Historian wrote her own slice of history
Joan Stanley local historian b November 7, 1929 d January 10, 2019
There was a stir in the Horsham Downs farming community outside Hamilton in the late 1940s when it became known the young Joan Haultain was to be the first woman from the area to ‘‘go up’’ to attend university in Auckland.
This was not a small decision in a community where most children still rode a horse to school.
And it was not without controversy. True, the dux of the little Horotiu Primary School had shown academic promise at Hamilton Girls’ High School, but Auckland University College, as it was then called, was rumoured to contain communists.
This was a serious concern in rural areas at the time, as many farmers prepared to make a stand against the stranglehold the communist-dominated Waterside Workers Union had on the country’s ports.
On top of this, Joan had elected, in some eyes, to walk a moral tightrope and stay at the first mixed hostel in the country – the brand new O’Rorke Hall in Queen St. (To be fair, men and women had separate residences, but shared the dining hall.)
But neither the supposed presence of communists nor the real presence of young men would have troubled the determined and focused Joan – her strong belief was that everyone should follow their own path and not that of current orthodoxy.
That said, the gossips were correct in one aspect – she did meet a young man, David Stanley, on one of her first mornings in the O’Rorke dining hall.
The student relationship held strong over the years of their study, and the couple married in 1953 after their respective graduations. It would have come as no surprise to the assembled wedding guests that, in a radical move, Joan made her own speech.
The couple moved to Matamata in 1954 so David, a teacher, could complete his compulsory two years of country service at Matamata College. They never left the town. After eight years in their first home, and a short period in a rental property, Joan was to live in Totara Ave for 56 years before moving to an assisted living apartment.
Her years in Matamata were full. Not the least was a part-time teaching role in English and social studies at Matamata College from about 1967, which she carried out for many years.
But she loved being involved in more than bringing up her two daughters and teaching, and over her lifetime she must have given thousands of hours of service to a huge range of organisations.
The first group she joined when she came to Matamata was the Plunket Mothers’ Club. She joined the Plunket Committee in 1961, and served for more than 30 years, including four years as secretary and two as vice-president. She received the Matamata Plunket Society Long Service Award in 1974, and was made a life member in 1991.
She and David arrived in Matamata just in time in 1954 to witness the community’s celebrations of its early farming roots, she told local journalist Sheryn Clothier.
‘‘The 50-year celebration of the [land] ballot was held just after we moved here, with a great parade. That was what sparked my interest in Matamata history.’’
A huge part of her life was her involvement with the Matamata Historical Society, of which she was an inaugural member. She was also on the Matamata Society of Genealogists committee. She developed a passion for genealogy while researching her family tree, and went on to co-author, with two cousins, a book on the Haultain family tree.
She spent 40 years on the Centennial Drive committee, with a very long stint as secretary and was the convenor of the Writers’ Group, a member of a book club, and tai chi group. Daughter Jill said the family was not sure of the number of years Joan served the Historical Society. ‘‘Apparently she was secretary for 12 of the 15 presidents since it started. She was life member and patron of both the Historical Society and the Centennial Drive Society.’’
Last, and certainly not least, she was a member of the National Council of Women, including acting as convenor of the Matamata Centennial Suffrage Committee. It was for this work she received the NZ Suffrage Centennial Medal.
She loved research and writing, and wrote or co-wrote 11 books, many about Matamata and its history, and edited and contributed to at least a further nine. Her subjects included everything from local churches, schools, halls, and farms. As well, she researched and wrote six essays for the New Zealand Dictionary of Biography,
The only person caught off guard in 2004 when she was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for service to her community was Joan herself.
and three for the New Zealand Book
of Women. She also wrote many articles on history for local newspapers and was the local ‘‘go to’’ person if anyone asked at the library or information centre about a local event or person in the past. In 1993 she edited Matamata Women, a book, she told NZ Farmer, designed to give an insight into how the district’s women had lived while the area established itself.
‘‘Although the women featured are ordinary women, primarily concerned with the well-being of their families and homes, they also contributed to the social, economic and cultural life of the community. Many were farmers, some were teachers, nurses or business women. All of them were busy . . . but they still had time to become involved,’’ she said.
The only person caught off guard in 2004 when she was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for service to her community was Joan herself.
‘‘I got a great shock when I got the letter. You don’t think of yourself getting nominated. I accepted it on behalf of all the committees I belong to because you work as a team,’’ she told Clothier at the time.
It was not the only time Joan was surprised by community recognition. In 2015 she and David were hoodwinked into attending a Rotary Club meeting (they were not members) under the guise they were there to support a friend. Instead, they were both awarded Paul Harris Fellowships, the organisation’s highest honour.
In response, Joan admitted to being overwhelmed. ‘‘You got me here under false pretences . . . I had no idea that you were going to honour me and my dear husband.’’
It was also in 2015, after nearly two years of hard work, that the Historical Society held an open day at the Firth Tower Museum. The new dairy display was officially opened by Joan and David Stanley. The exhibition, appropriately, was housed in the aptly named Joan and David Stanley shed.
Society president Ian Walker said the Stanleys had done a ‘‘huge amount’’ of work, not just with the dairy display but with the society as a whole. ‘‘That’s why we’re honouring them with that.’’
Joan remained involved in most of the organisations right up to the end, and was still talking of the many more books she planned to write.
She was married to David, who predeceased her, for 62 years; was the mother and mother-in-law of Mary and Peter Irvine, and Jill Stanley and John Julian; grandma of Juliet and Hayden, Joanna and Jamie, Michael, Paul and Hannah; and great-grandma of Isaiah and Emma. –