The First Hundred - 1964
By: A. Beverley
Last Modified: 18-3-2023 16:55
Mayor: Mr S. P. Harling
Councillors: Messrs C. C. Dix, D. S. Hall, D. C. Irving, H. E. McKinley, G. E. Marshall, F. L. Smith, G. A. Wall, G. H. Whimp, E. S. Young.
JANUARY
24: Blenheim television reception improves with the opening by the Marlborough Televiewers' Society (Mr R. A. March, president) of a Channel 6 translator station on Barnett's Hill, Tua Marina.
FEBRUARY
13: The Blenheim Swimming Club's (Mr P. G. Jeffs, president) new clubrooms at the Olympic Pool are opened by the Mayor, Mr S. P. Harling. The national swimming championships were held six days later.
MARCH
Dr P. J. Fogarty, of Blenheim, is elected president of the New Zealand Branch of the British Medical Association at the national conference held in Blenheim. A previous local president was Dr Cleghorn (1897) in whose memory the Rotunda in Market Place was built.
The first Marlborough festival was organised by Flight-Lieut. G. B. Mead, of the R.N.Z.A.F. Station, Woodbourne. The Festival thanksgiving service was conducted by the Rev. C. B. Oldfield, president of the Blenheim Ministers' Association.
Mr A. C. Nathan, senior partner of the firm of Nathan, Wisheart & Macnab, who had been Borough solicitor during the terms of nine mayors, retires. Mr M. W. Wisheart becomes senior partner.
The Council decided to confer with the Marlborough County Council with the object of building a road along the top of the Wither Hills overlooking Blenheim. This was still under consideration in 1968.
The Council re-names Redwoodtown Domain "Oliver Park" after the late Mr J. E. Oliver, first curator of Seymour Square gardens.
The Council decides to erect stone flower pots on each corner of the Rotunda. They were still not in evidence by 1968.
J. R. Butland Pty Ltd (Auckland), T. J. Edmonds Ltd (Christchurch), and Dobsons Foods N.Z. Ltd hold shares in a new company in Blenheim, Instant Foods N.Z. Ltd (Mr A. H. Dobson, managing director). The company manufactures freeze-dry products in a plant designed and made by W. G. G. Cuddon Ltd, of Blenheim. This was officially opened by the Hon. T. P. Shand on September 17.
MAY
30: The Mayor, Mr S. P. Harling, opens the new Municipal Band Hall in Grove Road.
The Police advertise the finding of a set of dentures in Maxwell Road.
The Council raises the rates 1/4 d in the £ and the special rate 5/8 d in the E.
JUNE
Mr H. A. H. Insull, M.A., retires as headmaster of Marlborough Boys' College. Mr D. S. McKenzie, B.A., Dip. Ag., Dip. Ed., is appointed.
24: The Council receives £30,000 in National Roads Board subsidies and grants during the year. "I haven't finished with them yet," said the Mayor, Mr S. P. Harling.
The Council forms a committee to "speed up" the town plan.
JULY
26: John Duffus, an Otaki Scholar from Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen, is the first person to sign the Borough Council's visitors book.
22: The Mayor interprets standing orders as having no provision for councillors to discuss general business. All matters must in future be discussed by committees or be submitted by notice of motion. Later a question time system at the end of the Council's agenda was adopted.
A Council rubbish tin is flattened by a car which mounted the pavement and broke the window of Mr T. C. N. Ball's tobacconist shop in Market Place.
The Marlborough United Friendly Societies' Dispensary staff syndicate wins a £12,000 Golden Kiwi Lottery prize — Messrs J. C. Scollard, K. G. Robinson, E. N. Bartlett, B. J. Rodley and Misses M. Ham, S. Kinzett, J. Ashley and C. Taylor.
30: T. H. Barnes & Co. commence digging the foundations of the new Centennial Hall. Contract price £49,674.
AUGUST
18: The Postmaster General, Mr W. J. Scott, lays the foundation stone of the new Telephone Exchange in Main Street.
21: The Union Steam Ship Co. is appointed agent for the Government Tourist Bureau in Blenheim. Mr M. T. Madsen, branch manager.
26: Miss J. M. Wright, of Blenheim, is selected as the first winner of the Queen Elizabeth II award in music.
26: The Council forms a committee to supervise the pensioner flats under construction.
SEPTEMBER
Geoffrey Pyne, of Blenheim, a middle distance runner who broke two world records, accepts a scholarship from the University of California. After securing a B.A. degree he was again running prominently in 1968.
Mr E. Musgrove appointed drum major and Mr G. Gamble bass drummer for the New Zealand National Band which toured Canada and the U.S.A. in 1965.
OCTOBER
29: The Elim Church of N.Z. appeals to the Town & Country Planning Appeal Board against the Council's decision to decline a building permit for a church in Weld Street. The appeal was successful.
28: The Council decides to borrow £115,000 for renewal of mains to improve gas distribution.
NOVEMBER
25: The Council investigates the possibility of heating the Olympic Pool by gas.
Holidays Association is re-formed. Mr M. T. Madsen, presi‑
26: The Marlborough Branch of the New Zealand Travel & dent, Mr W. R. Olliver, secretary.
DECEMBER
Mr D. W. McCallum, of the Department of Agriculture in Blenheim, reports that a dangerous disease, white rot, has affected five of the 250 acres under garlic around Blenheim.
11: The Hon. T. P. Shand opens the Blenheim branch of the Canterbury Savings Bank in Queen Street, among a group of new shops in the former Marlborough Transport sample rooms. Mr H. E. McKinley, the Deputy Mayor, was appointed a trustee.
Building permits £471,098; rates produce £162,575; population 13,050; valuation, capital £13,479,000, unimproved £3,592,000.
Cite this page
Beverley, A. (2023). The First Hundred - 1964. Retrieved May, 19, 2024, from https://www.marlboroughonline.co.nz/marlborough/information/history/the-first-hundred/1964