ARTHUR ADLAM—FRIEND OF TE RANGIHIROA.

Te Ao Hou, Spring 1954, Page 36

ARTHUR ADLAM—FRIEND OF TE RANGIHIROA. Arthur Adlam was suffering from his old war wound, and his doctor had forbidden him to go to the Okoki burial ground. But his thoughts were very much with the old school comrade with whom he had shared youthful memories, and who later became a world-famous figure. When Te Ao Hou visited Mr Adlam in his friendly home near Waitara he was able to throw interesting light on the date of Sir Peter's birth—a debated point. Mr Adlam was born in 1879, and at school had always understood that Sir Peter was two years older. That would make the year of Sir Peter's birth 1877, which agrees with the school register, though not with what Te Rangihiroa himself said in later life. Mr Adlam was in grave danger of being killed at birth by relatives of his Maori mother, who were incensed that she should have married a European. An old aunt took the baby in her arms saying, “Ataatua” (“beautiful”). The word saved his life and gave rise to the name Arthur. When he was seriously wounded in the first World War, Arthur Adlam found that his doctor was Peter Buck. For old times sake, his food-chart included a daily pint of Guinness stout.