THE LATE SIR PETER BUCK

Te Ao Hou, Spring 1952, Page 48

THE LATE SIR PETER BUCK Sir,—In the initial issue of your magazine a contributor, G. S. Roydhouse, makes the statement concerning the late Sir Peter Buck: ‘In point of fact, his father's name was William Henry Neal, better known … as “Buck” Neal and his wife as Mrs “Buck”.’ ‘It was from this nickname,’ your contributor added, ‘that Peter gained his European surname.’ As I am engaged, with approval expressed by Sir Peter prior to his death, in writing his biography, I am naturally interested in this statement, and would be glad if either Mr Roydhouse or yourself would produce evidence in support of it. My own view is that it is untrue, that it would never have been made if Sir Peter were living, and that there is no evidence to support it. Your contributor does not only suggest that William Henry Buck was known as Neal, but that Neal was his correct name—not Buck. I have been in touch with Sir Peter's relatives, and my information is that his father was William Henry Buck who, though Irish-born, came here from Australia in the early 'sixties, and fought in the Waikato War. His father was Henry Buck, civil engineer, of Dublin (some of whose letters are in my possession).

The latter's father was the Rev. Dr John Buck, a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and the occupant of three livings within the gift of the College. Adam Buck, the miniaturist (to whom sat George IV), was a cousin of Dr John Buck's. There is no mention, as far as I am aware, of the name of Neal in the family tree. Mr Roydhouse also states that Sir Peter's mother was Ngarongo ki tua. It is true that Sir Peter referred to Ngarongo in print as his mother. But, actually, she was his foster-mother. Sir Peter Buck's mother was Rina, a cousin once removed to Ngarongo. The child was certainly reared by Ngarongo, who has been described to me by those who knew her as a cripple, because Rina died early. That Rina was his mother is confirmed by a whakapapa in Sir Peter's own handwriting, which I found among his personal papers in Honolulu, also by the statements of Maori informants still living at Urenui. Therefore, Kapuakore was not Sir Peter's grandmother but, to use Mr Roydhouse's own phrase, ‘in point of fact’, his great-aunt. Of course, she was his kuia, and he regarded her as such. I have an unpublished tribute to her by Sir Peter, which is among the most delightful of his writings. Neither can Lady Buck be referred to as a ‘nursing sister’ during the First World War. A more appropriate term would have been to describe her as a V.A.D. However, that is a minor point. Mr Roydhouse paid me the compliment of repeating a statement that I published some years ago, but which I have since known to be incorrect. It was not the Rev. J. C. Andrew, of Ica Station, Wairarapa, who was responsible for Sir Peter entering Te Aute College. Sir Peter denied that statement, which I had published in good faith. In point of fact, he wrote his own application, and waited six months before it was acknowledged. Going to Te Aute was entirely his own idea. On arrival there he was asked who had written the application, and replied: ‘I did.’ Unfortunately, Sir Peter Buck is already a subject for legend. As your journal is the first to my knowledge to have published the statement that his name was really Neal, I hope you will either substantiate it or give my letter the same publicity. Also, some of Sir Peter's friends of long standing feel that a journal such as yours which, obviously, aims to set a standard, should have refrained from addressing him familiarly as ‘Peter’: either his title should have been used or he should have been referred to, simply, as Buck. Eric Ramsden