From left to right: Hospice Mid-Northland volunteers Wendy Simpson (holding Hugh Purdie’s journal) and Megan Haynes, Hospice Mid-Northland Operations Manager Ashley Haig and volunteer Les Sykes.
After a chance discovery a couple of years ago of a rare World War II Pacific battle souvenir by volunteer staff at Hospice Mid-Northland, the team has continued to keep an eye out for items which may have a heritage interest.
Their vigilance paid off with a find that shed light on a modern sterilisation technique recorded in detail over a century ago by a Kiwi soldier serving in Europe in the final months of World War I.
A private notebook containing handwritten entries on everything from basic physics formulae to chemical compounds recently came to light. According to information written at the front of the notebook, the book was owned by Private Hugh Montgomery Purdie, a young plumber from Auckland.
According to Purdie’s war records, after the Armistice in November 1918, he was promoted to sergeant, then transferred from the 3rd Auckland Company 1st Battalion of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to the army’s Education Department. It’s possible the writings in his notebook were recorded notes he may have used in a teaching role he may have undertaken.
“It’s Purdie’s observations of a method of water sterilisation that are particularly remarkable,” says Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland manager Bill Edwards.
“What he describes is sterilising water using ultra-violet light generated by large military searchlights which he had obviously come across in France.”
Purdie’s notebook records his observations:
“... the water in passing to the outlet must first traverse the surface of the lamp, and thus become exposed to the maximum ultra-violet radiation. The process was subjected to severe tests. The water to be treated was drawn from the Seine below Paris and was further contaminated with germs of cholera, diphtheria – indeed every effort was made to make the water as poisonous as possible.”
The results were impressive.
“The germ-contaminated water was then drawn off in the usual manner being induced to flow over the lamp, and upon withdrawal was found to be absolutely sterile – all contagious germs having been completely destroyed as a result of exposure to the ultra-violet rays.”
Purdie also recorded the test was sustained for a long period and was discovered after 3000 hours’ continuous operation that “the water was as germ-proof as the first gallon drawn”.
A qualified plumber with a clear understanding of the importance of good sanitation for public health, Purdie was impressed enough to record the information about the sterilisation method in great detail.
“What he would not have known was that after technology improved in the 1930s the UV method of sterilisation of water would become a widely accepted and scientifically proven method of sterilising water adopted by large cities around the world,” says Edwards.
“Also impressive is Purdie’s ability to see the potential for this new technology to improve the lives of many, suggesting it would only take a small dynamo to feed the lamps with the necessary current.”
A little Kiwi ingenuity was all that was required:
“Being that the automobile can be adapted to operate searchlights by the [power] of the car’s own engine, its application should prove equally simple.”
Interestingly, Paris’ drinking water today is filtered using a combination of carbon, UV light and ozone to kill the pollutants. To kill the bugs, they use UV light in a process that is chemical-free.
“Purdie must have felt the French were onto something with UV light as a sterilising agent and he was right. The fact he took time to record what he knew of the process in such detail shows he could see the potential of the method,” says Edwards.
The National Army Museum at Waiouru is keen to add the notebook to its collection of World War I soldiers’ diaries and memorabilia.
Acknowledgment goes to Les Sykes at Kerikeri Hospice who investigates items that are brought in for wider heritage significance before running them past Heritage New Zealand Northland staff. In the case of Purdie’s diary his hunch was spot on.
Edward says they have managed to find out some information about Purdie – that he served in the RNZAF during World War II, though probably not overseas, that he was married with two children and he died in 1980.
If anybody has any additional information about Hugh Purdie, his family or his notebook Heritage New Zealand would love to hear from you.
Pita Witehira is a former policeman and an inventor. In the 1980s he developed the never-go-flat battery called Power Beat. Protracted negotiations, however, didn’t materialise into a quantifiable income stream.
He is based in Hamilton but has land at Rawhiti and therefore strong familial and hapū connection with the area.
He was recently asked to write some information about Kaingahoa Marae at Te Rawhiti. Accordingly, he re-read through his mother’s files and some published historic documents about Te Rawhiti and Ngāpuhi generally and discovered that:
“There are two main hapū [families] that live there, Patukeha and Ngāti Kuta. They were related to each other before Europeans arrived in the Bay of Islands [Cook in 1769 and Du Fresne in 1772] and were involved in significant events that impacted on Māori.
“Captain Cook brought with him a guide from Raiatea, Northwestern Tahiti. His name was Tupaea who spoke the language of the Ngāpuhi people.
“Because of that engagement all of the islands in the Bay of Islands are named after places in Northwestern Tahiti and the Northern Cook Islands and some family names are also from there.
“Cook reported to the Royal Society about the need to overcome scurvy, which he learned from the Tahitian people. Du Fresne brought vegetables with him, one of which is the turnip, which he gave to the people at Te Rawhiti as part of his attempt to create friendship.
“It is also important to note that when Cook arrived in the Bay of Islands, he was met by a Tohunga. His name is Tapua, the father of Patuone, who is buried in Devonport, Auckland, and his brother, Tamati Waka Nene, who is buried at Christ Church in Russell. Patuone and Nene were known as peacemakers.
“Cook and DuFresne opened the way for the Anglican and Catholic religions to be introduced into New Zealand.
“Of the two marae at Te Rawhiti the main one is sitting on land belonging to the Tainui people and the second marae, known as Kaingahoa, was the site of the school built at Te Rawhiti in 1905 but was designated as a marae in the early 1990s.
The two hapū are related through their common ancestor Whakahoe. She is the mother of the people called Ngāti Kuta and also the mother of those called ‘Patukeha.”
Developing the land:
At the end of May 10 new houses for whānau and kaumātua were opened at Te Rāwhiti, Te Taitokerau, in the Bay of Islands.
The Te Whakaruru Hau development at Kaingahoa Marae is the result of a collaboration between the marae committee which built five new houses and Foundation North which funded the renovation of five existing houses on the site.
Kris MacDonald, General Manager of Te Pouahi o Te Taitokerau, said they also supported an upgrade of marae water and wastewater infrastructure that will provide sustainability and resilience for future generations.
Te Pouahi o Te Taitokerau is an iwi housing prototype funded through Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga with $55 million funding to support building 80-100 homes and infrastructure for 110 homes across Taitokerau.
Chairman Pita Tipene said the vision was “Ko ō tātou kāinga noho, he mea hanga” (with our own hands we will build durable homes and communities).
“The papakāinga fulfils this vision in bringing funders and whānau together to realise their housing solutions,” he said.
Advance Build of Waipapa, which specialises in prefab and transportable homes, was chosen by the whānau to complete the redevelopment.
Tipene said that now, post-Budget 2025, it is more important to showcase the way of working together in Taitokerau.
“Te Whakaruru Hau Papakāinga is a tribute to local whānau leadership and determination”.
Te Pouahi o Te Taitokerau has a “pipeline” of homes being built across the region with more openings scheduled for coming months.
As of May 1, Northland had the highest number of alleged homicides out of each district.