Scissors reveal link to the past
A gold key and a pair of gold handled scissors used at opening ceremonies by the Invercargill mayoress in 1929-30 have been gifted to the city council.
Dunedin and Ashburton descendants of mayor John Campbell and his wife, Doris, presented the key and scissors to council staff this month.
Campbell used the key to unlock a wooden covering over a plaque at the ceremony announcing Invercargill becoming a city in March, 1930.
The ceremony was held in the main entrance of the Town Hall/Civic Theatre.
Five months earlier, Campbell used the scissors to cut the ribbon at the opening of the Oreti Bridge on Dunns Rd, Invercargill. The wooden bridge was replaced in 1987.
Invercargill City Council archives assistant Wendy McArthur said members of the Campbell family had contacted the council earlier this year about gifting the key and scissors.
‘‘They’ve been beautifully looked after over the years and still in their original boxes nearly 90 years on.’’
Both items are in a specially made display cabinet on the first floor of the council chambers and mayoral office areas.
‘‘It was a very thoughtful gesture by the family to gift both items to the city,’’ McArthur said.
She has provided information on Invercargill’s first mayor, William Wood (1871), to his great-great-great nephew Douglas Johnstone, of Blaby, Leicester, in England. Johnstone is writing a pamphlet on Wood’s life. Wood hailed from Midlands in England.
Invercargill has had 43 mayors. McArthur said the council received one or two inquiries a month about historic events or former residents, especially soldiers. A lot of the inquires are made through the council’s website from people living overseas.
Before gaining employment at the city council seven years ago McArthur wrote a book about the history of Invercargill street and suburb names. She got 1500 books printed and has 100 left.
‘‘I’m very interested in Invercargill’s history,’’ she said.