Saluting the Sacrifice

The Parish of Opawa- St Martins is pleased to be able to host ” Saluting the Sacrifice” in which four speakers will talk on aspects of the First World War.

Sarah Murray ( Curator of Human History at the Canterbury Museum) will speak on “Remnants of War; legacies of World War One through the Collections of the Canterbury Museum”, Simon Moody ( Research Office at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand) will speak on “New Zealanders and the War in the Air 1914-18”, Warren Lidstone’s ( Head of History, Christ’s College) talk is entitled “Then and Now” Jane Teal ( Archivist Christ’s College) will speak about Anglican Chaplains.

Where: St Mark’s Hall Opawa Rd, entrance from Vincent Place

When: Thursday 2nd October 2014 7.00pm-9.15pm

Cost: Gold coin koha

Please email the parish office opawastmartins@clear.net.nz if you plan to attend, for catering purposes.

‘Lies, Damned lies, and Propaganda: British state propaganda in the First World War.

CANTERBURY HISTORY FOUNDATION – THE JIM GARDNER MEMORIAL LECTURE 2014.

Sunday 20 July at 2.30pm in Central Lecture Theatre C2 at the University of Canterbury (plenty of free parking)

Dr David Monger win speak on the subject:
‘Lies, Damned lies, and Propaganda: British state propaganda in the First World War.’

First World War propaganda has generally had a poor reputation. Lord Kitchener’s famous pointing finger is credited in many popular accounts with tricking a generation of young men into volunteering themselves for the futile slaughter and inept leadership of the war. Modern understandings of propaganda as a deceitful and manipulative weapon derive from the post-war backlash against the efforts of the First World War.     •

However, in the same way that historians have increasingly challenged received wisdoms about the conflict’s military history, this talk will show that such assumptions about British state propaganda provide a false and inadequate impression. Far from inspiring British enlistment, the ‘Kitchener’ poster was released after the first and largest rush of enlistment and it was-not one of the most regularly used posters. Propaganda served a multitude of purposes besides recruitment, and was presented in a variety of forms. Atrocities were a part of the story told by propagandists, but not the only thing discussed. And such issues matter because casual assumptions about the inaccuracy of all atrocity stories and the dishonesty of propagandists are used to assist other endeavours, such as the denial of the Armenian genocide.

David Monger is a Senior Lecturer in Modem European History at the University of Canterbury. He is an expert in the history of British official propaganda during the First World War. His book Patriotism and Propaganda in First World War Britain: the National War Aims Committee and civilian morale was first published in 201 2 and released in paperback in 2014. He is currently working on a project exploring British propaganda and the Armenian genocide.

RHODES MEDAL 2014

Before the lecture this year’s Rhodes Medal will be presented to Mr Roger Gilbert, President of the Ellesmere Historical Society, in recognition of his sterling efforts to preserve the historical heritage of this part of Canterbury.

A gold coin donation for the afternoon tea will be appreciated.

 

Nails and Christchurch

On Tuesday 4 May at 7.30 Christchurch City Libraries will be hosting a speaker with a rather different topic.  All interested members of the public are invited to attend.

The common nail is a largely ignored part of our architectural history.
Tiny in size compared to the final building, nails have been critical to the development of timber construction since the European settlement of New Zealand. The talk will review the development of the use of nails in New Zealand from the 1770s and the local manufacture. It will explore the many facets of nails – sex, warfare, capitalism, industrial development and of course technology.

Christchurch played a central role in the early days of New Zealand nail manufacture. Lead head nail manufacturers of note included from the late 1880s include father and son Joseph and Philip Venables, business partners Alfred Robb and William Stokes and inventor John Sinclair. The talk will also explore Horace Thompson’s 1897 ‘split nail’, which did not progress through early trials into production, but provides an example of innovation in action.

Nigel Isaacs is a Teaching and Research Fellow at the School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington where he teaches a class on the history of building technology. He writes regular articles on the history of building technology in New Zealand which have been broadcast in 3 series on Radio NZ National’s Sunday night programme ‘Sounds Historical’