657. He was the Physician Extraordinary to .Tames 1., but his chief claim of fame is his discovery of the circulation of the blood. He discovered this in 1616 in his house, the Field House, which was then on a different site, although in the same district. After Harvey’s death, the house was pulled down, and re-erected on its present site. Tt is a spacious, half-timbered of the period and the drawing room has the original oak panelled walls. The house has five acres of ground, and to ensure privacy, Mr. Bolitho bought another twenty acres.

Another New Zealander who 5s steadily making a name for himself is Mr. Eric Ramsden. He spent his early life in Masterton and worked on a newspaper there. Later, he joined the staff of the Auckland Star, and became interested in Maori history and mythology. He made lasting friendship with leading Maoris and South Sea Islanders. It was inevitable that he and Dr. Peter Buck should meet and become great friends. After a short period ori the New Zealand Times, Eric Ramsden joined the staff of a newspaper in Newcastle, New South Wales, and later worked for some years on the Sydney Sun. While in Australia, he received an invitation from Charles B. Nordhoffer, the American novelist of “Bounty” fame, to visit him in Tahiti. While there, he met the native wife and son of Gauguin, one of the most famous painters of modern France. Dr. Peter Buck was on a scientific expedition to Tahiti at that time, and he and Ramsden had many interesting days together meeting and talking to the Islanders. For the last few years, Ramsden has devoted himself to the study of the early New Zealand history. His “Life of the Rev. Samuel Marsden” is a weighty book, giving authentic pictures of the early days, and a valuable contribution to New Zealand history. Ho has just finished the “Life of Lieut. Busby, ” the first Gevernor of New Zealand ’ which will be published early in the New Year by Angus and Robertson. This is another lengthy work on the early days in New Zealand and has thirty-three illustrations. For some time, Mr. Ramsden has contributed a series of tales on romance in

the Woutli yeas, piracy, murders, blackbirding to the World’s News. To gather and sift all this information, Mr. Ramsden works diligently at the Mitchell Library, Sydney. A year ago, he visited Auckland to search through the Grey Collection.