A few quick notes about the Reunion

We’ve finally had a family reunion. Not on a large scale as yet, because there were plenty of people not there, but we still had around thirty at the dinner last night (Easter Sunday) and some fifty at the informal get-together and lunch today. Jacinta and Daphne did most of the organising, but I think it helped that the blog had been up, and the emails had been going out, since last year. The other thing that triggered it further was that Peter and Jane Ryan were coming over for a trip to the South Island, so that gave us a definite excuse.
We had a meal together last night at The Station Café in Mosgiel – it’s literally the old Mosgiel railway station done up.
On the Ryan side there were Anne and her mother, and her daughter Sophie, and Peter and Jane. I haven’t seen Peter since I was in my mid-teens, back in the late fifties, I guess.
On the Stokes side, there were Des, Mary and Paul Fraher, and Paul – who came in after the meal was finished – and Debbie with her Japanese husband, Hide (pronounced, roughly, Heeday). They’ve only been married about a year.
Daphne was there, along with Jacinta and Dave, Jennifer, Trish and Ross, Teresa and Bob – and Bob’s mother, Peggy – and Denise and Malcolm. The three teenage boys were there too, until they went to Jacinta’s to watch tv: Matthew, Hamish and Finn.
And there were some Crowls: Celia and yours truly, and Stef, Abby and Ben. (Louise and Jacob were in Invercargill.)
We had a buffet meal and there was a good friendly atmosphere, especially considering a number of people didn’t really know each other well.
Today (Easter Monday) we went to the East Taieri Hall from around 11.30 for a bring-a-plate lunch. Being a Hannagan do, of course there was plenty of food…!
I think the only person who wasn’t there today from last night was Peggy. Otherwise the same bunch came, along with John Stokes and Lucy, and their three kids, Madeleine Monica, George Louis and Eloise.
Raymond and Bernadette also came, with Andrew and his wife of a month, Sian (I presume that’s the spelling, although they were pronouncing it Sharne to my ear), and Matthew.
More Crowls came: Dominic, the three little Stewarts: Jenna (who’s birthday it is today as well), Mykala and Luke, and the big Stewart: Doug. Abby also brought Thomas.
Jacinta’s three boys were there: Jack, Charlie and Oscar. And Denise’ daughter, Chloe, came too, and did face-painting on the little kids.
And one last arrival, who makes the number to fifty by my reckoning, was Monica Stokes. Des went and got her after lunch. It was great to have her there, particularly since the home she is in is so close to the proceedings, and having all of us going to her might not have been so convenient.

Guess Who - again

Okay, here's a competition. Who is this chap? His mother has written on the back of the photo where he's standing up in the pram:

The Prime Minister delivers his speech. Place: Shrine of Remembrance. Aged 11 months and one day.

Again, you can click on the photos for a much larger view of them.

A Hannagan Wedding

A photo found amongst Mum's bits and pieces. She's made a note on the back:

Guess Who? He's showing them a photo of themselves which someone took a minute or so earlier.

Bernadette, however, seems more interested in avoiding tripping over her wedding dress!

Bookbinder to the King

This is a photo and article cut from the Otago Daily Times - unfortunately there's no date, but it would have to be the early fifties at the latest, as Pop died in 1954.

The text is as follows, for those whose eyesight can't pick up what's on the screen (!) - though it will come up full size if you click on the picture. It may take several seconds.

Three specially-bound copies of Dr A H McLintock’s official history of Otago will accompany the Mayor, Sir Donald Cameron, when he leaves for Britain in the near future. They are presentation copies which Sir Donald will hand over as gifts from the city of Dunedin to his Majesty the King, the Lord Mayor of London, and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh respectively. The binding of the books has just been completed, and they are to be displayed in the window of a city book store before being handed over to Sir Donald.
The binding of books in the elaborate presentation form is a craftsman’s task, and there are few men in new Zealand who are still able to do the work, which calls for special skills and painstaking workmanship. The binding of the copy to be presented to the King was carried out by Mr C Hannagan, who told the Daily Times yesterday that he had enjoyed the work as a variation from more prosaic bookbinding tasks.
Handsomely finished in scarlet Morocco leather, with the heavy covers bevelled and the page edges gilt, the presentation volume is a fine example of master craftsmanship. It is contained in a lined and similarly bound presentation case, which, like the books, has the city’s coat of arms embossed in gold on the cover.
The copies which are to be presented to the chief officers of London and Edinburgh are similarly bound, although their covers are lighter and only the upper edges of the pages are gilt. These volumes were bound by Messrs R Craik and D McKay under the supervision of Mr Hannagan. As with all the de luxe edition copies of the centennial history, the frontispiece of each volume is an original etching by the versatile author.
With the completion of the presentation volumes, Mr Hannagan and his assistants will now return to the binding of the final batch of copies of the first printing of the history.

Couple of Crowl grandchildren

Lucy Baker on the right - so uninspired by her bath, she appears to be falling asleep.

And to the left, her slightly older cousin, Jacob Crowl.

Lucy Isabella Baker

We talked about the arrival of Lucy recently, but so far we haven't had any decent pictures to show you. As soon as these are organised, we'll post them on here.

More on the family reunion

Jane and Peter Ryan, with Peter's Mum, are coming to Dunedin on Sunday 1 April. Des Stokes and Daphne Hannagan will meet them at the airport to go straight to Cromwell where we will stay in Dave and Jacinta's house until Friday.
They'll all be back in Dunedin for Easter and as a result thought Easter Monday would be a good day for a family reunion. The intention is to hire the use of the Presbyterian Church hall (just along from their place in Gladstone Rd) where there's lots of play equipment and room for the children.
Please note that Mike and Celia Crowl now have three bedrooms free in their house, with two lots of single beds, and a double bed available. Anyone needing accommodation for this reunion, let us know.