The Woodward Story
My grandfather, whom I never knew as he died during my father’s childhood, left many interesting stories, but no concrete facts, about his life back in the England of the mid 19th century. Determined to track him down I embarked on a surprising journey. However the book covers not only grandfather’s generation but also the following three and sometimes four generations, including many who have contributed to the development of New Zealand’s unique story. The following excerpt concerns one of his granddaughters.
Excerpt from The Woodward Story
Katherine, always known as Kitty or Kit, third child of Alice and Arthur Horsley, was educated at the Diocesan School in Auckland, graduating to a finishing school in Parnell run by a Miss Winn-Williams. After a short trip to England as companion to a school friend, Kitty returned to New Zealand and qualified in Karitane nursing in 1930. She evidently found it more congenial to bring the babies in her care back to the Horsley home in Symonds Street rather than look after them in their own homes, and this says all there needs to be said for the Horsley household.
In 1931 Kitty married a young doctor, Selwyn Morris, always known in the family as Bottle. Selwyn as ship’s doctor travelled with Kitty to England where Selwyn studied for his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) and in 1934 did a specialised post-graduate course in orthopaedics. One of Kitty's memorable adventures while in London was her presentation at Court which happened after the birth of her first child, John, in 1931. There is a photograph of Kitty, dressed for presentation to King George and Queen Mary, in a glorious white gown with a long train and high ostrich-feather head-dress, the obligatory attire. But who could have guessed that she, dressed up in this inconvenient finery, nevertheless managed to feed her new baby in the hansom cab as it waited in a queue to reach Buckingham Palace?
Back in Auckland Selwyn was the first orthopaedic surgeon in New Zealand to put up his ‘brass plate’, and he did so in Princes Street opposite Albert Park, in what was considered Auckland’s Harley Street. He was given honorary appointments at Auckland Hospital and the Mater Misericordae (now the Mercy Hospital). Before long Kitty was working her magic on an unkempt property in Remuera Road, transforming it into the happy, comfortable dwelling which would be the family home for the next fifty years. By now there were three more boys to join the first-born, and a daughter born in 1949. The home had a big garden and a well-used cricket pitch and volley board, and Selwyn was always an encouraging father in spite of his huge work load. This load increased greatly during the war where his work was lined up on the harbour in Red Cross ships carrying the casualties from the Mediterranean and the Pacific. Selwyn laboured long hours restoring function to the war wounded.....