IN MEMORY - Wyndham Ernest Hart (Abt. 1877)

WW1

 

Wyndham was born before 1877. A Tanner by trade he worked in the Family Business in Streatham, London. In 1932 Wyndham left England (and his wife) and went first to South Africa to stay with his brother, Leslie, after which he journeyed on to New Zealand to settle.

Wyndham settled down with the woman he wished to marry but couldn't marry her because his wife (my granny) refused to give him a divorce which was in those times a requirement of law. (Only in the final year of his life when he was 84 and with the persuasion of his brother Leslie did she finally consent to a divorce so that just prior to his death he could finally marry the woman he loved, Doris Thompson, before he died).

Wyndham was a member of the Free Masons and he used to don his fine robes before attending the Meetings.

He built a house with a magnificent view overlooking the beach across to Rangitoto Island. It stood on the corner of Kitchener Road & Hurstmere Road in Milford. His house was next door to the property known as "The Castle" - an intriguing home built in the style of a castle and known to all who lived on the North Shore. Wyndham grew vegetables which he sold by the roadside. 

He had a serious fall from a ladder after which he had permanent damage to his back however he took up carpentry which he did in a large room underneath the house. I recall how he made me a guinea-pig cage and how his plans  for the cage got larger and larger so that my guinea-pig ended up with the most magnificent living space!



BOER WAR