by Roger Clist
Clicking on above preview images will open larger photos in a gallery
This page describes a photo album compiled by my grandfather Sidney
Clist who, with his wife Mercy,
visited the UK (from NZ) in 1931.
To me, the album is much like a jigsaw puzzle, as my grandfather captioned
many of the photos but he was very cryptic and terse in his descriptions. So
working out just who is whom is like unravelling a mystery. The task is made
harder because the photos are small, not necessarily in chronological order,
and include other photos not taken on this trip. I have spent many happy hours
with magnifying glass exploring this album, and will report some highlights
here.
This was Sidney and Mercy's only visit to Sidney's parents George and Mary Clist, who lived at the Ivy Cottage, Shoreditch, Taunton. My father Eric was
disappointed not to be included in the visit, as he never ever had an opportunity
to meet his grandparents, or any of his aunts and uncles on his father's side.
The visit was timely. Within four years Sidney's parents and youngest sister
Joy had passed away.
The Rangitane
My grandparents travelled on board the Rangitane (a Maori
name pronounced Rang-ee-tarn-ee), one of three passenger
ships built by the New Zealand Shipping Company in 1929 for service on the
UK - NZ route. The sister ships were the Rangitiki and
the Rangitata, and all three are icons of New Zealand's strong links
back to the 'old country'.
My grandmother Mercy told me that it was night when they finally arrived.
I suspect that they had disembarked at London or Southhampton and travelled
by train to Taunton, and then by taxi to the Ivy Cottage. When Sidney's father
heard the footsteps outside, he called out "Zat be ye, Zidney" in the Somerset
drawl. What a wonderful reunion it must have been. Mercy said that they were
surprised to see that she was white-skinned, because the parents had thought
that Sidney had married a Maori (native New Zealander). I suppose they had
seen photos, nearly always sepia-toned in those days, and in the photos it
does seem that Mercy is quite dark.
Postscript: The Rangitane was attacked and sunk
by the Germans on 27 November 1940 with the loss of 16 lives. This was two
days
after it had left
Auckland
bound
for Liverpool with a cargo of
dairy produce,
111 passengers
and a crew of approximately 200. She was the largest passenger liner to be sunk
by surface raiders during WWII. Offsite
sources:
Auckland
Museum scrapbook 
, research
into sinking .
More to come soon!
