Double Centenary at Te Awamutu

New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 771, 30 April 1954, Page 26

Double Centenary at Te Awamutu

|-EW parishes in New Zealand possess churches that have stood unaltered | for 100 years, but the parish of Te Awamutu has two: St. John’s Church, Te Awamutu, and St. Paul’s Church, Hairini. They are standing tributes to the labours of Rev. John Morgan, who came to the district as a lay missionary in 1834. The first service held in St. John’s was conducted by Archdeacon Abraham on ‘April 14, 1854, and St. Paul’s was opened for worship a few months later. Both churches are rich in history, being closely connected with the Maori War in the Waikato. In 1863, Sir John Gorst, then Civil Commissioner, took refuge on the steps of St. John’s and defied arrest at the hands of a company of Maori soldiers. When the white people withdrew from the district, both churches were preserved from destruction by the influence of Te Paea Potatau, sister of Tawhiao. When General Cameron marched in with his troops in February, 1864, fighting took place on the Rangiaohia ridge and round St. Paul’s Church, in which some Maoris took refuge and fired at the troops. On March 31 and April 1 and 2 was fought the fateful battle of Orakau, a few miles south of Te Awamutu. All the British soldiers killed, and many of the Maoris, were buried in St. John’s Churchyard, where monuments were later erected by the Colonial Government. The British soldiers placed in the baptistry two tablets, one inscribed in English and the other in Maori, in memory of their former adversaries, These conclude with the text, "IT say unto you: love your enemies." Centennial celebrations are being held from April 25 to May 2, and the final service, at which the Primate of New Zealand (Archbishop Owen) will preach, will be broadcast at 7.0 p.m. on Sunday, May 2. by Station 1XH Hamilton.

BACK in New Zealand after three years’ radio work in Australia, Jack’ Maybury (above) will be on the air again this month with two new audienceparticipation shows. He will quip and | quiz his way through Scoop the Pool and Number, Please, two half-hour programmes scheduled by ZB stations. Jack Maybury is something of an old identity in New Zealand radio, having broadcast here for 14 years before his departure for Australia in 1950. He started his working career as an_ electrician, but gravitated from the repair of sets to the provision of programmes, and was one of the first to stump the country with a tape recorder. Scoop the Pool plays from all ZBs at 7.0 p.m. on Thursdays (from May 6), and Number, Please, at the same time on Tuesdays (from May 4).