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Kā Kōrero o Waikirikiri Selwyn Stories

Captain Robert Heaton Rhodes

Description

TitleCaptain Robert Heaton RhodesAlternative NameHeaton Rhodes Last edited by: Sarah Davy

SummaryA soldier of the Anglo-Boer WarDescriptionThe Honorable Sir Heaton Rhodes is well-known locally as being a benefactor for the Tai Tapu community. However, there was more substance to this historic statesman who served the district at a national level and used his influence and wealth to support those less fortunate.

Rhodes lived the typical life of a male born into the New Zealand colonial landed gentry during the Victorian era. He was born in Purau on Banks Peninsula in February 1861, the son of Robert Rhodes, a wealthy sheep farmer and politician.

When Rhodes was five the family moved to Christchurch for a more comfortable life, where his father had built a large house, ‘Elmwood', on Papanui Road. The family later travelled to Europe in the 1870s to further the education of the children, which was commonplace for wealthy families at the time. Rhodes attended school in Geneva and Hereford Cathedral School in England, before entering Oxford University in 1880. After completing his MA he returned to New Zealand in 1888 and established himself as a barrister and solicitor in Christchurch.

Rhodes became an exceptionally wealthy young man when his father died 1884. This allowed him to give up practicing law to become a farmer and live the life of a country gentleman. Around 1893 he purchased land near Tai Tapu and eventually established an estate of 2023h (5,000 acres). It was here that he had built for his new Australian wife, Jessie Clark, ‘Otahuna,’ a grand country house that befitted his wealth and social status, and which is now one of Canterbury’s iconic heritage buildings.

For the next decade Rhodes focused on designing and planting a large garden, which included an artificial lake and several acres laid out in trees, lawn and flower beds. This led to Otahuna becoming a popular venue for garden parties for the social elite of Canterbury. It became famous for its daffodil beds, with surplus bulbs being donated to the Christchurch Hospital and Botanic Gardens. These formed the nucleus of the daffodil beds in Hagley Park today.

Rhodes became an expert horticulturalist and a judge at flower shows throughout Canterbury. In 1903 he was elected president of the Canterbury Horticultural Society – a position he held for the next 53 years. He was also a highly respected model farmer and had established the first herd of Norfolk Red Poll cattle in New Zealand in 1898. Prior to this, in 1896 he had been elected president of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association. Otahuna was also known for its fine flocks of English Leicester and Corriedale sheep, along with its Clydesdale horse stud.

Rhodes love of horses directly led to his 30 years of military service. As a young man he had joined the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry in the 1880s; a mounted volunteer regiment associated with the wealthy social elite. In 1896 he was elected as a lieutenant and appointed captain in 1902. At this time he volunteered for service in the Boer War in South Africa and commanded a squadron in the Eighth Contingent. He proved to be a very popular and respected officer, going on to command the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry as colonel until 1921.

He was also a well-respected politician, serving in parliament as the member for Ellesmere for 26 years. In 1899 he won the seat stylising himself as an ‘old-style Liberal.’ In reality, his politics was more conservative and he went on to serve in William Massey’s cabinet as postmaster general and minister of public health in 1912. Described as hard working, efficient and honest, but not forceful or ruthless enough to make a big impact in politics, he did earn a reputation as an able and energetic minister.

His philanthropic ideals came to the fore in 1915 when he was appointed as a special commissioner to visit Egypt, Malta and Gallipoli to investigate the treatment of sick and wounded New Zealand soldiers. His report led to many improvement for the soldiers and earned him much public esteem. He refused to accept money to cover his expenses, but used the amount award by the government, along with his own contribution, to establish a scholarship fund to support sons of returned soldiers.

In 1917 Rhodes travelled to London as the special commissioner of the New Zealand branch of the British Red Cross Society where he supervised its work in military hospitals in France and England until 1919. It was for this work that he was first knighted in 1920.

The same year he was appointed minister of defence and was instrumental in establishing the Royal New Zealand Air Force with the purchase of Sockburn airfield, which later became Wigram Air Force Base. In 1922 he was appointed commissioner of state forests and was instrumental in laying the foundations for the country’s future exotic timber industry.

Rhodes retired from politics on medical advice in 1925, but was promptly appointed to the Legislative Council, the now defunct upper house of parliament, similar to the House of Lords. He became deputy leader of the Council until his final retirement in 1941. He had received a second knighthood in 1927 for his role in managing the royal tour of the Duke and Duchess of York.

Rhodes is remembered for supporting a wide range of charities and community activities throughout his life, much of which was rarely publicised. He first became involved in humanitarian work in the 1890s through his sisters and their friendship with the matron of Christchurch Hospital, Sibylla Maude. His financial support was crucial in helping Nurse Maude establish her district nursing scheme in 1896. Other organizations that he provided considerable funds for included Canterbury Museum, Boy Scouts Association, and the Royal Christchurch Musical Society, along with the Rhodes Convalescent Home. He also donated land for a new school in Christchurch, Heaton Intermediate, which was named after him.

However, his most significant work was with the St John Ambulance Association. In 1920 he was appointed St John’s first Director of Ambulance in New Zealand; a position he held until 1931. Having donated property to the order in Christchurch and in recognition for his years of service and leadership, he was chosen to be the order’s first Knight Commander of the New Zealand Commandery in 1931.

His wife, Jessie, suffered ill health for many years and the couple had no children. Perhaps because of this Rhodes appears to have been driven to provide a helping hand to the community, especially to those of limited means.

Apart from Otahuna, his greatest legacy to the district was as a benefactor to the people of Tai Tapu. This began in 1904 when he provided money and land for a new public hall, followed by donating land for a new sports ground, Rhodes Park Domain. He also helped finance the construction of the new primary school which opened in 1931 and donated the land for the construction of the now iconic Tai Tapu Library building.

Following the sudden death of his wife in 1929 he donated land and commissioned the building of St Paul’s Anglican Church in her memory, which was consecrated in 1932. The library and church remain two of the most revered heritage buildings in the Selwyn District, providing a constant reminder of the English character of early colonial settlement in Canterbury.

Rhodes died at Otahuna in 1956 aged 95. His biographer, Geoffrey Rice, wrote that few New Zealanders had achieved such prominence or popularity, received such high honours, or had been more sincerely admired and respected in their own lifetime than Heaton Rhodes. However, perhaps Bishop Warren’s reference to Rhodes at his funeral as having ‘a quality of gentleness and quiet charm, coupled with friendliness and helpfulness which endeared him to many’ is a fitting epitaph for the district’s most famous benefactor.
First NameRobert HeatonLast NameRhodesDate of Birth17 February 1861Place of BirthPurau, New ZealandDate of Death30 July 1956Place of DeathTai Tapu