Volunteer camp, Westport, 1898

About this image

DescriptionVolunteer encampment Westport, Easter Monday April 11th 1898, print by H T LOCK, taken from top of McPADDENs Hill, note smoke from cookhouse at extreme right

Courtesy Kete West Coast

Date of Photo1898Map^[1]External LinkKete West CoastContributorTrich Devescovi

Shown in this image

Location (city or town)WestportEventVolunteer camp, Westport, 1898

From Facebook

Date Created2nd April 2021CommentsDeb Corich
What a cool photo! What were they volunteering for.

Dennis Gibbs
Deb Corich That date, maybe Boer War.

Rick Giles
Deb Corich Defending New Zealand.
Even though provinces had been abolished by central government, we still had strong regional identity back then. We organised our own defence force.
This was later taken over by central government as well.
Nearer our own time defending New Zealand was outsourced to a popular song 'God Defend New Zealand' sung at sporting matches. Also, we rely on those who still have a military to defend us. In exchange, we...umm...lecture them about the military industrial complex. Quid pro quo.

Andrew Elphick
Rick Giles at the time russian influence was causing concern and coal was seen as a vital resource to the coming fight

Rick Giles
Yeah..
I think we'd had our last Russian Scare Hoax before then. And the Boer War had not yet been dreamed of.
If anything, it was a reaction to the Spanish-American War possibly spilling over onto us.
On the other hand, maybe there was something cultural going on. Physical Culture. People started to want to dress up and shoot things and perhaps that's what comes before a war rather than the other way around.

Craig Smith
Rick Giles 123 years ago?
Might've been the Boer war.
I thought it was early 1890s but when I looked it up that was 1899 till 1902.
The pic could be a year or so out so may just be for that

Rick Giles
Craig Smith Yep, 1898. 'Blame it on the Maine' etc...and, "Hey look, now USA gets to scoop up all these ex-Spanish Pacific territories..."
Have had a quick look already and, yes, it was happening in 1898 in the newspapers. The date for the picture is correct.

Craig Smith
Rick Giles fair enough

John Rosanowski
The Volunteers movement grew originally during the land wars to protect their townships if necessary. But the movement got a huge fillip during the Russian scare of the 1880s. Young men in the towns of NZ joined their local volunteer company as an after-work and weekend activity. It was considered a very "manly" and patriotic thing to be involved in. The Reefton Rifle Volunteers drilled in the Princess Theatre during the week under Captain Henry Wood, the manager of the Golden Fleece gold mine. They practised rifle shooting on "The Butts," a manuka-covered flat terrace above the town.

Greg Hine
I would have said boer war as well.

Greg Hine
I would have said boer war as well

John Rosanowski
Many of the NZ Volunteers Rifle regiments did indeed go to the Boer war in South Arica. They also joined up for the WW1 conflict. Prominent among them was Reefton and later Grey- mouth Volunteers school master, Lt-colonel William Austin (a brother of prominent Reefton businessman, Stanley Austin) who not only won the DSO but, as well, the French Croix de Guerre for bravery under fire.

Don McNarn
My Grandfather was in that lot

Maurice Bettridge
If you go a bit further up the road to the rifle range, and go into the concrete butts, there still is a sign , with Westport Defence Rifle club written on it . Range is fully operational, and incorporates the westport pistol club as well . Both are well used.

OCR Text Transcription Edit Edit +-Close

Editing is temporarily disabled

Cancel Edit

Start typing here to find a location	Latitude	Longitude	Zoom	Actions

loading google map....

Save Cancel

Menu

Volunteer camp, Westport, 1898

Editing is temporarily disabled