Community Contributed

William Gordon Rendall J.P 1927 -

Kete Horowhenua2020-03-23T16:47:19+00:00
As interviewed by Carey Senior and Hamish Young of 4MC Horowhenua College.

William Gordon Rendell was born in Palmerston North on 23 October 1927. His family lived in Poroutawhao. Mr Rendell was the only child in his family. His parents well off, his father being a farm worker.

Mr Rendell attended school in Poroutawhao from 1933. School was ‘great’, Mr Rendell said. The teachers then were quite mean and used straps. When he reached college age, Mr Rendell went to Horowhenua College, which was the only College around in those days. He remembers the Principle who would stride down the corridor brandishing his strap. In spite of all this, school was fun.

Levin was a little town of 1500 people and very local. ‘Levin was so small that you knew everyone and their dog.’ Mr Rendell thinks that Levin was better in his day.

‘Everyone was intermarried of course! At one stage all the Firemen were related. Levin was a lovely little town then. No vandalism or graffiti or anything like today. Now I can walk over town and hardly know a soul.’

Back then there was little or no unemployment. However, the career choices were more limited and only the rich went to university.

‘You were governed in your career choice by how much money you had behind you. Jobs were basically divided into four groups; the professional, the trades, the commercials and the domestics. I only knew two blokes in the commercials. Most of them (in commercials) were girls.’

Labour was cheap then and lots of men were used in places where machines are used today.

In 1944 at the age of sixteen Mr Rendell got a job as a petrol station

Worker at Blacks’ Service Garage, which was where Shell Levin now stands. He worked for a wage of twenty-seven shillings and sixpence (including two shillings and sixpence tax) a week. He worked from 8.00 am to 6.00pm, 5 ½ days a week. His wages were fairly average for those times. Service stations in those days gave out only one kind of petrol known as Regular. There was no Super or Unleaded petrol. Mr Rendell enjoyed his job, mainly because he met a large variety of people.

Through his work at the garage he also developed a strong interest in cars. ‘What you would call vintage cars now.’ Cars were rare then and Mr Rendell was obviously proud of his Ford 10.

A petrol station workers’ job involved washing, polishing and lubricating. The job has changed a lot in the 41 years Mr Rendell has known it. In his last fifteen years, Mr Rendell was boss of Blacks’ Service Station and retired in 1985. Soon after, Blacks’ changed to Shell Levin.

Mr Rendell’s greatest memory is of the Grand Hotel which was burned down in 1981. He was the boss in his garage then and the hotel was right opposite. The fire occurred a 5.00pm and Mr Rendell had a fireman who worked for him and helped to extinguish the fire.

Levin was comparatively well off in his day. A prosperous town which has changed from the little rural centre where farmers would meet. ‘Then it became highly industrialised.’ Mr Rendell makes no secret of his liking for Levin as it was when he was young and he misses the friendliness of the’ old Levin’.

‘I liked Levin then rather than now. It was a more friendly place. You knew everybody. There is no chatting over the counter now. The checkout girls are quite nice, but that’s about it.’

There was no KFC or McDonald in the early days, so cafes were popular. Cafes were the thing in those days and good food was cheap. Mr Rendell remembers the Williams Tearooms that used to be sited where Deka stands today. ‘You could get a good meal for nine pence. Restaurants were also popular.’ Mr Rendell believes there were more shops back then than there are now. ‘Oxford Street was just full of family shops.’

Levin has expanded a lot in the time Mr Rendell has known it. Kids in his day went everywhere by bike. There used to be a lot of gravel roads. There were no school trips. Before the old Levin Baths were built there was no public swimming pool. ‘If you wanted a swim, you swam in a creek or a river like Gladstone.’

Levin used to have a lot of industrial factories and firms. If Levin had continued expanding from the mid 1970s’ it should have reached city status by now.

Mr Rendell has lived in central Levin in the past 36 years. Before this he lived in Poroutawhao and Koputaroa. Mr Rendell is a J.P. and his wife is co-ordinator of the Cancer Support Group. Mr Rendell has seen a lot of the world but in his opinion.

‘The Horowhenua is a great place to live.’