Certicate issued to Sydney Alexander Thomson which reads,

"Statement of Service of Apprentice

THIS IS TO CERTIFY that a Contract of Apprenticeship was entered into on the 15th day of July 1937 , between Sydney Alexander Thomson as apprentice, and THE BERRY ENGINEERING WORKS LIMITED as employer, in the Engineering trade for a term of five as apprentice years and that the said apprentice ceased the employment as apprentice on 30th June, 1947 after having served for five years (Specify period served)

The present last known address of the said apprentice is ... 6 Mansford Place, Palmerston North.

Dated at Palmerston North this First day of July 1947.

THE BERRY ENGINEERING WORKS LTD.
[signature]
Employer. Secretary.

42 Ashley Street, Palm. Nth.
Address.

Mr. S. A. Thomson,
6 Mansford Place, PALMERSTON NORTH.

Copy for your information.

[signature]
District Inspector of Factories 2/7/47.

5,000/10/46-11117]"

Sydney's apprenticeship was interrupted by World War Two, during which he served as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm in England.

Print showing the Palmerston North Technical School class of 1935. The back of the print reads, "PN Technical School 169 Boys - 1935" and "[?] Thomson".

Palmerston North Technical School was founded in 1902, with art classes conducted by the Wanganui Education Board. 1906 saw organization of Technical Classes handed to Palmerston North Boys' High Board of Governors. Mr. F. D. Opie was appointed the first Director in 1908 and worked tirelessly building the role and expanding options until his death in early 1924. the secondary School moved to Rangitikei Street in 1956 and was renamed Queen Elizabeth College.

From left: Susan (born 1941); Dawn (b. 1938); Betty (b. 1944); Zilla (b. 1939). Their mother, Zilla Prebble (nee Brooke-Tayor), born in 1909, was raised in the Palmerston North area. Information suppied by Zilla Torrance (nee Prebble).

The motorcycle in this image has been identified as a 1911 Humber 3.5hp single.

This image comes from a collection of unidentified negatives taken by H M Griffiths in the early 1900s, probably 1910-1920. Many of these negatives are labelled as having been taken in Tokomaru, but many have no information with them. They were donated to the City Archives in 1971. This image was taken from a copy print as the original negative was broken.

These plans for a four-bedroom, single-storey cottage was designed by L. G. West & Son for J. O. Batchelar. The Danish-born architect Ludolph Georg West (1846-1919) established an architectural practice in Palmerston North in about 1880. In 1912 he formed a partnership with his son, Ernest Vilhem West, who continued the business after his father's death.

The Municipal Opera House of Palmerston North, designed by F J Wilson and built by J Trevor and Sons, was erected in 1904-1905 and opened on 12 July 1905. In 1952 it was condemned as unsafe by the Palmerston North City Council and was strengthened and substantially remodelled both inside and out in 1955. It was sold by the PNCC to a businessman in 1994 and demolished in October 1996.

A walking trail that celebrates the vital role women have played in the development of Palmerston North, through sites particularly associated with women. This brochure was prepared by Gaynor White to mark New Zealand's Women's Suffrage Centennial Year. The project was organised by the following women: Pamela Benson, Roni Fitzmaurice, Dorothy Pilkington, Cushla Scriven, Margaret Tate and Jill White.

These photographs show the Scandinavian Club taking part in the opening of the Vasa Exhibition at the Manawatu Museum. The man in the centre of the second and fourth images is Professor Keith Thomson.

This image was taken (but not used) by the Evening Standard on 24 January 1982. It depicts the New Zealand Women’s Cricket team taking on the Indian Women’s Cricket team in a limited over (60) match for the Hansell's Vita Fresh Women's World Cup 1981/1982. The match was held at Fitzherbert Park. New Zealand won by 8 wickets.

Rain doesn't stop play when it's the world cup. Sports journalist (and Central Districts player) Lorraine Vincent reported match conditions had been poor in Palmerston North during the previous day's match between India and Central Districts. Rain had curtailed the game to a 40 over per side match and water had impacted pitch conditions for the International.

Here, Nilima Barve (later Jogalekar) waits for the next over to begin while light drizzle falls around her.

Match result:
New Zealand women won by 8 wickets.
India 78 (50.5 overs)
New Zealand 80/2 (28.1 overs)

Hosting the Women’s World Cup was a huge coup for the New Zealand Women’s Cricket Council. They had managed to secure corporate sponsorship in a time of amateur status in the women’s game. Most matches were well attended and raised the profile of the women’s game in New Zealand, with a marked increase in adult players over the coming years. It was also mired in controversy - the West Indian team pulled out of the event in protest at New Zealand’s acceptance of the touring Springbok Rugby team in 1981. The counties who participated were New Zealand, England, Australia, India and an International XI comprised of international players who had not made their representative sides, plus two players from the Netherlands.

This photograph, showing Dennis Rickards in the backyard of his recently constructed home at 125 Vogel Street, Roslyn, was taken with a Brownie E. camera. Rickards' purchased the property in about 1950 and had a house constructed by A. Arnold in c.1951-52. The wooden wheelbarrow was made by hand by his neighbour, Fred Andrews. The shed on the left served as a chicken coup, bicycle and garden shed. Rickards is digging up the clay soil so that field tiles can be laid.

This document is included in the larger PNCC file 'Correspondence for Staff - Custodian Womens Rest Rooms,' 1932-1985.

Local historians weekly "Back Issues" article in the Manawatū Standard. History of the Chapel of St Michael the Archangel Orthodox church. After World War 2, a large group of displaced persons from Europe settled in Manawatū, bringing with them their own cultural and religeous beliefs. After the orthodox monastry in Kimbolton Road closed in 1980, the Kopytko family established an orthodox chapel on their property in Palmerston North. The chapel attracted a growing group of parishioners from the Soviet Union, the new Russia, the Balkans and other new independent states from that region. It operated up until 2013, when the house was sold.

