Wharenui School roll of honour
The roll of honour board at Wharenui School commemorates former pupils who served in the First World War.
The idea of a roll of honour board listing former pupils of Wharenui School who had enlisted for military service in the war was first suggested by the correspondent of the Riccarton Whispers column of the Star newspaper on 7 August 1915. When the school committee met later that month they resolved to procure a roll of honour board for the school.
A social and dance evening was held in September 1915 to raise funds for a board. The Star correspondent noted that:
...the following ex-scholars are either at the front or in camp: - (Clarence) Roy Harris, William Lodge, George Stokes, Leo and Ralph Richardson, Leslie and Victor Tregonnning, Clarence Palmer and Ray Cook.
Further money was raised by the Wharenui School Boys' Hockey Club.
In November 1915, a flag was procured by George Witty, MP for Riccarton, who put it up for auction to raise funds for the Belgian and Red Cross funds. George Witty won the bidding then gifted the flag to Wharenui School. It was draped over the roll of honour board when this was unveiled.
The board was unveiled at Wharenui School on 24 November 1917 by George Witty. Among those present at the ceremony were R. Fletcher, M.P., C. H. Opie, Chairman of the Canterbury Education Board, J. Jamieson, E. H. Andrews, and A. Peverill, members of the board. S. A. Staples, chairman of the Waimairi County Council, was present, along with several members and ex-members of the Riccarton Borough Council.
When the roll of honour board was unveiled, William Lodge would not appear on it. There is no record of a Ray Cook in the school register although this could be an incorrect reference to Robert Gray Cooke who did attend the school (but is also not on the roll).
Further names were to be inscribed and even though the three staff, William Barrie Hutton, Owen William Williams, and James Ernest Maxwell were mentioned in the newspapers, their names would not appear on the roll. The other names not yet inscribed when the board was unveiled in November 1917 were Reginald Vincent, who had enlisted on 20 October 1914, James Archibald, who was killed in action in France on 1 October 1916, Cyril McSeveney, who had just enlisted on 3 May 1917, and Herbert Johnston, who had enlisted on 14 March 1917. Richard Graveston and Harry Ormandy enlisted in 1918.
A correspondent for the Star reporting about the school committee meeting of April 1918 noted that Harold Eaton, Reginald Vincent and James Archibald were added to the Roll of Honour board. The correspondent may have been misinformed as Harold Eaton was already on the Roll at it's unveiling. There is no report indicating when the final names of Cyril McSeveney, Richard Graveston, and Harry Ormandy were added.
The means by which the list of former students of the school who had enlisted for military service was compiled can be guessed at. It would seem that the school solicited information from parents and relatives who still had connections with the school. Rewi Alley, who enlisted in March 1917, was not mentioned in any newspaper reports. The school register must have been checked to verify names because the names of those who had died in the war are underlined in red.
The final list of names added to the Roll of Honour board include:
Rewi Alley; James Archibald; Albert Reid Blackburn; Reginald Arthur William Calvert; Randolph Coates; Oscar Collings; Harold Charles Eaton; Ernest Frank Fine; Norman Henry Fraser; Richard Graveston; Leicester George Harris; Clarence Roy Harris; Albert Thomas Courtney Henery; Russell Nelson Hodder; Herbert Haigh Johnston; Thomas Harold Lane; Percival John Sherbrook Lowe; Philip Arthur Lummis; Cyril Gordon McSeveny; Heaton David Leslie Manson; Harry James Ormandy; Clarence Victor Palmer; Arthur George Palmer; Henry Palmer; Leo Clyde Richardson; Ralph Gordon Richardson; George Stokes; Herbert Victor Tregonning; Leslie Hercules Tregonning; Reginald Cuthbert Vincent.
The 1907 'Register of Admissions, Progress and Withdrawls' of Wharenui School contains the names of all the students who attended the school. Checking the names of all male students against the New Zealand Defence force personnel files of the 1st New Zealand Expeditionary Force 1914 - 1919 on Cenotaph for matches reveals dozens of other Wharenui School Boys who served in the First World War but who were not listed on the school roll of honour. This was probably due to a lack of a family member or friend in the Wharenui community to speak up for them when the School was soliciting names for the Roll. These former pupils include:
Rawhiti Eric Batten; Wilfred Henry Blyth Buckhurst; Thomas George Benjamin Candy; Spencer Franks Carver; Hugh James Cassin; Robert Gray Cooke; Jack Basil Craig; John Law Eaglesome; George Garlick; Charles James Joseph Gohns; Walter Richard Griffin; Theodore Castlereagh Hayhurst; Joseph Eric Holt; Robert Knowle Hobbs; William Barry Hutton; William Henry Lodge; William McKnight; David Marsden; James Ernest Maxwell; George Moorhead; James Moorhead; Owen James Newnham; Robin Harold Nicholl; William Thomas Overend; Audley Harold William Pocock; Frederick John Reynolds; William Percy Sampson; James Llewelyn Speirs; Charles Ernest Stanford; Alfred Joseph Vizer; Frank Wagstaff; Timaru Wakefield; Owen William Williams.
References
Riccarton Whispers, Star, Issue 11460, 7 August 1915, p.11.
Riccarton Whispers, Star, Issue 11472, 21 August 1915, p.11.
Riccarton Whispers, Star, Issue 11490, 11 September 1915, p.11.
Riccarton Whispers, Star, Issue 11538, 6 November 1915, p.11.
The Fallen and Wounded, Press, Volume LIII, Issue 16068, 26 November 1917, p.8.
Riccarton Whispers, Star, Issue 12285, 6 April 1918, p.7.