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Island Bay’s long history as a family and group picnic destination is illustrated in this remarkable postcard from 1909. It shows the “Church of God Sabbath school Picnic and distribution of Prizes, January 1 1909, Island Bay, Wellington, NZ”. The photographer, N.P. Wood is not well-known. The exact location of the gathering is not known: the most common guess is at the bottom of the hill on the eastern side of Island Bay.
The Church of God – as the use of the words “Sabbath Day” indicate - is one of those that mark Saturday as their holy day. There are many such Churches, sometimes affiliated to one another, and sometimes small and independent. Wellington’s Church of God was based in Tasman St, Mt Cook, probably in the private home of its Pastor, Rev David Nield. We can imagine the children of the Sabbath school gathering as usual on Saturday, December 30 1899, and then taking advantage of the public holiday on Monday 1 January to come together again, prehaps travelling by tram along Adelaide Road the few minutes to Island Bay.
The image is unusual for its time because it captures animation in a group photo. In Most Edwardian group shots, people stare rather grimly at the camera, in case they disappear in a blur caused by the long exposure time. And, of course, there’s the tooth problem, with so many missing a few.
There are 41 people in the picture: eight men; 12 women, and 20 children and youth, ranging from a very young baby through to a girl in her late teens. At left, two men and a boy (with a rolled-up trouser leg) stand over a suitcase in which, we may guess, the prizes were held. One of the men is lifting his hat. In front of them another man, rather formally dressed is also lifting his hat, with such vigour that we see it as a blur.
Other hats are also being lifted from the heads of men and boys and this, coupled with the many open mouths, leads me to think that the moment captured is one of ‘three cheers’.
The women are wearing elaborate hats, many tied down with over-scarves: an indication, perhaps, that the day was windy.
The women seem to be enjoying themselves as much or more than the men, but some seem a little shy in their response. Perhaps it is the women themselves being cheered, or those responsible for organising the picnic.
The children, who of course would be the centre of the gathering, appear to be focussed on the man speaking, and there is a clear sense of expectation. The group as a whole is tightly gathered together, with the exception of a couple on the right, who are still attending to the proceedings, but appear to be enjoying each other’s company. A man lying between them and the main group seems rather in need of a companion himself.
The reality of early 20th century oral health, and the lack of wealth in the small congregation is apparent from the photos, with many of the cheering mouths revealing a lack of some or all teeth.
The photo may show Pastor David Nield, who I believe is the gentleman sitting in a light suit and wearing a fine white beard. Other images of Pastor Neld show him later in life as sporting a long white beard, and with a twinkling eye that seems appearent also in this photo. The man in the light suit is also the only one who seems likely to be Pastor Nield, and we can assume that he would have been present on the day.
David Nield was born in 1843 at High Crompton, Oldham, Lancashire, England. He cam from a working class family and became a part-time worker in a cotton mill at the age of eight. He also attended school part-time, and became a Methodist Sunday-School teacher, and was employed as a bookkeeper. He emigrated to the United States and became a commercial traveller, visiting Britian, India and celoyn. At one time he ran a vegetarian restaurant in Leeds, England.
He married twice. First, in 1867, in England, to Isabell Ann Stansfield, with whom he had seven children, of whom at least four survived to adulthood. Isabell ann died in 1904, and in 1907, David Nield married Rosalind Young, a teacher and musician of Pictarn Island and a descendant of the Bounty mutineers. They had no children together, and Rosalind died in 1924. David and Rosiland Nield seemed to lead an active life – she wrote a book pn Pitcarin History which is still used as a resource today, and they set up a “Social Purity League’ on Pitcairn.
Pastor Nield was an opponent of the Roman Catholic Church, and the feeling was reciprocated, judging from a report in the Catholic paper The Tablet in 1903: New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 48, 26 November 1903, Page 31
An individual wearing a clerical coat and collar and cricketing trousers essayed (says the Brisbane ' Age ') to discourse at the ' Courier ' corner on Sunday evening (November 1.). He introduced himself as David Nield, ‘ Pastor of the Church of God, Wellington, New Zealand.’ In his opening remarks he used the words ‘ Popery ‘ and ‘ Romish.’ Two minutes later David from Wellington could be seen making his way down Edward Street at a fast trot. The crowd farewelled him with groans and hisses.
Pastor Nield was also reported as the chair of a meeting of the Protestant Political Association, a powerful organisation seeking to limit Catholic influence. He pubished pamphlets on religious topics, one of which has been made available by his modern co-religionists on the Internet, and engaged in newspaper debates. He featured as a defendant in a defamation action which he must have regarded as a victory, despite judgement going against him, because he had to pay damages of only Pds5.
He moved to Lower Hutt in 1929, closing the Tabernacle of the Church of God in Tasman Street, and died at the age of ninety in 1934.
At the time of his death he was survived by three daughters, Mrs J. Whitehead, Harrowgate England, Mrs C.W. Smith, Wellington, and Mrs H.R. Wood, Moera.
Pastor David Nield was not a resident of the Southern Bays, but his Church’s decision to picnic here, and photograph the event, gives us a glimpse of a moment of past time and the pleasures of a visit to the Bay.
References: Evening Post 24 oct 1934 page 19
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