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Claude Couturier in his Bleriot Monoplane at Rolleston
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TitleClaude Couturier in his Bleriot Monoplane at Rolleston
DescriptionA postcard of Claude Couturier (1877-1915) in his Bleriot Monoplane at Rolleston, being helped by four men. The word 'Rolleston' appears in the lower left corner.
David Palmer, in the 1988 history of Rolleston titled 'Two Visions Fulfilled, recorded the following memory of Rolleston School old girl Ida Chambers: 'Before the first World War'... 'a Frenchman called Claude Couturier stayed at the Rolleston pub. He had an aeroplane which he kept in the paddock behind the pub. As children at school, when we heard the aeroplane starting up at lunchtime, we would take to our scrapers [run] and race to the back of the pub in time to see the plane rise as high as the gorse fence. He went to the war and the aeroplane was packed up and left in the stables at the pub. I believe Claude was killed in the war. The schoolmaster made up a song about him and his aeroplane, which we sang at a school concert'.
'Couturier's plane was a Bleriot Monoplane, the same type flown by Louis Bleriot when he made the first crossing of the English Channel in 1909. Built in the United States, the plane was imported into New Zealand in April 1912. Its owner planned to be the first to fly Cook Strait, but the pilot resigned. The plane later became a drawcard at A&P shows although by that time it could not be flown.
Claude Couturier learned to fly at the Wright Brothers flying school in the United States, and was the first trained aviator to fly in New Zealand.' (quote from p.79 of David Palmer, Two Visions Fulfilled, 1988)Date1913SourceAnnette FosterInscriptionRollestonLocationRolleston
DescriptionA postcard of Claude Couturier (1877-1915) in his Bleriot Monoplane at Rolleston, being helped by four men. The word 'Rolleston' appears in the lower left corner.David Palmer, in the 1988 history of Rolleston titled 'Two Visions Fulfilled, recorded the following memory of Rolleston School old girl Ida Chambers: 'Before the first World War'... 'a Frenchman called Claude Couturier stayed at the Rolleston pub. He had an aeroplane which he kept in the paddock behind the pub. As children at school, when we heard the aeroplane starting up at lunchtime, we would take to our scrapers [run] and race to the back of the pub in time to see the plane rise as high as the gorse fence. He went to the war and the aeroplane was packed up and left in the stables at the pub. I believe Claude was killed in the war. The schoolmaster made up a song about him and his aeroplane, which we sang at a school concert'.
'Couturier's plane was a Bleriot Monoplane, the same type flown by Louis Bleriot when he made the first crossing of the English Channel in 1909. Built in the United States, the plane was imported into New Zealand in April 1912. Its owner planned to be the first to fly Cook Strait, but the pilot resigned. The plane later became a drawcard at A&P shows although by that time it could not be flown.
Claude Couturier learned to fly at the Wright Brothers flying school in the United States, and was the first trained aviator to fly in New Zealand.' (quote from p.79 of David Palmer, Two Visions Fulfilled, 1988)
Date1913SourceAnnette FosterInscriptionRollestonLocationRollestonConnections
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Donated ByAnnette FosterDate Donated25 February 2025
Date Donated25 February 2025Click on the image to add
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Claude Couturier in his Bleriot Monoplane at Rolleston (1913). Selwyn Stories, accessed 27/05/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/6759