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Kā Kōrero o Waikirikiri Selwyn Stories

Peggy Saunders (née Calder)

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TitlePeggy Saunders (née Calder)DescriptionPeggy was brought up at Craigielea, the family farm in Halkett, situated diagonally opposite the Halkett Presbyterian Church. There was a strong tradition of women’s hockey in the family, with Peggy’s mother, Marion, being part of the Halkett Ladies’ Hockey team of 2011 (photo online at Canterbury Stories), so it would have been a natural progression for Peggy to play hockey. It was also the only girls’ sporting option at the time in the district!

The 1930s depression years were tough, including for those from farming families, and Peggy’s first hockey sticks were made of gorse. Maybe this made Peggy tougher? Who knows, but Peggy was a tenacious and aggressive player of the ball. The tournament booklet put out for the 1948 national tournament, describes Peggy as follows:

P Calder:
Right inner, has plenty of dash, is hard working and good in the circle. She was a member of the Canterbury B team last year, and was their most outstanding forward.

Peggy’s first year representing Canterbury was 1947 (Canterbury B). She made Canterbury A the next year (1948), winning her first K Cup. The following year (1949), they lost the K Cup on penalty bullies, before regaining it the following year, 1950, on home soil in Christchurch – Peggy’s second K cup win. Peggy went on to become one of Halkett, and Malvern’s, finest players. From 1951, Malvern qualified as its own independent area under the National tournament (such was the strength of the district), and Peggy continued to represent Malvern at national tournaments, on and off, as the arrival of her children allowed her to do, until her last tournament in August 1957, when the youngest of her three children (at that stage), was just 7 months old. I suspect it was unusual for women, in that era, to continue to play sport, at representative level, with three small children.

Her son Errol vividly remembers when the concrete foundation for a new farm shed was laid. After inspecting the pristine surface, the children decided it was entirely suitable as a perfect hockey pitch and fashioned a suitable square wooden puck. The children then insisted that Peggy play with them. After much initial resistance, Peggy took to the ‘pitch’ and proceeded to ‘demolish’ the children, who were somewhat aghast at both her speed and skill.

Peggy was passionate about Halkett hockey, and passionate about Halkett, as were so many other locals. Helen Pearce, née Calder, who played for Halkett from 1949-1958, remembers an exceptionally strong forward pack of June McKay (left wing), Nancy Walker (centre forward), Peggy Calder (right Inner) and Hazel Chapman (née Henderson - right wing). Hazel was also a superb provincial and Canterbury hockey representative, going on to play for NZ in 1956. They were close friends and Helen said that the two of them, in particular, played some fabulous hockey together. They knew each other’s play so well, and just seemed to know and sense where each other was, to the detriment of the opposition.

Training for Peggy often involved a run with Hazel ‘around the block’, except that the block was about 5km! Whilst they were very serious about hockey, very fit, and very fast, Hazel’s sister-in-law Betty Henderson said she thought there might have been a fair bit of ‘yarning’ as well.

Peggy shifted to Brookside in 1958, to farm with her husband Derrick and their children, but she was ‘Halkett through and through’, so when she passed away in 2013, there was only one place for her, the Halkett Presbyterian church cemetery, where she proudly rests with fellow Halkett Women’s Hockey Team members.
Date of Birth1927Place of BirthHalkettDate of Death2013

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Hazel Elizabeth Chapman (née Henderson)

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Peggy Saunders (née Calder)