Book details 'quirky' Frankton

Barry Lafferty

A book chronicling 101 years of Frankton's history goes on sale on Saturday.

Former newspaper publisher Barry Lafferty has written and designed the "coffee table" book, called Frankton: From Farm to Inner City.

Barry has worked on the project on and off for about 10 years. He decided he needed a self-imposed deadline to get it finished and felt Hamilton's 150th birthday this year was an appropriate deadline.

The book includes dozens of historic photos, interesting facts and memories from local people.

"Whether you grew up in Frankton or not, this inner city suburb has played a leading part in Hamilton's first 150 years," said Mr Lafferty.

A descendant of one of Hamilton's pioneer families, Mr Lafferty's paternal grandparents, Charles and Annie Lafferty, settled in Frankton in 1913 and Charles Lafferty served as a Hamilton borough councillor for 20 years. Barry Lafferty was born in Frankton in 1953, the youngest child of six.

Mr Lafferty said the most challenging aspect of producing the book was deciphering fact from fiction.

"Some people believed their memories were accurate but on cross referencing their information with historical records, corrections were often required."

Kim Forlong, marketing director at Forlongs, said Forlongs is excited to share the book with the community.

"As a family business, we are proud to have been part of Frankton for 68 years. The book is a wonderful, quirky tale of Frankton - the little town that could."

The book will be launched tomorrow at Forlongs' curtain department from 10am-midday. Copies of the book will be on sale in store and online at www.forlongs.co.nz. Copies are $39.90.