Memories of Hawke’s Bay spur search for old friend

Emigrants Pat and Peter Knight rented a flat on Napier’s Marine Parade.

In 1972, Pat Knight and her husband Peter were planning to emigrate to New Zealand with their three small children.

They visited New Zealand House in London’s Haymarket to look at newspapers and gather information. While they were there they got talking to a Kiwi couple, Tony and Marie James, who were in the UK on holiday.

Pat continues the tale:

“Amazingly, they said if we made it to NZ they had a bach we could use. We were delighted to accept their amazing kindness and exchanged details before going our separate ways.

“We continued with our plans and in due course our house was sold and flights were booked.

“In September of 1972, we arrived in Takapau. Tony and Marie were docking sheep but dropped everything to pick us up. Unfortunately, we couldn’t use the bach but Tony and Marie put us up in their own home, can you imagine what an upheaval that would have been for them? What generosity and hospitality, just another example of their amazing kindness.

“In due course, we stayed in a hotel in Napier where we saw photos of the devastation of the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake. This had a bearing later.

“After the hotel we rented a flat on Marine Parade and then bought a house in Taradale. Peter got a job at the Onekawa Pool.

“We all had a great time meeting lots of friendly people including Jos and Tina Verhoeven (sadly Jos died in 1995), Eddie Ng and James Butler. We also kept in touch with Tony and Marie.

“Unfortunately, we were not in New Zealand for very long. In 1973 there was a series of earthquakes that frightened us back to the UK, but Tony and Marie kept in touch sending Christmas cards and even phoning at Christmas right up until 2019 when we moved and lost touch.

“I had been trying to contact them but didn’t have any luck, then my grandson sadly found an obituary notice on the internet, and we found out Tony had died in April 2022.

“My husband Peter died in March 2023.

“Tony was a great person and we felt pleased to have known him. One story - when we were on the train at the start of our journey back to the UK, Tony stopped the train and jumped aboard to give us one last goodbye.

“I am hoping someone may be able to help me find Marie.”

If you can help Pat, please email the CHB Mail team at editorial@chbmail.co.nz