This postcard of the Square shows the South side of the Square, from Church Street West to Main Street West. The buildings, from left, are: the old All Saints Church, The Grand Hotel, The Daily Times, Watchorn's Jewellers, R Hannah Bootmaker, William Park Bookseller, R Leary Chemists, Leary and Dixon ('The Home of Music'), Furness Show Store and the Coles Building (demolished May 1974 to build the PNCC Central Administration Building). There is a a man sitting on one of the park benches enjoying the view of floral displays in the Square.

Local historians weekly "Back Issues" article in the Manawatū Standard. The Taoroa Suspension Bridge, 18 kilometres from Utiku spanned 86 metres above the Rangitikei River. It opened in May 1911. In 1960, a farmer transporting sheep died when the bridge collapsed under the weight of the loaded truck.

Local historians weekly "Back Issues" article in the Manawatū Standard. A coalition of groups and individuals joined together in 1985 to protest against a proposed rugby tour to South Africa. Locally, Coalition Against the Tour (CAT) was formed in Palmerston North to stop the proposed tour "via non-violent means". A silent march of 5000 protestors converged on Te Marae o Hine/The Square on 3 May. The marchers were peaceful and did not respond to about 25 hecklers. Public support for cancelling the tour grew throughout the country. The tour was cancelled in July and CAT, having served its purpose, came to an end.

Local historians weekly "Back Issues" article in the Manawatū Standard. Between 1879 and 1909, a unit of New Zealand's volunteer defence force practised drills in Stafford Street, Feilding. This group of volunteers was a respected and important part of the Feilding community. Their only only military campaign came in 1881 when the Rifles marched on to Parihaka. They served as reserve troops for the armed constabulary that invaded Parihaka.
Voluntary military groups were common throughout Aotearoa at this time. The units were disbanded when compulsory military training was introduced in 1909.

Local historians weekly "Back Issues" article in the Manawatū Standard. The stories about the lives of service personnel named on war memorials have often been lost in time. Their stories lived in the memories of their relatives, who are often no longer with us. Dorothy Pilkington writes about a research project to discover the identity and stories of the young men who served in World War 1. She discovered the life story of Alexander James (Jim) Low, a soldier memorialised on the Feilding War Memorial in Manchester Square. The research uncovered details of his early lfe and his service during Woirld war 1.

This map shows Kairanga County as it stood in 1916.

The Kairanga County Council was established in 1902 as a result of the amalgamation of the Manawatū Road Board and the Fitzherbert Road Board. The County amalgamated with the Manawatū County in 1988 to form the first Manawatū District Council. In 1989 most of the former Kairanga County territory was amalgamated into the Palmerston North City Council boundary.

Enjoying a quiet moment on Salisbury Street, Ashhurst. The road became part of SH3 due to the closure of the Manawatū Gorge but was quiet during lockdown - one of the positive parts of the lockdown.

Logo for the Centennial production of Under The Sun.

Jenny McLeod was commissioned by the city of Palmerston North to compose music to commemorate its centenary in 1971. The resulting work, Under The Sun, was performed twice during Palmerston North's Centennial production, on 29 and 30 May 1971. With Under The Sun, ‘New Zealand ceases forever to be a provincial society’ wrote playwright Bruce Mason in the New Zealand Listener.

Under The Sun was the major cultural event of the Palmerston North centennial. It was brought to production by Peter Tulloch. The work included more than 1000 performers, some 440 of them school children. There were four orchestras, six choirs, ten conductors, a rock band and stroboscopic lighting, with images of children’s paintings projected around the perimeter of the Pascal St stadium, where it was performed. This ‘total theatre experience’ was the initiative of Morva Croxson and told the story of the galaxy.

Festival of Cultures Lantern Parade 2018

Savage Crescent is in the West End area of Palmerston North, bounded by College Street, Cook Street and Park Road. Fifty acres was bought by the Government for the development, and between then and 1944, 245 state houses were built. For the time, Savage Crescent was designed upon the most modern ideas, as a garden suburb, with a large central, recreational area, communal garages and a variety of house designs built for the sun and with ample gardens. While the majority of the houses in Savage Crescent are now privately owned, the precinct remains as a significant example of state housing in New Zealand.

This image was taken for a story that ran in The Manawatu Evening Standard on 27 December 1962, "In Palmerston North for the national women's softball tournament, Miss C. Corbett (left) and Miss J. Shelton of Wellington, spent a damp time in their tent at the Palmerston North motor camp last night. They are seen putting out their sleeping bags to dry today."

Film created by David Evans of the City Council's Planning Office on 16mm Cine-Kodak Super-X filmstock.
Created to demonstrate inner city traffic flow problems in the mid 1950s, this film shows a unique slice of Palmerston North daily life with a variety of makes and models of cars, streetscapes, bicycles and pedestrians.

Text found with film:
"Fitzherbert St, clock tower - too flickery very little of use"

M D (David) Evans was a planning assistant from 1955 to 1968, Deputy City Planner from 1968 to 1978 and Senior Planning Officer (Design and Development) from 1978-1988.

This plan for the new Palmerston North Post Office was designed by the architect Joshua Charlesworth (1861-1925) for the Public Works Department in 1903. The original plan is held by Archives New Zealand as part of the contract file for the agreement between the Public Works Department and James Trevor & Sons, Wellington.

Written on the postcard is "This is the water fall where Palmerston gets it town water supply from you will see me sitting by myself in a white shirt this is the place where we was going in the motor car taken with my camera Bert." Bert Albert is the person sitting in a white shirt.