When established in the early 1900s, the Scenery Preservation and Beautifying Society comprised a number of branches, incorporating participating suburbs.
The St John's Hill branch featured prominently by making improvements to Virginia Lake, and we have the foresight of Mayor Hatrick and nurserymen Laird and Benefield to thank for acquiring extra land on the town side to make possible "a carriage drive around the entire perimeter of the lake so that visitors could enjoy their excursion without having to leave their seats".
A prize was offered for the best layout of the grounds, ornamental gates were hung, a couple of stone lion guardians, two cannon and a band rotunda were installed and flag-staffs erected at strategic points, although vandalism and the shooting of introduced birds were problems.
By 1918, however, the society was keen to extend its activities, hence the invitation to Tannock - the timing remarkable given that the Great War was raging and tragic news continued to arrive daily from battlefields.
Under the headline "WANGANUI, THE MAKING OF A CITY BEAUTIFUL", the Chronicle of June 18 informed its readers that Tannock had been trained at London's famous Kew Gardens and gained wide experience in various tropical gardens before settling in Dunedin where his work earned him wide renown.
He was respected as "a gentleman of great experience in horticulture and afforestation" and his adopted home, Dunedin, was regarded as the beautification Mecca of New Zealand.
After spending a week inspecting city reserves and cemeteries Tannock addressed a public meeting, expressing high praise for the beautifying society and predicting Wanganui would soon be known as one of the garden cities of New Zealand.
He noted that while outer areas were being attended to, those closer to town required attention - particularly Queen's Park which would soon become a centre of attention once the Sarjeant Gallery was completed.
He recommended the removal of unnecessary fences, questioning why barricades designed to keep people out should be installed in places which encourage people to come in.
Hoardings, he declared, were ugly things and the council might get along without them if citizens nagged long enough and hard enough.
Home owners were encouraged to establish their own gardens - "for even those who did not appreciate beauty's intrinsic value recognised what an asset it was to a town from a business point of view or when selling one's own home".
Afforestation was another innovation he recommended, aimed at generating income for council coffers.
He also proposed building caretakers' cottages in places such as Virginia Lake, and the meeting concluded with much effusive hand-clapping and thanks for Tannock's address, along with the hope that a juvenile branch of the beautifying society would soon be established.
